Published: August 04, 2009 12:18 pm      

Best Foot Forward

Local Trick Skier Continues to Excel

By: Adam Sulfridge

Kentucky has more miles of navigable waterways than any other state in the continental U.S., and residents of Laurel, Whitley and other neighboring communities are especially fortunate to have Laurel Lake nearby. When summer heats up, the fun begins, but recreational opportunities at the lake go beyond more fishing, boating, and tubing ...

Gary Gambrel has been skiing for 25 years, and his experience shows. He’s a familiar face at professional water skiing tournaments, and several trophies and records bear his name.

“When we moved to Corbin, around 1982 or 1983. We got a boat and went down to the lake, and I just saw people skiing and got interested in it. Thought I’d try it,” Gambrel says as he attempts to pinpoint the moment skiing first piqued his interest. “Then I went to the third Kentucky State Water Ski Championships and I saw a guy trick skiing and thought, ‘boy, that looks pretty good; I want to do that.’”

With the economy reeling and the automotive industry on unstable ground, he admits he hasn’t had near as much time for skiing this summer. In previous years, he would practice four to five times each week, many hours each time. Now, however, he’s at the lake fewer days a week, and “on a quick night, I’m spending two to three hours practicing,” he says.

Gambrel competes in tournaments “from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, out to Paducah and different sites in the South,” he says. Tournaments, he explained, have several different components: slalom, trick skiing, and jumping competitions. Gambrel does slalom and trick skiing.

Slalom Skiing:

In slalom skiing, buoys are setup to create an entrance gate, a section of target buoys, and an exit gate. The skier’s goal is to enter through the gate, we’ve through the target buoys, and then exit through the last gate. “Every time you make it through the course, you shorten the line, and that increases the difficulty,” Gambrel explains.

Trick Skiing:

In trick skiing, a participant usually gets two 20-second passes, and during that time, he must do as many tricks as possible. Usually, tricks include turning the ski around, such as skiing backward and doing a 360 or a turn-and-a-half.

“It’s not necessarily more challenging, but you have to put a lot more time in it,” Gambrel adds.

In his career, Gambrel has won the state championship several times. He also won at region in 1996, and has qualified for nationals almost every year he’s competed, though he doesn’t always attend.

“Sometimes they have them [nationals] in places like California, and it’s not cost effective for me to go,” he said.

At region, Gambrel competes against skiers from Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and other states. “It almost mirrors the Southeastern Conference except we don’t have Louisiana or Mississippi,” he added.

Toe Tricks:

No, it’s not exactly a trick that your toe does, but rather a trick performed while holding onto the rope with your toes. And yes, Gambrel can do those, too.

“I’ve got a full path of toe tricks. I‘m pretty respectable on it,” he says, adding though that he wasn’t trying to brag. “Those are very difficult, and they take a lot of work.

“I enjoy it because a lot of people have been in it for years and years… so you see a lot of people and its sort of like a family atmosphere. That makes it pretty enjoyable,” he says. “I’ve got a daughter that I’m teaching to ski now; she’d like to go into competition,” he adds, referring to his 8-year-old who started skiing this summer.

“It’s a good workout, especially the trick skiing,” he says while laughing. To stay fit, he conditions by working out during the winter by lifting weights and doing aerobic exercises.

“Plus I mountain bike, which is sort of cross training for me,” he adds.

Laurel Skiers:

Gambrel is a member of the 20-year-old ski club named Laurel Skiers at Laurel Lake. The club has around 20 members, and membership dues are $75 per year, “which is very cheap in comparison to others,” Gambrel explains. He adds that “Our dues are really just enough to keep the course up.”

The course, which is about 2 miles up from the Grove Marina, is open to the public. Many courses, he notes, are built on privately owned lakes, but he enjoys sharing ski opportunities with the public.

Gambrel isn’t the only member who competes.

“There’s a new family down there learning to [trick] ski, a mother and daughter, and we’ve got six who compete in slaloms and tournaments.”