Square Pond Ski Course




The Water Ski Course on Square Pond
The ski course on the south end of Square Pond is there for all to use. The course is a floating course, meaning it is only anchored to the bottom at the two ends with the drive and turn buoys keeping it floating. There has been a ski course on the lake since the late 1960s. The original course was an anchored type, meaning every buoy and turn ball was anchored to the bottom. As anchors got moved and pulled over the years the course became impossible to maintain. The current course hardware was purchased by the Caron family about 10 years ago. Several families have donated money to help with the annual cost of maintaining it. The course is mainly supported by the Matthews, Beaudoin, Grove, Tessier, Michaud and Johnson families. We always welcome more families to get involved. It is put in in the early summer and removed after Labor Day. 

Below is a picture of a basic slalom course. The boat drives through the center buoys at a constant speed. The top water skiers go through at 36 MPH. People ski much slower while learning. The skier must enter the course from left to right to start and must go through the starting gates, which are the first balls at each end of the course. The skier then needs to go around the first turn ball and head directly to the second turn ball across the wake as shown in this picture. After making it around the sixth turn ball the skier must exit through the last two balls. Completing all of this means that you made the pass. Most skiers start learning at 15’ off meaning that a 75’ ski rope is attached 15’ from the end. As skiers get better they start taking more line off. Our ski course has red balls for the 6 turn balls and also has green balls inside or closer to the boat. These are for novice skiers to learn how to ski the course easier.
 

Since the ski course is floating it is important that all of the balls stay attached. We keep plenty of spare balls and boat guide buoys at our house. The sooner it can be fixed, the better the chance of preventing more damage to other parts of the course.

Ski Course courtesy; some basic rules to follow when driving in or near the course.
  • All driving should be done parallel to the course to avoid cross waves for the skier. 
  • When turning around at the end of each run the driver should go straight for a distance then make a 45 degree turn and then a lollipop turn back to the course. The objective is to have your turning wake far away from the course so it won’t affect the skier when they enter the course.
  • If two boats want to ski the course, one boat starts and should make no more than 4 passes. 
  • If the skier falls, take away a pass for each fall. 
  • Once the skier is done the boat should pull out and away but not make any waves. The next boat’s skier should be ready and the first boat should wave them through and then get their next skier ready. 
  • No boat should ever take more than one skier at a time without letting the waiting boat have a turn when another boat is waiting.

We all want everyone to have fun and enjoy the ski course. If you have questions you can contact anyone in the group. If you see someone abusing the ski course please say something to them. It’s not for personal water craft to play in. We all want more families to enjoy the thrill of making it through the course.
 

The Water Ski Course on Square Pond
The ski course on the south end of Square Pond is there for all to use. The course is a floating course, meaning it is only anchored to the bottom at the two ends with the drive and turn buoys keeping it floating. There has been a ski course on the lake since the late 1960s. The original course was an anchored type, meaning every buoy and turn ball was anchored to the bottom. As anchors got moved and pulled over the years the course became impossible to maintain. The current course hardware was purchased by the Caron family about 10 years ago. Several families have donated money to help with the annual cost of maintaining it. The course is mainly supported by the Matthews, Beaudoin, Grove, Tessier, Michaud and Johnson families. We always welcome more families to get involved. It is put in in the early summer and removed after Labor Day. 

Below is a picture of a basic slalom course. The boat drives through the center buoys at a constant speed. The top water skiers go through at 36 MPH. People ski much slower while learning. The skier must enter the course from left to right to start and must go through the starting gates, which are the first balls at each end of the course. The skier then needs to go around the first turn ball and head directly to the second turn ball across the wake as shown in this picture. After making it around the sixth turn ball the skier must exit through the last two balls. Completing all of this means that you made the pass. Most skiers start learning at 15’ off meaning that a 75’ ski rope is attached 15’ from the end. As skiers get better they start taking more line off. Our ski course has red balls for the 6 turn balls and also has green balls inside or closer to the boat. These are for novice skiers to learn how to ski the course easier.
 

Since the ski course is floating it is important that all of the balls stay attached. We keep plenty of spare balls and boat guide buoys at our house. The sooner it can be fixed, the better the chance of preventing more damage to other parts of the course.

Ski Course courtesy; some basic rules to follow when driving in or near the course.
  • All driving should be done parallel to the course to avoid cross waves for the skier. 
  • When turning around at the end of each run the driver should go straight for a distance then make a 45 degree turn and then a lollipop turn back to the course. The objective is to have your turning wake far away from the course so it won’t affect the skier when they enter the course.
  • If two boats want to ski the course, one boat starts and should make no more than 4 passes. 
  • If the skier falls, take away a pass for each fall. 
  • Once the skier is done the boat should pull out and away but not make any waves. The next boat’s skier should be ready and the first boat should wave them through and then get their next skier ready. 
  • No boat should ever take more than one skier at a time without letting the waiting boat have a turn when another boat is waiting.

We all want everyone to have fun and enjoy the ski course. If you have questions you can contact anyone in the group. If you see someone abusing the ski course please say something to them. It’s not for personal water craft to play in. We all want more families to enjoy the thrill of making it through the course.