Riders brave chilly water on Polar Bear Day

BY Dave Dain

The Canyon Lake Ski Club, Wakeboard Club and ShowCal Skiers hosted their annual Polar Bear Day watersports event on Saturday. The event is open to all Canyon Lake watersports enthusiasts and was held at the north end of Sunset Beach. You can ride anything you want, you just have to be willing to do it in your bathing suit and life vest. Only nine Canyon Lakers braved the chilly 58-degree water temperature this year.

Sabrina Bargar got things started off on her slalom ski with a lap around the entire main lake.

Next up was a trio of barefoot skiers led by 82-year-old Al Van Beenen, John Whitlow and 62-year-old Jay Fitzpatrick. It is always a pretty amazing sight to see someone gliding across the water on just their feet.

Janelle Kerber took to the water next on her slalom ski and ended her run with a perfect landing and wave to the crowd.

Craig Brown was the first wakeboarder to hit the water with the picture-perfect dock start. Craig miscalculated his landing speed and lightly face-planted onto Sunset Beach. Swivel skier

Stacy Norred also entered the water with a picture-perfect dock start and was a pleasure to watch as she spun around like a ballerina. If you are unfamiliar with swivel skiing, you need to come to one of the ShowCal Skiers performances and check it out.

Steve Volz was the final barefooter of the day and zoomed by Sunset Beach several times before calling it day.

Wakeboarder Dave Dain finished the day off with a brief run to Big Bass Cove and back. At the end of the ride, the riders were greeted with a nice warm fire on Sunset Beach. Congratulations to the nine Canyon Lakers for earning their Polar Bear title.