Board looking to standardize North Ski Area rules

Leaders of the various ski and wakeboard clubs as well as other community members gave input Tuesday to the Canyon Lake POA Board regarding the use of the North Ski Area. Board members listened to the commentary without making any formal decisions. Their intent at the meeting was simply to gather information in hopes of eventually settling on more uniform rules for that section of the lake’s use.

The North Ski Area is a special-use boating destination that contains two primary operational areas – the slalom course and the area beyond the slalom course more commonly known as the Backwater. Members who choose to use this amenity do so for its special nature of boating and the conditions that are made available by limited users operating at any given time, the POA said.

The enjoyment that comes from the use of this area relies on all members using and following the same set of operational guidelines, the POA said prior to the meeting. While some of these guidelines are listed in the Lake & Marina rules, many important practices and protocols are “understood” and not described in any Canyon Lake POA guidance document.

Canyon Lake POA President Chris Poland said Tuesday he hoped the board could formalize what has been understood so misunderstandings don’t occur.

There are times members unknowingly operate their vessels in a way that is not consistent with the understood or accepted practices for this area. Members typically learn by trial and error what the do’s and don’ts of the area are from other users.

The board set up the agenda item Tuesday for input after deciding that it is important that the Canyon Lake POA provide all its members with a resource document that identifies the guidelines for use of the North Ski Area. Several comments from those participating mentioned how this process has been attempted several times over the years, but never implemented. The Rules Committee reviewed and discussed a set of rules in Feburary 2017 and again in May 2018, but their implementation was tabled.

After hearing from everybody who spoke via Zoom, Chris expressed an interest in getting representatives of the Ski Club, Wakeboard Club, ShowCal Skiers and others together to hash out what rules and procedures could be formalized into a rules document that would give better direction for using that North Ski Area. Association staff is looking to get rules approved and create signage installed in the North Ski Area to better communicate the area’s rules. The staff also suggested requiring boaters who use the area to read and acknowledge the area use rules.