North Ski Area rich in history

By Debbie Sacks
Canyon Lake Ski Club Board Member

Enjoying water sports while being tethered behind a boat is exploding in Canyon Lake. Canyon Lakers are extremely fortunate to have the lake as one of the community’s greatest amenities. The North Ski Area is a most-unique skier’s dream. World-class skiers have been practicing and competing there for over 50 years.

Water skiers traditionally compete in three events: slalom skiing, trick skiing and jumping. It is for those events that Canyon Lake water-skiers have gone to the North Ski Area since 1967 to learn the slalom course, practice and compete in USA Waterski & Wake Sports tournaments and world events.

Kirk Folliott, above, practices on the Slalom Course at the North Ski Area in Canyon Lake. Below, Diana Sue Parker, left, puts on a show with grandson Liam Brady and his mom, Rachel Brady. The three have won medals in Regionals, Nationals, World and Pan American Tournaments. Liam recently received Regionals Boys 1 and 2 Most Improved Slalom and Jump Skier. Photo by Debbie Sacks

Almost daily, a car or a golf cart can be seen stopping on Vacation Drive to mindfully watch a graceful skier skiing through the six-buoy course. Those spectators are oftentimes quite supportive, giving the skier a thumbs up, including, “That sure looks like fun!”

Fun is what it’s about and this amenity is the reason many water sports enthusiasts, over the last 53 years, moved to Canyon Lake and joined the Canyon Lake Ski Club (CLSC).

Photo by Mike Clary

“Our family actually moved to Canyon Lake in 1997 just because of this unique amenity,” Jim Brooks, a CLSC member, said.

“We moved to Canyon Lake in 1989 and it was love at first sight,”  Diana Sue Parker, another club member, said. “In 2020, three generations later, I find myself spending hours on the dock training my 10-year-old grandson, Liam Brady, who is following in his mother, Rachel Brady’s and my footsteps in water-skiing competition.”

As a family, the Bradys and Parkers have brought home Regionals, Nationals, World and Pan American Tournament medals. They participated in community ski shows with the Show Cal Skiers doing a family trick ski act. Liam was recently awarded Regionals Boys 1 and 2 Most Improved Slalom and Jump Skier.

First Place Regional champion Kendra Nathan, above, makes a cut on the course at the North Ski Area in Canyon Lake. Forty years ago, Tom Nagle practices in the top photo below, illustrating the history of the North Ski Area over the years. Jillian Griffin in the photo below left preps for a run while, driver Rick Heil and observer Ed Terwilliger wait in the boat. Photo by Erin Nathan

“The North Ski Area remains a popular training site for skiers,” CLSC President Mike Kerber, said. “Within the club membership, we estimate 150 rides per week are taken on the slalom course.”

Historically, the original slalom course was situated in the East Bay at the same time that the very first houses were being constructed. At the time, the construction of a bridge was considered where the North Causeway currently exists.

Jay Keegan, one of the first Canyon Lake POA general managers, recommended the change from building a bridge to building a causeway. The shift to a causeway would create the North Ski Area where slalom skiers could ski without interference of boaters on the main lake.

Photo by Debbie Sacks

Others moved to Canyon Lake to learn the course for the first time and then continued to raise their children “on the dock.”

“On the dock” has been more than just the training ground for slalom and trick skiing. It is also a place where judges, scorers, drivers and safety officials have all honed their skills. Some of these trained local helpers even went on to become senior-rated officials and drive for the Masters, Pan American Games and World Water Ski events.

The Canyon Lake Ski Club superstar officials who have earned their place as outstanding judges, scorers, safety and drivers include Kim Larson, Tom Nathan, Pat Rogers, Patti Rogers, Jim Brooks, Brad Hartwell and John Jacobson.

“One of the things I like about this sport is that even if you are not an elite skier you can be elite in an area that helps,” Ski Club President Mike said. “It’s always fun to see guys ski into 41-off, but seeing people drive those skiers and judge their performances and organize a week’s worth of skiers’ scores is equally impressive.”

From the beginner skier starting in Grass Roots events to those who became World champions, the North Ski Area has provided a protected place to learn and to practice. It has drawn skiers from around the world to become skiers and residents for a short time and for some, an entire lifetime.

World Class skier Jennifer Leachman-LaPoint moved to Canyon Lake in the early 1990s to train for her Hall of Fame career. Willy Bertotto, CLSC member since 1988, skied for the country of Argentina as an Open skier and later gained his US Citizenship and represented Canyon Lake at the Waterski Nationals and the Waterski Worlds.

Additional World Champions from Canyon Lake include Carol Brooks, Connie Bergmark, Diana Sue Parker and Dee Johnson. Some of the CLSC skiers who performed at the Masters include Rhoni Barton Bischoff and Krista Schipner.

Many skiers have prepared and qualified for Regional, National and World events right here in our own backyard. Over the years, those who have called Canyon Lake their home practice site, have brought home 300 national championship medals in any one or all of the three disciplines (slalom, trick and jump).

The first was in 1955, when Chuck Stearns, who would later move to Canyon Lake and was referred to as the Babe Ruth of Waterskiing, earned medals in all three events as a young boy. And the awards keep on coming. Earlier this year, hometown champion Kendra Nathan, competing in Girls IV, represented Canyon Lake as the US National Overall Champion in her class.

Other First Place National Champions in 2020 include Dee Johnson, Men VI; Frank Harrison, Men IX; Brad Hartwell, Men VII and Brandy Nagel, Masters Women. At the Regional Level, Canyon Lake First Place Champions in 2020 include Steven Brooks, Open Men; Carol Brooks, Women’s VI and Kendra Nathan, Girls IV. There are hundreds of other Canyon Lake Ski Club members who were national champions and podium winners through the decades.

The Canyon Lake Ski Club has also been represented both nationally and internationally by skiers in the Open class division, an elite group performing at the top echelon of waterski athletes.

One of the early Open skiers in Canyon Lake was Brian Hockenberry, who skied from 1976 to 1986. The current CLSC Open skier is Steven Brooks, who has held his rating since 2010. Both skiers have lived and trained in Canyon Lake as well as Big Dawg champion Scott Larson. Several skiers over the years have also performed in professional tournaments including Brian Hockenberry, slalom, and Rusty Rothenberg, Iron Man Jump.

Some say the North Area ski dock is also a place “where everyone knows your name.” It is a place where skiers become part of a larger family. It’s a place where children build character traits, like sharing, listening, managing themselves, waiting their turn, helping, celebrating the success of others and giving back.

“We are all a support system for each other,” Brian Hockenberry, a Canyon Lake Ski Club member since 1973, said. “We all need each other to make it all work.”

People with rich backgrounds and stories of survival have also been part of the fabric of the Canyon Lake Ski Club.

“In the 1960s, Cpl. Jack Honberger, a three-event skier, was one of the better overall skiers,” Jay Fitzpatrick, a CLSC Board Member, said. “In 1944, Jack was a gunner on a ball turret of B17 bombers in WWII.”

Imre Weil, who recently passed away, was another long-time Canyon Lake Ski Club member who lived a challenging and resilient past after being arrested by Nazis in 1944 and then was transported to a concentration camp along with his father, Jay said. Many years later, Imre moved from Hungary, to France, to Los Angeles and then he discovered Canyon Lake for its premier waterski setting. He moved to Canyon Lake and skied regularly into his 90th year.

There are other countless homeowners who came to Canyon Lake originally to be part of the club and the waterski facility. These same members have continued to coordinate the many events the club is known for, like Polar Bear Day, Breakfast with Santa (who arrives by boat), and the Learn to Ski Days for people of all ages who want to try waterskiing for the first time or re-try it after years off.

The CLSC continues to give back to the community and has been featured in many publications for its uniquely large ski club membership and waterski spirit, gaining its place as Waterski Club of the Year by the USA Waterski and Wake Sports organization.

In 2007, Waterski magazine stated, “If Norman Rockwell had painted the water-ski life, it would’ve looked something like Canyon Lake, California.”