#46 Helicopter Dock Start on a Slalom Ski
Photo: Art Brewer, 1982
The summer of 1982 was my breakout year as a hot dog water skier. My uncle Mike Murphy popularized the sport in the 1970s with moves like the backwards deepwater start, wake 360 and tumble turn. I wanted to be like Mike, and once I […]
Click for Photos 36-40 (with stories & related links)
Click for Photos 41-45 (with stories & related links)
Click for Photos 46-50 (with stories & related links)
When I first announced that I was giving away my best water ski photos for free personal and commercial use under the Creative Commons 3.0 License, my friends and family thought it was a little nuts. But I figure it’s better to have these images out in the world than collecting dust in a filing […]
While reviewing some random GoPro photos in Spring 2014, I noticed the beautiful pattern in the water as the ski sinks during a landing. So I set out to capture that moment with nice light and colors. After nearly a dozen set on various skis, water conditions, and lighting, I started to figure out a […]
IT’S THE CHEESE
Mike, Ron Stack, and I dominated the early days of inventing new moves on the foil. We came up with nearly all of the first 100 tricks that would be considered the standard moves in the sport.
The overall level of riding skyrocketed again around the turn of the century, and different styles of […]
UNORTHODOXY
My mind was working to come up with another first in skiing that wouldn’t be quite as risky as new moves on the air board. I wanted to do a tandem flip on my Sky Ski. Not two people flipping separately at the same time – two people flipping on the same device. The Sky […]
At the turn of the 20th century small boats called launches were just becoming powerful enough to tow riders. The first craze in towed watersports was a big flat board resembling a large door. The aquaplane was a popular device for decades, often referenced in early newspapers as an offshoot of surfing inspired by Hawaiian […]
STAND UP GUYS
The first time I ever saw a stand up foil ridden like a wakeboard was in 1991 at Mike Mack’s place on the Parker Strip. Mack took a foil assembly from an Air Chair and mounted it to a Rusty surfboard. His first model did not have footstraps or bindings, and it was […]
Every Ride List “Rules”
How does one place rules on such an arbitrary endeavor?
I have been thinking about this list since 2004, and have come up with a few guidelines to impose upon myself when deciding if something “counts” or not.
I’ve also spent a lot of time talking to my uncle Mike Murphy about the list. […]
History of the “Every Ride” List
It all started as a birthday stunt in 2004 inspired by my grandmother, Mary Murphy. She rode her hydrofoil to Catalina Island and back, a distance of 52 miles across open ocean, to celebrate her birthdays from age 79-88.
When it came time for my 40th birthday I decided to try […]
