This last 5 dollar friday, Bow lake was lucky enough to have long time professional water skier, and local northwest skiing legend legend, Jill Knutson stop by. When she finished tearing up the course and giving some helpful pointers to some local skiers, we got a chance to catch up with her and ask her a few questions
B: Can you tell us a little bit about you’re history with water sports?
J: My Step dad was the one that got us into skiing when I was seven years old. My mom married Joe Cassio and we lived in Colorado and he leased a lake called Little Sota Lake and it was snow runoff that went into the little lake and then into the big lake so it absolutely freezing! We got to ski about 4 months out of the year and it was a pretty similar climate to this.
B: And you skied competitively?
J: Yes I started skiing competitively, and I got into nationals when I was 11 years old, and then I qualified as a professional when I was 17 and I’m just at the end of my career now.
B: Whats your next move with water sports?
J: Well I’m retiring and continuing to ski for fun. My daughter loves to ski so I’m sort of coming back to my roots, and doing some local tournaments and some novice tournaments with her. We’re doing some INT tournaments too, so that’s my goal for this summer. I’ve been trying to help out a lot too, because so many people have helped me out over the years.
B: Have you been to Bow Lake before?
J: Yes, actually I was here when it was built. Ron Goodman helped build it and I was actually skiing with the Goodmans at the time, so I actually surveyed and took out some trees here at Bow, so it’s all coming back around full circle [laughing]
B: What’s your favorite part about Bow Lake?
J: I love how I know exactly how it was created. I know the idea in mind of how the islands are so wide, that it allows you to pick up the speed need for the course. I think it’s a good use of the lake and the property and I love how it’s just a comfortable atmosphere out here and people just hang out and enjoy the skiing!
B: Do you have any advice for any up and coming skiers?
J: Of course I do! Know that the sport is a great workout [laughs]. Know that it’s one of the hardest sports you could ever do. Being pulled by another source makes it different. Mostly though, I would say that you just have to practice over and over and over again. Slalom skiing and wakeboarding are a marathon, not a sprint and it’s not something easy and you just have to keep being persistent and consistent and eventually you’ll get it!
Thanks Jill!
Jill with Marketing Intern Jon and Operations Manager Justin
