Come Fly With Me
New to surf skis? If you are, understandably, you’ll be falling over more than you’ll be paddling. If that’s the case—and in fact, even if it isn’t and you’re already an intermediate paddler—you need to practice and master one of the basic surf ski skills: remounting.
Remounting a ski may seem pretty easy, but it’s a challenge. A single failed attempt to remount a ski can cost you a lot of energy. So fail three or four times, and you might find you don’t have any strength left to remount; thus your surf ski day ends prematurely. You can even injure some muscles or tendons given the proper factors like cold water and adrenaline. So be familiar with these surf ski skills and make sure to practice them as much as you do paddling until you become quite adept at them. Here’s the straddle remount:
The straddle remount is, in general, faster than other remounts like the sidesaddle. It’s easier to perform on some skis too, though this is true for the sidesaddle as well. Anyways, to do it, turn the ski (be sure you’re upwind of the ski first) so that it points to the waves and the wind. With one hand, grip the paddle and foot strap, and with the other, grip the far rail. Pull yourself out of the water and onto the ski; you should be lying face down in a somewhat diagonal fashion on your ski afterwards. Swing your legs over and across your ski while pushing your body up. Swivel your behind into the cockpit as you do this. You can easily fall right off again at this point, so be careful. Grab the paddle with both hands to stabilize your position. This stability gives you ample time to swing your legs into the cockpit. While controlling your overall balance with the paddle, pull both your legs in, and you’ve remounted. With enough practice (as well as upper body strength), this remount would take only a few seconds.
It helps to stop and pause after every stable position to catch your breath and not fall off. Falling off and having to try again is really physically taxing. Keep in mind that things are easier upwind, as if you are downwind your legs are dragging beneath the ski. If you find yourself downwind, duck beneath your ski and come up on the other side, without letting go of the ski.
Tags: basic surf ski skills, beginner surf ski, how to surf ski, surf ski skills
