Unlimited Classes $108/month "I've skied pretty much since I was 14 years old."
down stream... I’ve had some pretty wild experiences with things like that.” Hooten took about a 20-year break during dental school, residency, and a stint in the Army. But when he came back to Austin, his parents had built a house on Lake Austin. Before long, he and his wife bought a house on the lake about five doors down. The ski community is familiar—one might say familial. They all know each other. The Hootens skied with Tom Fooshee’s family and Steve Present, owner of Texas Ski Ranch, among others. “Tom grew up skiing with his brother Graham and his dad on Lake Austin,” Janet Hooten said. “They were very big into competitive skiing when they were younger.” The three-event tournaments are on conventional skis, albeit different types. Slalom skis are about five- to six-feet long and about five inches wide. “Wakeboards are wider and shorter,” Hooten explained. “A lot of wakeboarders, people like Tommy [Fooshee], their tricks are aerials. We try not to do aierals on slalom, on purpose, or by accident; they can hurt you pretty good.” Hooten explained that a trick ski is smaller than a wakeboard but can do a lot of the same things, although expert wakeboarders can get more air or height than a trick skier. “A wakeboard has a little bit of a fin to it so you get more traction; a trick ski has a slick bottom.” Jumper skis, for lengthy jumps off ramps are long, look almost like snow skis. “When Jeran first started jumping, when he was a little boy, they actually had metal on the front—to keep them from breaking,” Janet Hooten said. Hooten is a compendium of knowledge about water skiing records, several from personal experience. “The world record now in tournament jumping is 247 feet,” he said. “When I was a kid skier, my partner, Penny Baker,
The Hootens co-own Frame Switch Lake where they and the Longhorn Water Ski Club train
urbananimalnation.com Fit After 40
75