About

Attention Recruiters and Hiring Managers: If you have arrived here from a portfolio URL or similar as part of a job application, please click here to read more about the technologies on which this platform is based and my experience level with each of them.

While this website was originally created as a side project to allow me to continue programming a bit, it quickly morphed into a useful tool for me, and later others, as we learned about the sport of trick skiing. This website may have a few known issues, but is nonetheless functional and is offered "as is" in the hopes that it will be useful to others.

The site attempts to make things as simple as possible, however, users who are not already at least a little familiar with the sport of trick skiing will likely struggle to understand it's purpose and use. As a result, a very basic understanding of the sport is highly recommended. Questions about it are welcome - you can contact the author at rob AT thebaxters DOT ca.

Tips for Entering Trick Runs

This website was designed to allow for rapid entry of trick runs. It is fully mobile compatible but does work best on a desktop computer.

If on a desktop computer, the user may enter a trick code and hit enter, after which the form will reset itself for the next trick to be entered. In this way, a user can enter an entire pass and only take their hands away from the keyboard once, in order to select between the 'Pass 1' and 'Pass 2' option buttons. Further increasing the speed at which trick runs may be entered is how reverse tricks are noted. The site will accept an 'R' prefix for any trick code, and so doing will flag that trick as a reverse automatically. The majority of the logic to drive the site features executes within the users web browser to ensure a minimum of server communication that would otherwise slow it down.

Trick Terms

OOC: Out of Course. This term denotes a trick that for a few different reasons is not scored. If this is noted for a trick at the beginning of the pass (ie. the first trick in the list of tricks that make up a pass), then this means the trick is a positional trick (see 'Positional Trick' below). If this is beside a trick at the end of a pass, it means that time has run out before the trick was completed. In all instances, no points are awarded for a trick so marked.
Positional Trick: A trick done before the start of the skiers official trick pass. If the skier informs the judges (officially, the "jetty marshal"), they are performing a positional trick before the start of their run, then such a trick may be performed after the entrance buoy without triggering the start of the trick pass timing. If it is done before the entrance buoy, then the trick is marked as a positional trick (OOC) automatically and again without triggering the start of the trick pass timer.
Ski Line Trick: A ski line trick is when the skier keeps their feet in the ski and jumps over the rope. For example a WLO, or 'Ski Line O' or 'Ski Line 360' is where the skier jumps the wake and does a 360 rotation while also jumping over the rope while in the air.
Stepover Trick: A stepover trick is when the leg 'steps over' the rope. For example a LO, or 'Line Back', where the skier steps over the line with one leg while performing a B, or 180 rotation such that the skier ends up facing opposite the direction of travel.
Table: Commonly referred to as "The Table", it generally refers to the prop wash. On a modern, traditional 3 event ski boat, this is the area directly behind the boat in the centre of the wakes and is the location where the majority of surface tricks are performed. The name is due to the wake being relatively flat in this area compared to the wake from the boat on either side of it. Numerous factors can affect how the table feels for a skier, including the number of blades on the propeller and the shape of the hull.
Traditional: The term refers to the traditional 3 waterski events: slalom, trick and jump events. The term "Classic" is sometimes used in place of Traditional to refer to the same thing.
3-Event Boat: A boat that is purpose built for the slalom, trick and jump.