Video: Mountain skier takes on Hawaiian waves in ski gear

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HAWAII — What happens when you don your ski gear and tackle giant waves in Hawaii? Professional athlete Chuck Patterson is committed to proving that the result can actually be something beautiful.

Patterson is a multi-talented athlete who got his start as a pro mountain free-skier. According to Defy Magazine, he now competes professionally in five sports: stand-up paddling, tow-in surfing, kite surfing, skiing and snowboarding.

In a blog post from 2012, Patterson explained the origins of his hybrid surfing technique. He said that in the late-90s, he and a friend began “exploring the idea of taking water skis out into the big waves in Hawaii and skiing the waves like we do the mountains.”

According to Patterson’s post, successfully skiing a wave became his obsession. In 2000, while living in Hawaii, Patterson strapped on some water skis and tried it out. The result was lackluster because the water skis were “big and boxy” and limited maneuverability.

A couple of years later, free-skiers Mike Douglas and Cody Townsend began using wave skis affixed with bindings. They discovered that bindings delivered the control and maneuverability necessary to tackle large waves.

Patterson decided to use the same type of wave skis used by Douglas and Townsend. He opted for race bindings that had a high release setting, which he said made “it just about impossible for the skis to come off even if I got caught by the lip and thrown over the falls.”

Another innovation that Patterson added to his wave skiing was ski poles.

“Using the ski poles really made it easier to control my balance and keep my body and hands in a natural position like snow skiing,” he explained in the post.

As shown in a series of videos from 2014, Patterson has since mastered the sport of wave skiing. Watch the videos to see how smoothly his mountain training translates to the ocean.


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About the Author: Grant Olsen -----------------------------

Grant Olsen joined the KSL.com contributor team in 2012. He covers outdoor adventures, travel, product reviews and other interesting things. You can contact him at grantorrin@gmail.com.

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