Skiers Reach New Heights in China

The logistics could make your head hurt.

Gather 44 people together, including three boat drivers, to trek thousands of miles across the ocean, bring miles of ski rope, skis and other miscellaneous equipment into China and through customs. Include the ski boat itself as part of the miscellaneous equipment, and there's so much that can go awry on the way to a world record-setting feat on the Yihe River in Linyi China.

However, Shelly Wohler, a member of the Muskego Water Bugs joined the group, which included members of Janesville's Rock Aqua Jays and 15 Chinese waterskiers, in September. The goal: set the record for the most skiers in a pyramid.

Wohler said planning for the trip began likely in January, and she was invited under cover of secrecy (just in case other clubs would want to get there first) in March of this year.

Gerry Luiting with the Rock Aqua Jays organized the U.S. contingent with ties he had in China, and the group set off on September 18 along with all of the gear they would need to complete the task. They even had to supply their own boat to qualify for the record, and that had to be shipped shortly after the national competition in mid August.

"They actually had to build a new trailer for the boat, because otherwise it wouldn't fit into the shipping container," Wohler explained. "They trailered the entire container to a dock and using a crane lifted the boat and trailer out and into the water, took the boat off the trailer and put the trailer back into the container. Quite an operation."

The goal first was to create a 55-man pyramid, which would have smashed the 44-man record, and at one point all 55 skiers were up but not for as long of a distance that the Guinness folks required. After two and a half days worth of trying and breaking the main leader, which joins all of the individual ski ropes, twice, the group had to scale back.

"It was shortly after lunch on the third day that Gerry came to us and said, 'this is do or die - no cheering, no messing around,'" Wohler said. The schedule of events had them putting on a show a little later, and the time required to set up once again would only allow them one more attempt.

Backs to the water to borrow a phrase, the 48-member team came out of the water pulled by the boat equipped with three 300-horse Mercury motors and climbed their was into the record books.

"I think we were all just relieved by that time," Wohler said. "We were trained to watch our spotter and when he gave the sign that we had done it, it just felt great."

The entire trip cost an estimated $300,000 and Wohler said she has no doubt that if they were offered the opportunity again, they would take it.