Here's the deal: I-86 west of me, towards Boise, is currently closed by flooding for what appears to be about 30 miles, and this 30 miles is through a stretch of the high desert that's pretty remote. No ranches or homes, nothing at all going on in that flooded portion. A perfect setup for what I have in mind. The interstate truckers are hugely inconvenienced, and this flooding has been a huge PITA for all concerned. But it really has got me thinking

I haven't flown for going on two weeks, high winds and general "bad" weather have made for great snow boarding but crappy weather for flying. All I'm saying with this post is, it's a damn good thing I am also busy working, and I really hope the flying weather stays lousy. IF the WX improves and IF I don't have work, and IF the flooding persists, wow would I be tempted..... Just a half hour flight over there to eyeball things, "oops, got a little low there, these snow skis sure work good on water, who'd have guessed?" Plus, there are probably totally isolated stretches of above water freeway, miles from any prying eyes. And again, totally secure from any traffic for miles. Part of the reason I'm posting about this lusting is so I don't succumb to the temptation, but really, I have to wonder, what would be different then skiing down a river, I mean the road is blocked off at both ends, zero traffic for miles, and I'd not really be on the freeway. It's a once, first I recall anyway, in a lifetime opportunity for someone. Especially if no one sees you, that goes without saying, I'm not asking for any legal ruling here, and I don't care what my insurance company would say. Driving that stretch for years later, and remembering when I skied down it, would be priceless. I just had to (partially) get this idea out of my system.

If I have occasion to chat with a Idaho state trooper the next few days, maybe going through a port of entry in the crane, I'll run the concept by him/her first, and see if they can enlighten me as to why in the hell I shouldn't. That should be good for a laugh! I even know a couple different state highway engineers I've done aerial photography work for, on a couple big interchange projects in recent years. There's my excuse right there, "getting some pictures, got a little too low, sorry, won't happen again."

I believe the answer lies in your signature

Should be the same as a river except for the dam road signs!! I have landed on roads before and they are a lot harder to spot than you would think!! A little drift right or left and they could sneak up and bite ya!!
DENNY

Have you tried your skis on water? Your same as the river comment makes me think you have, but from what I've heard skis tend to stick on water and you can ski around great but can't get them off the water again.

Make sure you get some pictures if you do it. That would be something to see

I-86 WATERWAY

I don't think I am brave enough to purposely put my skis down in water. My guess is that the water drag would cause the ski to quickly rotate on the axle until the forward limit cable was tight, increasing drag forward of the axle and potentially putting you on your nose.

Did it a couple times, small stretch's of shallow water between ice. Seemed to work fine, but I share your concern, not much of a knowledge base out there on water skiing snow skis We are losing snow at a tremendous rate the last 48 hrs., severe flooding is being talked about here down in the valley, may be back on the Airstreams before long.

courierguy wrote:...may be back on the Airstreams before long.

Damn it! If I had photoshop I'd put up a picture of your S-7 with a couple airstream trailers In place of the AIRSTREAKS!

Nice work!

Tom,
How are you liking the Datum Skis? I am looking at get a set of the 3000's for my "Bushmaster". Any issues?

Thanks
Alan

The skis seem to be bullet proof, the actuators are fine, as long as you don't abuse them. Making them work extra hard by jamming the tire into a drift and then hitting the switch is one way. I have had zero issues with them in anything remotely considered proper use. Never any reliability issues out in the boonies, that's the most important thing.

Airstream is what my phone spell checker made out of Airstream, there it goes again.,....nice pic!

Too late! My snow runway has disappeared mostly in the last two days, unusable right now anyway, (but too much snow left for the Airstreaks, so I'm pretty much screwed for a bit, an awkward in between stage even for wheel skis and 29' tires, like being a teenager) plus worst of all they re-opened the freeway. This is a record or damn near it for our snow disappearing so quickly. It was a fun fantasy, and since I didn't really do it, no hassles from The Man.

BUT, the way things are going, the valley fields below are sure to flood, and they are owned by friends of mine and therefor fair game for some as safe as it gets water skiing. Still deep enough to drown in I guess, but at least the plane wreckage could be retrieved. Got to watch out for the fences but other then that pretty benign. Best of all, these fields lie right along the roadway I drive every day to get to work, so skiing them will bring some good memories for when I drive the route.