SLUSH CUP TIME -- 8/16!!

As usual, it was a great time. The costumes, the company, the excitement, the weather all made for a awesome Slush Cup. The pond being pretty big this year made for some excitement, but next year a better rescue plan/lifejackets would help a lot. It got a little too exciteing a couple of times, even for me. I have a few life vests I could bring to the cause next year and a throw rope (used for river kayaking rescue), especially if the lake is this big, which I thought was a lot of fun, especially if you made it across.

Josh...

Wow, that's a lot bigger than prior years -- no wonder there was some difficulty. That's a lot of lake to clear. Glad everyone got out okay.

My first slushcup,It was really alot of fun to watch and full of excitement, I'm glad that everyone made it out of the pond OK. It was great to meet alot of you. Ron thanks for the tour on the way up and pointing out all the good lines. All we need now is snow.

As usual, it was a great time. The costumes, the company, the excitement, the weather all made for a awesome Slush Cup. The pond being pretty big this year made for some excitement, but next year a better rescue plan/lifejackets would help a lot. It got a little too exciteing a couple of times, even for me. I have a few life vests I could bring to the cause next year and a throw rope (used for river kayaking rescue), especially if the lake is this big, which I thought was a lot of fun, especially if you made it across.
Josh...

Great plan Josh,
PFDs and throw ropes sound like great additional safety measures for next year.
Cass has been bringing his life vest for 4 years now and he finally go to use it this year

My biggest concern with life vests is the inability to swim in one; generally all I can do in a vest is slowly crawl across the surface. I'd be concerned about my ability to do even that well with skis on, and I'm certain I wouldn't be able to dive to the bottom to recover skis in one. As one of the guys who dove back in to recover his skis from the bottom, that last point is pretty important.

A life vest seems like a no-brainer for snowboarders; unless you're familiar with swimming with your legs tied together, you can sink like a rock. For skiers, a life vest should be worn by anyone not a strong swimmer or prone to panicking when suddenly and violently thrown into deep cold water. As several skimmers proved yesterday, several swimming techniques work well in skis, probably most notably the backstroke. A good test for both types is treading water while carrying weight without moving your legs; not a difficult task for moderately strong swimmers, but not someone to try for the first time in icy water.

The ideal safety solution would be a rescue swimmer with a wetsuit and flippers. Someone who could quickly and easily bring a lifering to those outside of throwing range, or drag people back to the surface if needed, would be a great safety measure. It would also provide someone well-equipment to find lost skis. Of course, the hard part is finding someone to do that...

My biggest concern with life vests is the inability to swim in one;...

Good observation, Jim.
And a safety swimmer would be handy if we had a volunteer, especially if equipped with a small rubber raft/boat like the one that was on hand this last time.
Of course the Hummel solution of throw ropes solves the life vest propulsion challenge as long as the skimmer stays on the surface... which gets you back to the life vest, etc.

Who's got more pics?
I'm working to get mine all culled out but I have almost a thousand images to go through!!