Each June, Lake City celebrates its history as the Birthplace of Water Skiing with a quintessential Minnesota festival: Water Ski Days. The annual event honors Ralph Samuelson, who in 1922, invented the sport of water skiing on the waters of Lake Pepin in Lake City, Minnesota. Each year our community celebrates the man and the sport with an exciting annual festival.
Water Skiing on Lake Pepin
In 2022, Lake City commemorated the 100th anniversary of Ralph’s invention with a bronze monument in Ohuta Park. Also in 2022, Lake City celebrated the 50th year of the Water Ski Days festival and 100 years as “The Birthplace of Water Skiing” with 4 days of fun, featuring Water Ski 100 programming presented by Hearth and Home Technologies.
The Origins of Water Skiing
In 1922, local teen Ralph Samuelson took a homemade pair of skis and his daredevil determination and got behind a boat on Lake Pepin to make history. After three days of no success, Ralph decided to keep the ski tips above the water and the rest is history. He went from sitting in the water to skiing on top of it.
Ralph started drawing crowds and attention. Town officials started paying for the fuel for his boats and Ralph started adding tricks. Samuelson then went on exhibition tours around Minnesota to showcase his talents, inspiring others to try the water sport. Soon he was wowing crowds around the world.
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In addition to being the first person ever to ski on water, Ralph also was the first to be pulled behind an airplane and at the then mind-boggling speed of 80 mph, thus the fastest man on water skis for who knows how long? He first skied behind an airplane in August of 1925. It’s estimated that when being pulled behind the airplane, Ralph would jump the wake and sometimes fly as much as 50 feet in the air.
Ralph performed many water skiing exhibitions here in Lake City for which the City would charge an admission fee. Ralph was never paid any money for his Lake City Exhibitions and insisted the money be used to buy land which is now Marina Point, Ohuta Park, and the site of the Lake City Marina. Ralph was also the first to jump off of a floating water ski jump and land on water. Ralph was the first water skier to ever ski on one ski. Ralph never wore a life vest while water skiing [not smart, but true].
Water skiing came into vogue in the 1950’s and 60’s, sparking enjoyment the world over. There are millions of water skiing specific enthusiasts around the world, and today, more than 20 million people in the US alone call themselves towed water sports enthusiasts.
Monuments and Recognition
As reported in the Lake City Graphic on September 30, 1976, Dave McCormick, chairman of the 1972 Centennial Committee, formally presented the fountain-monument to the City of Lake City on Saturday afternoon, September 25, 1976. Another public sculpture, ‘The Wave’, erected in 1976, is currently being stored, awaiting restoration. I remember the day Ralph Samuelson's monument, The Wave, was dedicated in Ohuta Park. He and his wife were there. He was dressed in a nautical suit with a white cap. My husband, Norman, took some very nice pictures of him and all of us. Dr. Gregor Ziemer and his wife were also there. Dr. Ziemer wrote a wonderful book on Mr.
Ralph gave a pair of his first skis to the Minnesota Historical Society. They are on exhibit at the Minnesota History Center in Saint Paul. Replica skis are in the mini-museum located in the Lake City Marina administration building as well as in the Chamber of Commerce office.
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In 1966, after much debate around the world about who, when, and where water skiing originated, it was officially declared by the American Water Ski Association and accepted by other worldwide water ski organizations that it was indeed Ralph Samuelson, July 2, 1922, in Lake City, Minnesota who invented water skiing. No one has been able to predate any claim to that fact.
Thomas C. Hardman of the American Water Ski Association wrote in 1976: “If we had a way of foreordaining these things, we couldn’t have picked a finer father of water skiing than Ralph Samuelson. He has been an amazing asset to the sport ever since he discovered it on Lake Pepin, Lake City, Minnesota, largely because of his modesty and his genuine wonderment at what he started quite innocently back in 1922.”
Ralph W. Samuelson himself said: “If I had it to do over again I couldn’t have chosen a better place to have it happen than at Lake City, Minnesota, on beautiful Lake Pepin.”
The Annual Water Ski Days Festival
In 1972 Lake City held the first Water Ski Days. In 2022 we celebrated 3 big milestones, 150 years of Lake City, 100 years of waterskiing and 50 years of Water Ski Days.
The 2026 Annual Water Ski Days is going to be another big celebration! Come to Lake City for our annual summer party, and be treated to live concerts, an arts and crafts fair, gravity-defying water-ski shows, a grand parade, a classic car show, and much, much, much more. It’ll soon officially be time to announce the Lake Hits 95 and Pure Country WPVW Karaoke Contest Qualifier tour! Karaoke hopefuls have a chance to compete for $1000 worth of prizes, but must first qualify at one of the locations to perform on the Water Ski Days stage on June 25th, 2026! Enjoy a Half-Marathon, 10K or 5K in beautiful Lake City, MN on Saturday, June 27th, 2026! On Sunday, experience one of the biggest small town parades in Minnesota!
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Champion skiers sponsored by USA Water Ski and Wake Sports hold a free water ski clinic in Lake City each June during Water Ski Days. In recent years Lake City has developed a strong partnership with the USA Water Ski and Wake Sports Foundation, sharing information, collaborating on events, and supporting each other’s efforts to advance the sport and its history. In 2022, this collaboration resulted in a temporary Water Ski Hall of Fame exhibition held in Lake City, as well as the birth of the ‘Get on the Water’ clinics held during Water Ski Days. There’s still time to sponsor Water Ski Days in 2025! Lt.
In 2024, the USA Water Ski and Wake Sport Foundation announced the Ralph Samuelson Commemorative Boys 3 Scholarship.
Ralph Samuelson: The Father of Waterskiing
Learn the ropes on the lake where this global sport began!
| Year | Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1922 | Invention of Water Skiing | Ralph Samuelson invents water skiing on Lake Pepin. |
| 1972 | First Water Ski Days | Lake City holds the first Water Ski Days festival. |
| 2022 | 100th Anniversary | Celebration of 100 years of water skiing and 50 years of Water Ski Days. |
