Footstock Week

The rain and cooler weather after the ski show turned the lake area into a convincing Seattle imitation. The lake got an inch deeper.

The lake level has been unexpectedly recovering for much of the month. Docks are once again in danger of becoming fish cribs.

The big event from last week was Footstock 2017.

Footstock, the World Championship Figure Eight Bare Foot Endurance contest, pits two pairs of feet at a time against each other. Each run ends with a winner and a victim. Occasionally there's two victims (simultaneous crashes) and a rerun. Some people come to watch the skill. Some come to watch the athleticism. Some come for the food. We like to photograph the crashes. Last year's update included a long litany of crash pictures and some 60's Batmanesque commentary (Biff! Ouch! Splash!). This year, we'll just summarize a few crash types.

In addition to being a tribute to the upcoming Packer season, the "It's up, it's good!" is the most common fall type and ranks near the bottom of the pain-o-meter.

The "Half good" is a variation of the former fall type. It's considered higher on the pain-o-meter depending on the bendyness of the victim.

The "Face Plant", seen here a fraction of a second before face is joined to water, ranks medium on the pain-o-meter.

The "Reverse Face Plant Shoulder Separator" can rank high on the pain-o-meter depending on the bounce and after the crash bone count.

The elements of the "Flying Boy" include a young man, a speed of around 42 mph, a toe catch, and not enough good thoughts to remain aloft.

"Step Off Issues" can include variations of other crash types with the inclusion of a ski.

In addition to the physical pain, many of these fall types can have an added psychological trauma and social stigma component depending on the competitor's gender.

A hand up is given after any fall to indicate that all is well and occasionally order a beer or in this case order a beer and a "I got beat by a girl at Footstock" t-shirt.

One of the rarest additions to the "Step Off Issues" is the "Flying Ski".

We'd like to take the time to thank Victoria for getting these wonderful shots of the "Flying Ski" and further add the knottlane drone also recorded a video of the happening that will make the interweb soon.

Of all the divisions at Footstock, the Open is the most sought after. Two days and hundreds of runs funnels down to one last pull. This year the Open came down to these two guys.

They made 1.75+ figure eights.

Then this happened.

Meanwhile, back at Lake Lucerne, this happened. Boo!