Water skiing is a sport where a person glides across the surface of a lake or river while being pulled by a speedboat. The skier wears one or two long, narrow skis (similar to snow skis but designed to float) and holds onto a rope attached to the boat. As the boat accelerates, the skier rises up out of the water and skims across the surface, carving back and forth across the boat's wake.

Learning to water ski takes practice and patience. Beginning skiers often fall dozens of times before they figure out how to get up and stay balanced. The key is keeping your knees bent and letting the boat do the pulling, not trying to stand up too quickly. Once you're up, though, the feeling is incredible: you're flying across the water with spray kicking up behind you.

Water skiing became popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and competitions developed for slalom skiing (weaving through buoys), jumping off ramps, and performing tricks. Many families enjoy recreational water skiing at lakes during summer vacations. Related sports include wakeboarding (using a single, wider board) and barefoot skiing (skiing without any skis at all, which requires the boat to go much faster).