Local gold miner and daredevil Andy Miscovich broke his own late season water ski record by 3 days, when he skied barefoot at Harding Lake on November 19th. “I saw the forecast for the 20th, and it looked like summer was going to be over” Miscovich told Dan Thompson, a reporter for Sports’ Illustrated “Small-town News” “So I called my buddy Compeau to see if he was available to pull me immediately”. Miscovich didn’t have to ask twice. On November 19th at 2:15pm, the record, (previously set by Miscovich in 2002) was broken, according to now 70 year old Jeff Cook (happy Birthday Jeff), the longtime mayor of Harding Lake. Cook, wearing suspenders and his classic rubber galoshes, was at the lake to verify the event, however the mayor actually missed witnessing the record due to an untimely restroom emergency. Several hundred spectators stood on the thin shore ice as Miscovich performed several impressive water ski tricks, including the “Twisted Penguin” and the “Sluice Box” as he dodged ice chunks and came within inches of the Stepovich’s dock.
He skied barefoot for a minute and 10 seconds in the frigid water, according to officials from the Guinness Book of World records who were on site and voiced repeated concerns about the lack of a life vest, rescue team, defibrillator, ambulance, or even towels. Two Stepovich brothers, Dom
and Nick were seen at the boat launch arguing with the officials, (a family tradition), to keep the record from being confirmed, insisting that their record run from 2002 was never broken.
Local boat dealer Craig Compeau pulled Miscovich behind his impressive SJX jetboat, which ran flawlessly at -6F, and easily yanked the long time Fairbanks legend out of the water, due to it’s incredibly high torque 200hp direct injected engine, which is currently on sale at Compeau’s and available at big winter discounts with zero down and affordable monthly payments OAC. No fish or waterfowl were harmed during this event, as far as we know.
AN ALASKA DISPATCH ARTICLE FEATURING COMPEAU AND THE SJX BOAT.
