My wife and I have been to Gordon's a couple of times.  We were kind of unsure about the place the first time because you were all in the same hosue together and ate all your meals together.  But after one night that was one the best parts!  The house is amazing!  The meals are great and you do not feel crowded at all.  We met several people that we have become great friends with including our coaches, Wade Cox and Greg Badahl.  We are going later this year during Andy Mapple's week.  Cox does not go down any more, but all the coaches are great.  Serg, one of the boat drivers, is actually quite a great coach.  My wife and her friends liked him the best.  They always seemed to go to the far course during their sets.....HMMMM.

  It is kind of pricey, but the accomodations are first class and the site is very nice.  Make sure your liver is ready if Badahl is down there.  It is not a good day when you are still in the hot tub when the sun comes up.  And don't fall aspleep at the site, Badahl will paint your nails.  I had a lot of looksat the airport on the way home because of him. 

Gordon runs a great place and I would highly suggest it.

FYI,
if you do go to Gordon's bring lots of gloves, nothing ever dries there.

Check out Ski Sunset Ranch in CA.  My wife and I went last summer and the place is awesome, we never went on a ski vacation and this place was beyond our expectations.  They have great coaching plus offer guest coach of Terry Winter.


http://www.skisunsetranch.com/

If you are in Italy and around Naples, you might want to check out Tobia Cutulo's ski school.

http://www.twsnapoli.it/home.html

Tobia completely changed the way I ski (for the better)!

Hi Guys,  My wife and I along with 2 other couple friends (6 of us) just got back from a week in Costa Rica - HOLY COW! It was amazing!!  We spent 7 days there - We flew into San Jose Costa Rica - I thought the airfare was a pretty good price under $500 each round trip last minuite from Salt Lake City, UT - We then got met and transported to Villa Buena Vida (the house) - We spent the week skiing and every afternoon we experienced Costa Rica.  I can not tell you how absoluely awesome it was- we had both Jim Kilsdonk who runs the place and who is a great host, very fun, and very easy to deal with as one of our coaches as well as Jeff Milford who is the Mens 3 national champ joined us for the last few days of our stay.  I can not even tell you how neat of a set up it is.  You stay at a nice house about 15 minuites from the ski lakes, Jim has arranged for two awesome costa rican ladies who live nearby the lakes to provide breakfast and lunches - this was so great - i can not believe how great the food was and how cute the ladies are!!   Each afternoon we did a different "adventure" - With each adventure my wife kept saying that this was the best experience of her life - She said the zip lines were top 5 in her life, we went on the Toro River Rafting - she said that was #1 ever, we soaked at these natural volcano springs one night, we went on a Jungle river cruise.  Each night we went out to a different very nice resturaunt - I feel we really experienced Costa Rica!   My wife was a bit worried about just being tied to Waterskiing - which was my high on my priority list - she was totally and absolutely delighted as was I- I cant wait to go back and take my kids as well.  Best of luck - I hope you can go on a trip like this - Definately worth the time and money!!!!

I just spent a week down in Costa Rica with Jim Kilsdonk at Waterski Costa Rica.  http://www.waterskicostarica.com

What an increadible experience.  The people, food and skiing was epic.  Jim has done a great job making sure all your needs are met.  The weather was in the 80's every day, no wind and the skiing was world class.  I would highly recommend this all inclusive waterski vaction to anyone who is interested in getting away in the winter months.  Jim mentioned that he has some availablility in May and is looking to fill a few weeks, so if you have ever considered going to Costa Rica, now would be a great time.

Each morning we would wake up at Villa Buena Vida, which is a 7 bedroom 7 bath villa with a pool, to the sound of music and the smell of Costa Rican coffee.  We would load up and drive to the lake, which is about 10 minutes away.  Each morning we would eat breakfast lakeside, prepared by a wonderful Costa Rican family that prepares different foods each day.  We would then ski all morning and then eat lunch lakeside.  After everyone had skied, we would head back to the villa and go out on an excursion.  Hot springs, river rafting, jungle cruise, zip lining, horseback riding.  You name it and it is available.  This was the highlight of the trip.  Then we would go out for dinner at local resurants and take in the culture.  We would fall into bed and wake up to do it all over again.

Jim Kilsdonk is a great host and an increadible waterskier and coach. 

I have posted a few youtube videos.  One skiing at the lake and 2 ziplining at teh base of the volcano. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Msy1kahHYE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYKI5cjLERo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rWQlLoN_o8

Enjoy!

Jeff Milford

I second Waterski Costa Rica. I went in 2008 and plan on going again!

Hi Guys, saw your posts about waterski costa rica. Just thought I would say that my wife and I have just got back from there and I can't agree more. We both had a fantastic time, and my wife doesn't even ski!

If you want to ski in warm water with great coaching and fantastic trips as well then this is the place for you! We arrived and for the first two days had Ty Oppenlander with us who was getting some coaching and training in for the Moomba Masters (world No 10 and came 5th at Moomba 2010) and for the next three it was just us. Jim is a great guy who knows his stuff and really looks after you.

Definitely worth the trip!