The Ski Show - The Ultimate Show Ski Podcast

Matt Heilman and Adam Schaller

152 episodes listed below

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Show skiing's year-round inside track.

The gist

The Ski Show is a niche, highly plugged-in chronicle of show skiing culture, competition, and lore. Matt Heilman and Adam Scheller move between tournament recaps, team histories, technical debates, and interviews with the sport's named standouts.

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About The Ski Show - The Ultimate Show Ski Podcast

The Ski Show covers show skiing as a living sport with history, technique, gossip, ceremony, and year-round momentum. Its focus is narrow by design. Matt Heilman and Adam Scheller speak to people who know why a clean jump act matters, why scoring systems start arguments, and why Wisconsin State can feel larger than almost anything else on the calendar. Episodes often begin casually, with snow in southern Wisconsin, holiday drinks, missed production weeks, or sponsor chatter. Then the conversation locks into the sport. One week may chronicle the history of SeaWorld ski shows, including production schedules, contract changes, and the work of keeping performers healthy through repeated daily shows. Another may trace the Tampa Bay Water Ski Show team or compare freestyle jumping across eras. The tournament episodes are dense and useful. Wisconsin State gets treatment by division, with attention to Badwater Skeeters, Ski Sprites, Division I awards, scoring drama, nationals previews, and fantasy draft updates. The show also cares about recognition. Awards recaps linger on nominees, video montages, crowd energy, and the emotional force of a room full of show skiers cheering each other. Technical conversations can be blunt. A scoring-system episode sounds like regular shop talk between people who have had the same debate many times, with Dave helping keep the room moving. Interview episodes bring in named figures and teams from the sport, including Hank Amos, Scott Clack, Mike Tolsman, and the Catfish Bay Jump Team. The result is part archive, part locker-room conversation, and part community bulletin. It does not spend much time explaining show skiing from zero. That is part of the appeal. The language assumes listeners understand tournaments, show directors, freestyle jump, sponsor gear, national team jump titles, and why a practice episode could become a season favorite. The pacing is relaxed, but the context is deep. For the right listener, it feels like sitting near the announcer stand after a long tournament day. The Ski Show preserves a sport that mostly lives in teams, lakes, summer schedules, and shared memory.

Made for: Built for show skiers, team families, announcers, directors, tournament regulars, and water ski fans who want insider context beyond final scores. Newer fans can listen in, but the show is most rewarding for people already close to the sport.

What sets it apart: It is unusually dedicated to show skiing as its own beat, mixing oral history, current-event recaps, scoring debates, team interviews, and awards coverage. The specificity is the point: few shows spend this much time on the people and mechanics behind water ski shows.

In their own words

The Ski Show is the Ultimate Show Ski Podcast. Show skiing is one of the best disciplines of water skiing in the industry today. On this podcast, we talk about all things show skiing with discussions of current events and industry insight as well as interviews with water ski legends, hall of famers, and rising stars in our sport. And who knows, we might just entertain you along the way. Show skiing is a team sport unlike any other, with some of the most passionate and dedicated people around. Our podcast is the only media specifically dedicated to the great...

Why you'd press play

Tournament brackets meet towboat geometry, and suddenly your water-ski curiosity has a very specific address.

Press play if you want

Matt and Adam's region-by-region read on which teams could rise, stall, or surprise once competition starts
career stories that carry you from Cypress Gardens to SeaWorld, Ohio, and professional shows in Australia

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

show skiing historyWisconsin State Tournament recapsfreestyle jumping erasscoring system debatesteam jump titlesSki Show AwardsSeaWorld ski showsnationals previews

Talks about

History Water Sports

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About The Ski Show - The Ultimate Show Ski Podcast

In their own words

Why you'd press play

Talks about

Podcasts like The Ski Show - The Ultimate Show Ski Podcast

Episodes

AI in Show Skiing

2026 Nationals Recap

Wisconsin State Recap 2026

2026 Tournament Season Preview Draft Special

We Talkin' Bout Practice

Bryson Mace

Inside Team USA

Show Ski Moms

The History of the Lake City Skiers

History of Think Tank and Awards Show Preview

The Women of Freestyle Jump

Roundtable Judges Q&A

Season Recap and Holiday Special

The History of Tampa Bay

Freestyle Jump - Then & Now - Part 2 with Cale Ducane, Pete Hegarty, and Ethan Shulda

Freestyle Jump - Then & Now - Part 1 with Hank Amos, Scott Clack, Mike Tolzmann

Is the Scoring System working?

The Rise of the Catfish Bay Jump Team

D1/D2 Nationals Discussion

2025 Skip and Willa Winners

2025 Nationals Recap

The Legacy of the Rock Aqua Jays and the 50th Nationals

2025 Wisconsin State Recap

Cypress Gardens and the rising O'Connor stars

2025 Tournament Season Preview

The Rise of the Shawano Ski Sharks

Austin Walstad

Ballet Line

Evan Marcus

Current Events and Shop Talk with David Rezin

The Pete Hegarty Comeback Journey

World Tournament Preview with Pete O'Neill

Awards Show Recap

Age is Just a Number - Skiing beyond age 60

The Voices of Legoland

Legoland

Lieven Hardy

Faith Dix

Thanksgiving Special

Q&A with Jeff Henke and Sandi Oleson

Production beyond the Script

Brea and Kailey Takeover

Cheryl Bermeo

Building a Higher Scoring Show

2024 D1 and D2 Nationals Recap

Jayson Rishling

Stories and Knowledge from the Driver's Seat

2024 Tournament Season Preview

Preparing for Individual Competition

Anne Judd

The History of the Min-Aqua Bats

Paige Peshina

Unscripted - Episode 100!

Jake Horton

The Future of Jump is Now - featuring George Hartmann and Wayne Borowski

Mini Ramps

Ginny McGinnis

Breaking Records

Jordan Long

Kevin Jack

History of the Chain Skimmers

Show Ski Wives

Hyatt Bros

Joe Sawaska

Steve Welch and Alex Jacobson

Rising Stars

Joel Poland

2023 D1 Nationals and Cornfest Recap

Dano Amir

2023 Wisconsin State Recap

The Best of The Ski Show Podcast

Hank Amos

2023 Tournament Season Preview