The Great Southern Stone Skipping Championships
If you’re looking for something fun to do over Labor Day weekend, this one’s for you, whether you choose to participate or just see how well you can count the skipping of a rock.
That’s right, rock skipping. Serious rock skipping for prize money. The Great Southern Stone Skipping Championships on Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend at Fairfield Bay Marina.
The one and only stone skipping contest in the State of Arkansas starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3. The entry fee $10 for child or adult flights. All proceeds will go to the Arkansas Food Bank to be shared with local food outlets.
The prize money for rock skipping ability is nothing to sneeze at:
Adults: 1st Place $200; 2nd Place $100; 3rd Place $50
Children: 1st Place $100; 2nd Place $75; 3rd Place $50
But you might want to start warming up your arm if you’re in it for the money because World Champion Kurt “Mountain Man” Steiner will be at the event.
The event schedule starts at 9 a.m. with a clinic and warm ups. Open Competitive Skipping starts at 9:30 a.m. and is expected to last until around 10:15 a.m. Recognition of event sponsors and presentation of awards is slotted for around 10:45 a.m.
You can look for good skipping rocks when you get there or bring your own. But, the skip captain will examine the three stones you plan to skips. Stones can’t be man-made.
And if you’re wondering, like I was, just how one judges such a contest, well, there are five judges. They will observe with only the naked eye each competitor’s skip. Then they caucus in private to arrive at an adjudged number of skips associated with each skip. The top number of skips among a competitor’s three skips is recorded by the skip captain as the competitor’s top skip score.
The top five adults and children in the open competitive skip advance to the Skip Off, which is conducted in the same manner.
Bring your own lawn chairs and coolers (no glass) to sit and watch the fun. Let me know if you managed to count as well as the skip judges.