Marcus Brown (00:01)
All right guys, look who we've got. We're kicking off 2025 with none other than Mr. Charlie Ross. Charlie, what is going on, dude? Where are you at right now?
Charlie Ross (00:10)
I'm
happy to be here. I've seen all the interviews with Will. I used to watch all of them and try to learn as much as I can. So happy to be on here finally and happy we're doing this.
Marcus Brown (00:21)
Dude, you've learned look, you're the freaking 2025 movement master slalom champion, buddy. That was just earlier this month. That's insane. What was?
Charlie Ross (00:26)
Yeah. Yeah. That one
felt really good to finally kind of get a win under the belt and to have it be one of the majors. was a cool moment. I was excited.
Marcus Brown (00:38)
What did it feel like? Because Mumba, we'll just get into it. Mumba is probably the most sensational event to watch as a spectator, just because you've got you're in downtown Melbourne, Australia. You're it's you fly from North America. You end up going from winter to summer. So that's weird. You show up and you're skiing on a river where the conditions are considerably different than anything else out there. There's current, there's rollers. There's often trash in the water.
You got fans on the shoreline. You've got huge skyscrapers in the background. What what was that like to to just ski there, let alone end up on top of the podium?
Charlie Ross (01:17)
It's surreal, like just to be on the dock and every time I go under, I think Swan Street Bridge, you're just like, holy cow, this is different. This isn't like, you know, a random lake in the middle of nowhere. We're in a city on a river. So that's really cool. then kind of training going into it. I've been skiing a lot here at Rollins and me and Coach Mark, we would just kind of be like, okay, there's the tour boats. Now we go out. And so it's been skiing and
the earliest conditions I think you could just with boat wakes everywhere. so honestly, when I got there, it felt like it felt normal. It felt easy. It felt like I could, I felt like I had done it a hundred times this winter. so, you know, like they're getting to balance, you know, skiing with Berg's my dad at home and then coming over here and like going there and getting proper training and then coming to Rollins and getting like tough, tough conditions training where we're just cranking up passes. I think that was the best preparation I could have asked for it.
Marcus Brown (02:16)
So I'm not gonna tell our viewers that they should go ski in crappy water, but what you're telling me is you went to ski in crappy water on purpose to get ready for the Yara.
Charlie Ross (02:26)
Yeah, I mean, if the water's crappy, you got to say, right, I'm going to be, I'm going to be good through it and you got to just, you know, and at the start, like I was missing 32 and I like at the beginning of the year and I'm like, holy cow, I can't ski here. Like this is bad.
And eventually like over the last semester into this one, it's like, okay, I'm running 39s in it and it feels the normal and like, you know, the bouncing around that was scaring me at first, it feels like, you know, it's just kind of part of it and it doesn't have much of effect anymore. so like, I honestly think it's good for you and it's good training.
Marcus Brown (02:59)
How did you feel during the event? Because I watched both the preliminaries and the finals. I think a lot of people did. But how did you feel personally on the water? Like, did you feel confident? Did you feel were you sketched out at any point? Did you feel like you were on the edge of like falling off before obviously getting what you needed to win?
Charlie Ross (03:20)
Yeah, I mean, kind of the same with every event. I'm, I'm usually first few passes pretty nervous. then once that kind of like, okay, I got to go here kicks in, you just kind of get into the zone and it feels like practice. feels like every day. remember three ball at 32 and in prelims I had changed like early to it. And I was like, Oh my gosh, like, I don't know if I'm going around this. Like I felt narrow.
And, you know, that was kind of like a scary moment. And then the rest just kind of felt okay. Like the 35s, both prelims and finals, I'm like, okay, I'm not early, but like, you don't need to be early here. Like honestly, the earlier you are, you're just sitting kind of in rollers bouncing around. just out, move out and move through. Like just kind of get comfortable doing that and not comfortable being a little later.
Marcus Brown (04:10)
So we talked about the physical side of it. What about the mental game? Like I know you kind of spoke to it just now, but for people who are trying to push their own limits, you know, getting to like into a bigger event or trying to not be so nervous, what are a couple key things you do? Maybe leading up to the day of skiing, like say finals, right? Leading up to the day like or during your warmup or when you get in the water like.
What are some rituals or some habits you have mentally that help you stay sharp and not freaked out?
Charlie Ross (04:42)
Yeah, I
used to honestly have more habits than I do now. Like I honestly then was just trying to keep, and I'm still learning it. it's a tough thing to balance. It's a tough thing to really know how to make yourself calm and collective in those
like just small things, like the days before I wasn't allowing myself to like to be nervous. Every time I was just like, man, I'm scared. I'll just put on a movie or just find a way to.
way to relax and be calm.
Yeah. And so
kind of just continuing with the mental side, just knowing, okay, I'm going to be in this position. I'm going to be nervous. That's okay. I think it was Regina said, like, yeah, I'm nervous, but that means I still care. And so like, just kind of being ready for that. And then
Like I love having my dad and sister on the dock. find a way to joke around with them and just kind of goes from a tense situation to all of sudden my sister says something that I find funny and now we're back to a good spot. so like it's a process like the mental side, but anyone out there just like, you know, find what makes you happy. Realize we're doing this because we're happy and because we like it and yeah.
Marcus Brown (05:58)
Yeah. Yep. So question you've been climbing the pro ranks, um, over the last couple of years, few years, maybe. Um, what do you think has contributed? mean, you, you ski a lot, you got great training. You got your sister to help help you train. got your dad. Um, and I'm sure you got others, but what do you think has been kind of the thing that's changed or that's helped you, um, break onto the pro scene over the last few years?
What are a couple of factors in your opinion?
Charlie Ross (06:32)
A lot honestly, I mean don't think you can really supplement for volume, just volume on the water. I feel like I'm getting better through that. But.
You know, changing, changing, changing trainings, environments is like something that, you know, I grew up skiing on like probably one of the best lakes you could. so like when you go to a tournament, it doesn't feel exactly the same. can throw you off, but changing around a little bit and then going and just getting to bounce different ideas off different people. know you and I have talked a bit. I've talked to Matt Rini a lot and I've kind of, you know, kept the central voice being Berg's my dad. And so we kind of just, we have our ideas of how we kind of want to.
improve in the season and we have our list and then you know whether it's different verbiage or different a different way of looking at skiing like how do we improve by talking to others and so that's that's something that's neat and then a lot of a lot of honestly just watching videos
Like my gate this year, wanted to, I wasn't happy with it. I wanted to tear it apart and redo it this winter. And so it went back from watching more, more Andy honestly, than anyone else. A lot of Andy, a lot of Will and a lot of...
Marcus Brown (07:41)
What do you like about
Andy and Will's Gate?
Charlie Ross (07:45)
Well, Wills is different in the sense that he's a little tailish on the glide. And you think, okay, I tried that for the longest time and I was struggling. ⁓ but then you, you're watching it and you're going, yes, he's tailish there, but watch his body position through the wakes. It doesn't matter really where his stance is. So long as like through the first wake season, he's in a stronger and a bulletproof position. then, Freddy's gate, was screenshotting and comparing, ⁓ mind his a bunch and you can see.
I thought our moves were similar and I was like, okay, so what's different? And then you watch his water break and it was constantly six inches ahead of mine on the ski. And I'm like, okay, so that's something I need to take away. And then Andy honestly was one of the key ones that I liked and like picking up on it. He stays on the cutting edge, like pretty much all the way through the glide. He's holding his direction. And then rather than flat ski to tip back to roll in, it's just a carve of the ski.
And like, it's beautiful to watch. so trying to kind of balance, you know, watch those three and see what we can learn from it. It's neat.
Marcus Brown (08:52)
Obviously
you guys, you and your dad and your sister, and I'm sure others, you've developed this ability to like be students of the sport. It sounds like, like you're, totally into it because you're taking the time to watch videos. You're not just kind of blindly going out and taking random sets. And I feel like that's, that's something that, ⁓ we could all do better. I think it sounds like you're putting in the time and the homework.
Charlie Ross (09:18)
I mean, it's just honestly, I enjoy watching it. I enjoy watching the old Moonbuzz and seeing like, holy cow, how does Andy dunk at a two ball and find a way back on and connected to three and early? Like those are the things that I'm like, okay, I can't do that yet, but how do I, how do I watch that and see their position into it and see how I can do that? Like it's cool.
Marcus Brown (09:39)
So talking about dunking two four and you don't do that yet, but I know we talked pre Mumba and you did change something off the water going into this year. Do you want to talk about that briefly? I just think it's interesting as far as gaining a little bit of weight and strength.
Charlie Ross (09:56)
Oh, yeah. Um, like I've always kind of been one of the lightest on the, on the tour, I would guess I was competing last year. think at California pro I am, was six to one 38. Like I was like, um, and you know, it sounds great. Um, lightweight, less, less pressure on the ski ski sits higher. I'm faster than anyone else. And like, I've always been like, okay, that's the way to go. Um, but I was getting injured a ton. Like I was, I was
Marcus Brown (10:07)
That's so right.
Charlie Ross (10:24)
like I just wasn't making it through a month or two without like having to take a week off because it just hurt. And then I was also I felt like if I struck it right it was good but you know in tournaments when there's that a little bit of extra time to think and you want to process as soon as I did that and made a mistake I was done. Like I wasn't strong enough to pull back to a connection and go.
And so, you know, getting in the gym and saying, okay, how do I get stronger in my legs? So I'm not crushing as much, get stronger. And I really had no idea what I was doing. I hadn't done weight training before, but a lot of that. And I don't know, I think it's gone better.
Marcus Brown (11:03)
How much weight did you gain pre-Mumba? Like where were you at going into?
Charlie Ross (11:08)
So from August to Mumba, think I put on 20-ish pounds. Now I've kind of come down a little bit since, but I was skiing at like 155-ish, 158. Now a little bit lighter, but I don't know. It was kind of cool process. you kind of learn, I feel like can adjust weight pretty quick. Like if I needed to lose another 10 pounds, I think I could do it in a month.
But so like that kind of gives you the flexibility to play around and say, okay, here's where I am now. Here's how it feels on the ski versus here's how I am three, four pounds heavier. How does that feel on the ski?
Marcus Brown (11:44)
Yeah.
It's definitely a balance, right? Between being too light and almost a little too fragile and being a little stronger and a little bit more like having more strength to weight. But obviously you don't want to be so big and bulky that then you're working against the physics of water and ski design. So interesting question. ⁓ you qualified for the masters, the prestigious masters with your Mumba win, correct? So
Charlie Ross (12:02)
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah,
it's a crazy one.
Marcus Brown (12:14)
I mean,
yeah, that's like you don't have to chase it now. So what's that feel like now? You can kind of like focus on that next tournament. That's like a long runway to get to Masters.
Charlie Ross (12:25)
Yeah, I mean, that feels really good, honestly. Like I can go chase records this, this start of the spring, go to record tournaments and see, okay, let's, let's run 41. Let's get, let's get one at 43. And if we do that, let's get two. ⁓ that's kind of been a thought. And then now also with the master's qualifiers leading up and having Swiss pro in that and having.
all that leading to the masters, it's a lot. And so now I feel I've got the advantage. I can be rested going into it, know, and balancing all that with school at the same time as exams. And like that can be a good bit on the plate. And so having those kind of taken care of being qualified, being able to just focus on Swiss pro focus on masters and, give it the best run that we can. That's exciting.
Marcus Brown (13:09)
mean, you are multifaceted right now. You're not just a pro skier. You're obviously going to school. You've got a lot on your plate. What are you studying by the way? At Rollins.
Charlie Ross (13:18)
I'm doing kind
of a full plate. I'll see if I finish it, but I'm doing majors in economics and comp sci and then minors in data analytics and math. So we'll see if we finish all that, but.
Marcus Brown (13:28)
Dude. Yeah,
that's crazy. I mean, do you have any goals when you get out? Things you want to maybe consider doing? You don't know yet.
Charlie Ross (13:37)
Hopefully of skiing, supporting me for a little bit and take a run at starting something or take a run at learning something so that I can ski for as long as I can and not working at nine to five.
Marcus Brown (13:46)
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Good for you. Well, you're on your way, dude. I mean, the seasons, that's a great, you can't start at any better than winning Mumba. One of the toughest events. What, what other goals do you have this season? for the rest of season, it's, it's early. We're not even into April yet, but I'm just thinking like looking ahead, you mentioned setting some records. What records are those and what performance goals do you have for record tournaments and also for placements at pro events this year?
Charlie Ross (14:12)
Yeah, mean, like first and foremost, I want to knock down 41. It's been on the mind for a while. So chase that and see if we can get it. And then that would be another U21 world record. then...
Then kind of going into the rest of year, I mean, we're lucky this year we have three majors and so qualified for masters now and we'll be at Worlds. And so let's go, let's go for all three. Like you only have so many Worlds and Masters in your career. Let's go for it and make the most of it. And then kind of on the junior side, it's another U21 Worlds year. So that would be, that's an event I'm excited for. mean, like seeing all the skiers your age, you get to hang out with them. It's a really fun tournament. And then also, I mean, it's a Worlds, you want to go for it.
And then right before Open Worlds is Junior Pan Am Games in Paraguay. I feel like that'll be a cool one. Like staying in an athlete village, meeting other athletes. I think that'll be really cool. It's kind of a busy schedule this year, a lot of pro events, but just see as much as what we can do.
Marcus Brown (15:17)
Yeah.
A lot. It sounds like you've got a lot on your plate. How are you going to approach this season? I know you just set out the like the actual outcomes that you're looking for. How are you going? What are you going to do along the way to make sure that you stay on track? What are a couple?
Charlie Ross (15:32)
Yeah, mean,
⁓ sorry. I've never been like a skier that's okay. I need to run 41 every day. I need to do this. It's always like, how can I feel better on my ski each day? And how can I like, if I don't feel good, it's okay to take the day and just do 35, 35s and continue to kind of find like a good balance on that. And so kind of approaching the season, it's the same as the off season in the sense that, you know, the more, the
just continue to learn is the best. I remember Will saying in a video he did with you, I think more than a skier, he goes like I do not care about the day-to-day results, I care about feeling the best I can and learning as much as I can. And kind of continuing that, seeing how I can learn from him and other guys, it's something you got to continue to do, it's not just an off-season thing. So yeah, that'll be kind of the goal.
Marcus Brown (16:27)
How about when you're at tournament, are a couple people you try to make sure you watch, like that you really enjoy watching ski?
Charlie Ross (16:35)
Yeah, I mean, I can go back to him a lot, but well, not even watching him ski, of course, like that's a treat, but watching how he approaches it, watching is how calm he is before, how calm he is after, whether it was a great set or a bad set. It's like you can watch him and truly see how professional he is and see how, like, how dialed he is. And I've been able to see that kind of from...
going back and watching all the tournaments that my dad skied in against him. And like, that's always cool to pick up on.
Marcus Brown (17:05)
Yeah.
Yeah, I know it's crazy. Your dad, your dad skied against Will and a lot of us. And now you're skiing against Will and T gas and that that crew. That's, that's really cool.
Charlie Ross (17:18)
Yeah, and
you this year when you make the comeback.
Marcus Brown (17:22)
Yeah, we'll see.
I would love to, but I'm glad you're even thinking about that. You don't have anything to worry about, bro. Don't don't have anything to worry about. So. Good, right? You got other people to worry about. So on that topic, max performance. I don't think people understand and you don't have to share, but I mean, do you want to? What do you think you could do at 43? Like what do you think is possible for you at 43? Because the world record is.
Charlie Ross (17:31)
That's why I'm training.
Marcus Brown (17:50)
What? and a half. Yeah. Is it possible?
Charlie Ross (17:51)
Two and a half.
I mean,
I've turned two twice now, been just inside three and then popped the handle going to three once and like, not perfect boat path, like obviously friendly, it's 43. But I mean, the way I view it and it might be too ambitious. I mean, I don't really know. I'm 19 now. I've been like skiing professionally and training really hard for four or five years now.
Marcus Brown (18:10)
Yeah, still.
Charlie Ross (18:25)
I mean, think it might give myself another 10 to 15, 20. I want to chase running it. I want to chase the world record and see how high I can sit back. Like when I'm done with my career, I want to be able to say, okay, I did everything I can to run 43. I don't know if it's even close to possible, but I mean.
Marcus Brown (18:43)
Do you
think it's possible?
Charlie Ross (18:46)
Should I have no idea?
Marcus Brown (18:48)
I mean, theoretically,
if you can get one and you can get two and turn two, theoretically, that indicates that you may be able to get at least four. If you can get one and two and get to three, but you got to be.
Charlie Ross (19:02)
I mean, it was,
it was only a few years ago when it was Pato's bursting on the scene and taking over. were going, shoot is tricking 13 possible? Like what is the points per second? How does that look? And now it's Maddie, Tinscho, Jake, Pato, Joel, all right on the door. Like, I mean, shoot, I think the most exciting event of the year is probably going to be Swish Pro tricks. It's like, they're all shooting for it.
⁓ and Louie too. And so, I mean, we were saying that about tricks just a year or two ago. I think, you know, with me coming up Lucas, I mean, you look at all the young skiers, the Ede brothers, Blandon, like, I feel like we're in a...
in point where in a few years it's going to be a similar thing in slalom where it's like, holy cow, everyone's knocking on the door. And I mean, I named a bunch of young guys, but there's also still going to be Freddie fighting for it. Nate will still probably be around at this rate. Will will probably still be around fighting for it. Dane, Cole, like Rob Hazelwood, he's still like Joel. Like the list goes on and on. I see, I feel like in three years, two years, it's going to be.
every single tournament it's going to be almost a world record to win.
Marcus Brown (20:10)
Yeah. Especially if the site is primed for it, you it's crazy, man. It's crazy. What, um, who, do you, who do you not want to ski against in a head to head event the most? Who would you dread being on the dock with?
Charlie Ross (20:13)
Yeah, that's what's exciting.
Nate got the best of me at California. mean, he gets the best of everyone, but honestly, I feel like I would kind of like to face off against him again and see how I can do. mean, he ran three at 41 and I needed a piece of four and I turned to turn three. I was a little bad into it and like lost the handle. So that one kind of stung, but I mean, anytime you're going against Freddie, Nate will.
your heart's gotta be kinda, or your stomach, your heart's gotta be kinda in your throat like.
Marcus Brown (21:02)
Yeah. What do you like?
You like to go first or second in head to heads?
Charlie Ross (21:08)
Always first, you get another quarter buoy. So I like that. But mean, second, you know what you're gonna do too.
Marcus Brown (21:12)
Yeah, exactly. And you don't have to worry about the score.
Yeah, you don't have to worry about what you have to do. You can just go do it.
What about off the water, dude? What's one thing people might be surprised to hear about you outside of skiing? Like are you like a yo-yo champion or like is there any random fact about you?
Charlie Ross (21:30)
man, ⁓
My dad and I
play some serious ping pong every time I come home. So that's something I like doing. lot of basketball, not very good. But you know, it's honestly, mean, just coming to Rawlins, was the way I met everyone. You just go play intramural and you meet, you leave and you've met another 20 or 30 guys. And so that, I want to get better at that.
Marcus Brown (21:43)
Nice.
Yeah
Go.
Charlie Ross (22:05)
I mean, that's kind of it. lot of driving right now, back and forth from school.
Marcus Brown (22:08)
Yeah,
what would you be doing if you weren't water skiing, do you think?
Charlie Ross (22:15)
I think I would work in hockey. I looked into it going into school. was emailing back and forth with an owner of a team. So that was like honest. I was doing that at U21 Worlds in Mexico and that put me on cloud nine even before the tournament started. It was a cool experience. And then I got into into Rice, which was like my dream school for sports management. It's got the number one program in the world for it.
Marcus Brown (22:23)
Mm-hmm.
Charlie Ross (22:41)
And I was like, okay, we're doing that. And then I was talking to Steve and Nevy actually, and I was like, so like lakes of Katie's over here, uh, Terra Mare, like what else is around? He said, Charlie, like, I know you love this and like you got into a top school congrats. You would be stupid to leave. If he said a skin circle, you'd be stupid to leave central Florida. And so that was something where I was like, okay, yeah, he's right.
Marcus Brown (23:04)
Yeah.
Charlie Ross (23:07)
And so honestly, looking at it now, I couldn't be happier. I'm at Rollins. But, you know, I guess if I wasn't skiing, I would like to go down that path and try to work in hockey.
Marcus Brown (23:18)
That's would not, I mean, that's totally out of left field for me. I wouldn't have guessed that, but that's rad. The opposite, frozen. Well, speaking on that, I was gonna say, you know, there's maybe some young folks or some collegiate kids out there. You're a collegiate kid. What advice do you have for like juniors coming up as far as skiing that are dreaming of maybe getting to where you're at or of, you know, collegiate skiers who want to keep skiing after college? what would you tell people who are
who have these dreams to be something in skiing.
Charlie Ross (23:51)
Yeah, mean, a first any like young high school students go to a collegiate school. mean, collegiate nationals. Holy cow. I was, I was like, yeah, it's like, it's fine. It's just another tournament. That was the most fun thing I think we could have ever asked for.
Marcus Brown (24:07)
Dude, you killed it too. I we just
if anybody hasn't seen the the soul skiing episode, go watch it. Charlie wins it runs. Would you run 341? You. You were going you were going for four obviously to break the national record, but still that was rad and to get to hear you interview after talking about how different that experience was. That was really cool to hear from your mouth how different that experience was than pro skiing.
Charlie Ross (24:16)
I think around two, three.
It was awesome. I think anyone should look at if, oops, I think anyone, if they're looking at what to do and continue skiing, go to a school, hopefully Rollins, where you can, where you can ski. It's, it's awesome.
Like being a part of that collegiate skiing crowd, it's crazy. And then advice just kind of on approaching it. mean, look, if you love it, there's no direct path to it. Just keep finding a situation to put, or keep putting yourself in a situation where you get to ski like.
My dad before coming to college, think he ran, I think his best was a couple of 32, maybe 35. And so he wasn't like, he didn't think about pro skiing. He just knew he loved it and he wanted to do it. And he came out of Rollins and didn't want to go back and skied here and skied in central Florida and still lives here and won a couple of pro events. like it really isn't like, and now of course with me, Lucas and a couple others, it's like, you gotta be good young to make it, but that's not the case.
Marcus Brown (25:37)
Yeah, but you guys are on track. mean, you're all pretty solid again. Congrats on Mumba. I think I watched both rounds. Like I said, I didn't say this before, but you looked dominant. I mean, just to be honest, you know, from like, um, you can always tell when people are unsettled and you know, you said you were a little unsettled the first couple of passes, both the maybe prelims and finals, but it didn't look like it, especially at 38 off and then into 39, the money pass.
You just look like you were skiing almost normal and almost everybody else looked like the river was getting the best of them. And so that was really cool to watch because you did it not just in the semis or the prelims, but you did it in the finals as a top seed, which I know you like sometimes to go first, but going last can be really, really hard and really like nerve wracking and you just handled it. So that was awesome. Yeah.
Charlie Ross (26:34)
Thank you. Thank you. That
was exciting.
Marcus Brown (26:37)
Yeah, dude, you're an absolute force hoping to see what happens this season and what Swiss Swiss pros long coming up next, I guess.
Charlie Ross (26:46)
Yeah, a few record tournaments and then we're working into Swiss Pro and start the season. It's going to be fun.
Marcus Brown (26:52)
Awesome. Well, thanks for joining, dude. I appreciate you taking the time and, hopefully we'll get you back on again. Hopefully we get, you give us more reasons. keep shredding, keep skiing. I'm sure we'll be in touch. Thanks for joining us.
Charlie Ross (27:05)
Thank you.
