How Charlie Ross became the youngest ever to conquer 41-off
Image: @rollinswaterski
By Jack Burden
CLERMONT, FLA. — One of water skiing’s most exclusive clubs has a new—and youngest ever—member.
On Sunday at the Swiss Spring Classic, 19-year-old Canadian phenom Charlie Ross ran 1 buoy at 9.75 metres (43-off), becoming just the 16th skier in history to complete the fabled 10.25-metre (41-off) pass in tournament conditions. The score not only joins him to slalom royalty—it also sets a pending World Under-21 and Canadian Open record.
At 19 years and eight months, Ross surpasses Nate Smith’s mark as the youngest skier ever to achieve the feat. Smith, who first ran 41-off at age 20 years and six months, has long been the benchmark for modern slalom skiing. Now, that mantle may have been taken.
For close watchers of the pro scene, Ross’s breakthrough is less a surprise and more an inevitability fulfilled. His rise has been relentless: six Under-17 world record slalom performances (including a staggering 4 @ 10.25m as a junior in 2022), three successive Under-21 world records, and, most recently, a debut professional victory at the Moomba Masters this March—where he outdueled veterans and prodigies alike to win men’s slalom at one of the sport’s most storied events.
That Moomba final felt like a preview of the chaos defining modern men’s slalom. In an era where parity reigns—ten different pro event winners in 2024 alone—the Melbourne showdown was vintage unpredictability. Sixteen-year-old Damien Eade flashed early brilliance; the ever-versatile Joel Poland showcased his strength; Freddie Winter, just nine months removed from a broken femur, clawed back into relevance; and Lucas Cornale ignited the home crowd before Thomas Degasperi, ever the tactician, set the mark to beat. Skiing last, Ross answered with the highest score of the event to clinch the title—becoming the youngest Moomba Masters champion since Carl Roberge in the early 1980s.
A statement win for a skier whose pedigree feels almost like destiny. His father, Drew Ross, was a mainstay on the pro circuit through the ’90s and 2000s, anchoring Team Canada’s success. His sister, Neilly Ross, holds the current women’s world record in tricks and is an elite slalom contender. Raised at a ski school in central Florida, Ross honed his craft under the dual pillars of year-round conditions and top-tier coaching.
But raw talent only explains so much. Ross has become a student of the sport in the purest sense—obsessing over historical footage, deconstructing the gates of legends like Andy Mapple, Will Asher, and Freddie Winter, and dissecting body position frame by frame to edge his form closer to perfection.
“You can’t substitute for volume, volume on the water,” Ross told Marcus Brown on The FPM Podcast earlier this year. He also stressed the value of “bouncing different ideas off different people,” citing the advantage of training at multiple sites and the dense concentration of world-class coaches in central Florida.
Ross’s rise has also been fueled by a deliberate transformation off the water. Long one of the lightest skiers on tour (a wiry 6’2” and 138 pounds last season), he dedicated his winter to gaining strength—adding 20 pounds of muscle to balance agility with durability. The payoff was evident in Melbourne and again this weekend in Clermont, where his composed, powerful style carried him into waterski immortality.
Remarkably, Ross balances his professional ascent with a heavy academic load. A freshman at Rollins College, he juggles coursework with a travel schedule stretching across hemispheres. As the packed 2025 season unfolds—with eyes on the Under-21 World Championships on home soil later this year and a full slate of pro majors—his trajectory shows no signs of slowing.
Beyond his own ambitions, Ross sees slalom entering a pivotal era—one that echoes the rapid evolution recently seen in men’s tricks.
“It was only a few years ago we were asking if tricking 13,000 points was possible, what’s the points per second?” Ross said. “Now it’s guys like Mati, Tincho, Jake, Pato, and Joel—all right on the door.”
He predicts a similar surge in slalom, as a wave of young talents—including Lucas Cornale and the Eade brothers—begin to challenge the sport’s established elite.
“In a couple years, every tournament might take a near world record to win,” Ross said. “It’s going to be crazy.”
As the sport braces for a wave of record-breaking performances, Ross intends to lead the charge. “I want to chase running 43,” he said, referencing the 9.75m line length where the current world record stands at 2.5 buoys. “I don’t know if it’s even close to possible,” he added, “but when I’m done with my career, I want to be able to say I did everything I can to run 43.”
On Saturday, he took the first giant step toward that future. The 41-Off Club has a new name on its roster—and he’s just getting started.
