By Jack Burden

In a sport obsessed with buoys, boat settings, and breaking 41 off, Carter Eaton is chasing something else entirely.

He’s not a world champion. Not a 10.25m regular. Not backed by a major boat brand. But Eaton — an Alaskan-born skier with a DIY van and a camera in hand — is quietly becoming one of the most compelling characters in professional water skiing.

His YouTube series, It’s Just Skiing, now 17 episodes deep, documents an audacious, improbable mission: compete in every pro slalom tournament he qualifies for in 2025. From a distance, it looks like a feel-good side quest. Up close, it’s a test of endurance — mental, physical, emotional — offering a raw, unfiltered look at what it really takes to chase a professional dream in a sport that barely pays.

You see the breakdowns. The van repairs. The homesickness. The missed openers. The joy of running 39 for the first time in a record tournament. And yes, the self-doubt — the kind few athletes show publicly, let alone on camera.

“I’ve been on the road since April… I’m around the world alone… I wanted to go to Morocco so bad,” Eaton confesses in a recent video. “But you know what? Ski better. If you ski good enough, you get to go to every tournament.”

That kind of honesty is rare in water skiing — a sport so tight-knit it often feels allergic to vulnerability. Eaton is the antidote.

His recent uploads span much of the European leg of the season — from Monaco to Dommartin — with pit stops at the Colosseum, some of Europe’s most scenic ski sites, and a few late-night monologues that wouldn’t feel out of place in a sports documentary. In one of the series’ most striking moments, after a rough tournament, Eaton delivers this:

“I’m going to fail and fail and fail, but I’m going to succeed. The skiing is only a little bit of that success… I want to show the world what this sport is. But nothing worthwhile has ever been easy.”

That mantra underpins the entire project. Eaton isn’t just skiing for himself. He’s trying to prove that water skiing — despite its barriers, niche audience, and lack of mainstream polish — can still be captivating. That it deserves to be seen. That it doesn’t have to be perfect to be powerful.

In a landscape where the spotlight mostly shines on winners, Eaton’s story resonates for a different reason: he’s doing what many wish they could. Not winning it all. Not turning a profit. But showing up anyway. Chasing the dream.

That may not make him a “pro” in the traditional sense. But in 2025, being a professional athlete is about more than just scores and sponsorships. It’s about connection. Storytelling. Having a voice.

Winning is only enough in a handful of sports — and water skiing isn’t one of them. Even top athletes in much larger sports often only scrape by, prize money split between travel expenses and training costs. The ones who truly thrive are the ones who build something more: a brand, a following, a reason for fans — and sponsors — to care.

It’s why names like Joel Poland, Neilly Ross, and Freddie Winter resonate far beyond their results. Yes, they’re elite competitors. But their influence doesn’t come solely from buoy counts. Poland and Ross have cultivated huge social media followings, turning short-form edits and behind-the-scenes clips into brand assets. Winter, meanwhile, is seemingly everywhere — from podcasts to TWBC interviews to mushroom-based elixir docuseries.

And then there’s the logical next step: creators like Marcus Brown and Rob Hazelwood, who’ve realized that content creation isn’t just a side hustle. It’s the job. They’re telling stories, shaping narratives, and showing fans what life in this sport actually looks like — beyond the scoreboard.

And then there’s Eaton. No entourage. No script. Just a skier with a dream, a camera, and something to prove — not just to the world, but to himself.

“There are other people that will change the sport forever with how good they are at skiing. That won’t be me,” he says. “But I’m going to change the sport forever.”

Maybe that’s hyperbole. Maybe not. Either way, the view count is rising. The story is unfolding. And we’re watching.

Because at its heart, this isn’t just about results. It’s about believing that the journey — rough, weird, unfinished — is worth sharing.

Win or lose. Succeed or fail. After all — it’s just skiing.