Wakes and wet suits.

With the smooth tug of a rope and a quick rush of air, the water skier is up. "After that," says one veteran Mississippi water skier, "it's like walking on water." The strange and novel sensations of water skiing lure 40 million Americans to lakes and reservoirs each year. How has this sport, unknown 80 years ago, attracted so many participants?

Cutting through a wake at 20-plus miles per hour, the spray in your face and the wind in your hair, it's easy to see why water skiers describe their sport using such terms as ecstasy and exhilaration. Sensational water ski shows like those staged daily at Cypress Gardens, Florida, water skiing competitions and trick ski tournaments, and television spectaculars all publicize the fact that water skiing is fun and immensely popular.

Long after you have passed beyond the novice stage, it's still fun to cross the wake of your own towboat without taking a tumble. Every maneuver produces its own distinctive, zestful feeling.

While young people in particular have embraced water skiing, the sport actually has no age limits. It's a family activity; everyone from the youngest to the oldest member can learn to ski. Most beginners master the techniques of starting, turning, crossing the wake, and stopping after only an hour or two of practice--and even the practice sessions are fun.

Water skiing in this country began on a summer day in 1924 on Long Island Sound. Before then, people had ridden towed planks called aquaplanes, but on this occasion, a newsreel cameraman named Fred Waller needed an excuse to photograph pretty young women in bathing suits. He connected a pair of snow skis and put a girl on them. Success was instantaneous. Water skiing not only had novelty, but it looked vaguely dangerous. The sport quickly worked its way south.

Perhaps the biggest single boost to water skiing was the starring role Cypress Gardens played in the first Cinerama motion picture production in 1952. On a huge, curved screen, millions of people saw beautiful young women gliding by beneath moss-hung cypress trees, and athletic young men hurtling through thin air on skis. Curiously, the man who invented the Cinerama photographic process was the same man--Fred Waller--who, 28 years earlier, put together the first pair of skis.

At first the sport was limited to the yacht-club and polo-pony class, since it required the use of an expensive inboard speedboat to reach the minimum towing speed of 20 miles per hour. Shortly after World War II, commercially produced skis came on the market at a reasonable price. Around the same time, boats with outboard motors began appearing on lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water. Skiers have been splashing happily behind them ever since, including throughout Mississippi.

But water skiing's appeal extends far beyond the United States. In Europe, the sport has spread from the French Riviera around the Mediterranean through the lakes of Switzerland and Austria, and on to the foggy Thames River in England. It is popular in Singapore, Sweden, South Africa, Australia, and South America. Enthusiasts have skied past crocodiles on the Zambezi River, above Victoria Falls in Africa, and through the lochs of the Panama Canal.

Virtually anyone with access to a boat powered by an outboard motor can learn to get up on a pair of skis in an afternoon. Proper posture--back and arms straight, knees bent--will enable you to keep your balance and help you maneuver on the water successfully.

Don't worry about falling. All skiers fall at times. If you feel a fall coming, throw the tow bar away from you. Then try to fall backwards or let yourself slide down into the water. Some beginners ski the first time they try to get up, but most people average five or six tries before they succeed.

It takes power for a person to lift out of the water and skim along the surface--at least 25 horsepower. Most ski buffs prefer 40, 50, 60, 70, or over 100 hp. It's true, as manufacturers claim, that you can ski with an engine as low-powered as 20 hp, but use must be limited to a light boat, with a light- to medium-weight person in tow. If you plan to buy an engine mainly for skiing, consider one with at least 50 hp.

It takes patience and understanding to be a good towboat driver. Driving a ski boat on a crowded lake has been likened to "driving through a shopping mall parking lot the week before Christmas." Know the distance it takes for your boat to come to a stop, and be aware of all other vessels and markers in your field of vision.

Never forget that your skier is depending on you to steer him or her through safely. The skier is concentrating on turns and is not always aware of other traffic. The driver must act as crossing guard.

Before starting out, explain to the skier what path the boat will be taking, how far up the lake you'll go, whether you will make right or left turns, and where any hazards are located. Driving a ski boat is more than recreation. It's a job to be taken seriously. It is up to the driver to bring the skier back to shore safely.

Most people think of water skiing only during the warm spring and summer months, but the sport can be enjoyed year-round if you follow these tips for cold-weather skiing:

* Master the dock start. The only time the chilly water stings is when you let go of the rope.

* Wear a special wetsuit. If you're cold-natured, you might consider a suit similar to what divers wear, one that's constructed for cold-water activity.

* In the dead of winter, it's best to wait until the middle of the day to get into the water. While water temperatures probably won't warm up much, the air temperature will, and the sun helps you to feel even warmer.

* Don't rule out a cloudy day for water skiing. You might think the sun's rays provide the most heat, but cloud cover also insulates the earth.

* Line your hands with latex gloves, the kind your mom used for washing dishes. Even better are surgical gloves. Then slip on ski gloves that are a size larger than what you normally wear.

* Cover your face with petroleum jelly. It insulates, protecting your skin from cold air.

* Make sure you have a good boat driver. If you do fall, you want someone who can swing back in a matter of seconds. When you're submerged in cold water, the difference between a 10-second and 90-second turnaround can feel like a lifetime.

Whenever you choose to ski, there's no shortage of good skiing spots in Mississippi. In the north, Pickwick Landing State Resort Park is home to the largest inland marina in America. This 1,392-acre park is a water enthusiast's paradise. A full-service marina includes overnight slips and three public launching ramps. On Pickwick Lake, you can water ski from Mississippi into Tennessee and Alabama and then back home, all in an afternoon. From Corinth, take Hwy. 72 East to Hwy. 25 North, then follow 25 to J.P. Coleman State Park. (Pickwick Landing State Resort Park, Hwy. 57, Pickwick Dam, TN 38365, tel. [phone])

On Interstate 55 near the DeSoto/Tate County border, signs point the way to Arkabutla Lake, which attracts water skiers from all around the area, as does Sardis Lake, which is located just to the east of the town of Sardis and I-55.

The vast Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway stretches 234 miles from Demopolis, Alabama, to Mississippi Hwy. 25, where it connects with Pickwick Lake. This man-made channel has an elaborate series of lochs, dams, and pools, and water skiing is a popular recreational activity along the "Tenn-Tom."

Grenada Lake, located just east of I-55 and the town of Grenada, is the largest lake in Mississippi. Water skiing is popular here and on Lake Washington, which can be accessed from the town of Chatham, located astride the Mississippi/Arkansas border.

Situated on the rim of central Mississippi, the city of Ridgeland's location on the Ross Barnett Reservoir generates an atmosphere of relaxation. Completed in 1965, the reservoir is 45 miles long and about three miles broad at its widest point. For boaters and water skiers, the manmade lake offers 105 miles of shoreline and 33,000 acres of surface area.

All of these Mississippi lakes are ideal places to water ski, both for novices and for those who have skied for decades. Once you have experienced the thrill of successfully crossing your own wake, you'll know what it means to win your ski legs--and you'll know why water skiing is so popular. If you haven't yet done so, give it a try, and enjoy our beautiful state from a truly refreshing perspective.