Kate Hofstetter | Special to Laker Weekly

Richard Cunningham, 82, didn't start skiing until he moved to the lake at age 60.

Cunningham, an avid fisherman, calls wife Peggy "his best catch."

There are two signs outside Richard Cunningham's door that let you know what you're in for before you enter his home. One says "Barefoot House" and the other "An Old Fisherman Lives Here With The Best Catch of His Life."

Before entering, the immediate instinct is to take off your shoes unless you know in advance that Cunningham is one of those rare birds who loved to ski barefoot. Actually, he retired from barefoot water skiing two years ago.

His barefooting came to an end when his wife, Peggy, whom he calls the "best catch of my life," stopped driving the boat for him after he ruptured his second ear drum and the doctor told him to put some skis on.

"The driver is half the battle of barefoot skiing," Cunningham said. "You need someone who can hold the boat at a steady 40 miles per hour and she [Peggy] was a good driver."

Before he was "forced" into retirement, Cunningham barefooted with the best. He has skied with Zenon Bilas and Ron Scarpa, both world champion barefooters. Scarpa is still competing and winning, and is the owner of several ski schools.

The first recorded barefoot-skiing event took place in 1947, and soon after the Australians introduced a competition for the sport. But it was the Americans who first captured attention for their barefoot-skiing jumps.

Cunningham, who is a young 82 and said he weighs the same today as he did in high school, is still out there on the lake crossing wakes and hanging tough behind his Nautique ski boat. He's taken to using a double-high wrap slalom ski.

Cunningham likes to joke that he learned barefoot skiing because after he bought the ski boat, he didn't have enough money for the skis. He didn't begin water skiing of any kind until he moved to the lake 22 years ago at age 60.

Apparently, he picked up the water sport relatively easily because he soon was looking for an additional challenge. He became intrigued with barefoot skiing; a friend who was a ski instructor helped him get started. The two went out every day at 7 a.m. on Betty's Creek (R27), where the Cunninghams lived before moving to Idlewood Shores.

On Betty's Creek, they set up a regulation ski course with six buoys and gates. When learning, to ski, Cunningham explained, novices start by hanging on to a boom, a bar that extends to the outside of the boat and provides more stability than a rope.

Once that is mastered, skiiers can move onto the second step, which is using a "pigtail," a six-foot rope that is hooked to the boom. From there, skiers move onto a longer rope, typically 75 feet.

Some barefooters like to ski from 90-foot lengths of rope, Cunningham said, because the water is smoother farther away from the boat.

Besides skiing every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning, Cunningham is a familiar figure at the Westlake YMCA, where he "faithfully" goes at least three times a week. He said he could count on one hand the number of times in his life that he's missed his workouts. In fact, he doesn't ski until after he's finished at the Y.

"I'm there every morning five minutes before they open," he said.

Working out at a gym became a part of Cunningham's life years ago. He was only 14 years old when he joined his first gym.

"My dues were $12 a year," Cunningham recalled with a laugh, "I and a buddy of mine joined."

Cunningham also is an avid fisherman and described himself as "better at fishing than water skiing." He has planned a fishing trip to Canada with his 18-year-old grandson, Richard III, whom, he said, is also a fine fisherman, maybe event better than his grandfather, who said he releases all his catches.

The Cunninghams, who divide their time between Florida and Smith Mountain Lake, have two children. Their son, Richard Cunningham Jr., is an orthopedic surgeon with four children in Knoxville, Tenn.; daughter Susan Kimel of Winston-Salem, N.C., has twin sons.