A group of personal watercraft or “jet ski” enthusiasts began last year on the Mississippi Gulf Coast has been experiencing rapid growth throughout the state this summer and now includes many new members from the Jackson metro area.
Called “Mississippi Ski Riders,” the group was co-founded in March 2021 by Neil Scott and Cody Frierson from Ocean Springs.
“We saw that there were large groups of ski riders organized in Florida and other states but we didn’t have that in Mississippi so we decided to start our own group,” Scott said.
Over the past year, the group has grown from just a handful to over 1,200 members. “It continues to grow — we have an average of two to 15 new members sign up every day,” he said.
While the largest number of members still reside along the coast, the second largest majority now comes from the Jackson area, Scott said.
That growth prompted the group to organize its first-ever central Mississippi event on a recent weekend at the Ross Barnett Reservoir, bringing together approximately 55 ski riders from throughout the region.
