Than's Nano One Diary

[Than_Bogan]

In other N1-related news, I'll be appearing for up to 2 seconds in a montage Dave is putting together of folks saying "Amazing." I'm happy to call the ski amazing. It is.

 

I'm the guy with the Ridiculous Goatee.

[DW]

Than, does the crack migrate from the point of impact or is it somewhere else (nearby?). If not from that point, what is the explanation for the gap?

 

BTW: excellent reporting on the ski, really great reading, thanks!

[Than_Bogan]

@DW The crack is several inches from the ding (presumed impact point). The crack is consistent with a force trying to "fold" the tip onto the ski, causing the top (and side) to break from compression stress.

 

The question was then "What tried to fold the ski like that?" I had originally been guessing some bizarre impact with the water, but the bevel ding strongly suggests hitting something smaller but much harder.

 

And THANKS! Once I get the new ski set up (should be arriving today, but I doubt I'll set it up until Monday due to my schedule), I'll continue.

 

I sorta hope to organize all my thoughts into a compact "review" at some point, although I'm unsure I'll ever actually make the time for that.

[klindy]

I missed (or forgot) what you're using for bindings, but it's plausable that your binding and/or plate hit the ski as you delaminated. That certainly could have enough concentrated energy to make a divot/ding/dent at impact AND potentially include enough force to bend and twist things they way they're not intended.

[Than_Bogan]

D3 Tfactors. So I released from them and they never came off the ski.

[DW]

Interesting, I would think that the item that impacted the ski would ricochet off and not provide enough impact force to compress / bend the tip "over" and cause a crack. Since you did not hit an immovable object, which IMO would offer that type of opportunity, I would think that a point impact that caused a crack downstream would also fracture the ski at the point of impact. Could be a cause if the material strength at the crack is significantly less than at the impact point.

[eleeski]

Carbon is not particularly strong in compression. Compressive loads have overloaded and broken quite a few of my all carbon skis. I had to switch to either a second rib on top (wrapped balsa) or boron fibers (my current solution) to keep my skis from cracking. A glass/carbon mix also gives good strength - but I didn't go that route. Are nano carbon fibers better?

 

Is it possible that the ding is from yard-saleing onto the handle? That could give a sharp impact force added to the "normal fall" load force which could account for a freak overstress of the ski - and subsequent cracking.

 

Perhaps one reason the ski works so well is that there is not a massive overbuilding of the ski. Only enough material to do the normal job is in the ski - no excess weight. Note that America's Cup boats have an .9 safety factor - meaning there is a 10% chance of an overload - it is up to the skipper to back off the loads to avoid breaking the boat. You won't win with an overbuilt boat.

 

Now @Than has the real test coming - will the new ski ski the same? Enjoying the reviews,

 

Eric

[Than_Bogan]

Good insights, Eric.

 

One of the few things I'm sure of is that the handle didn't hit the ski.

 

[6balls]

turtle

[GaryWilkinson]

Croc?

[Skoot1123]

Chunk of ice

[Steven_Haines]

Buoy boy

[A_B]

Turtle?

[bendet]

Horton

[GaryWilkinson]

Ice only found in Canadian ski lakes.

 

While scoot mason and Brent have skied after having broken the ice on the lake to get the boat in, I have scraped the windshield on the boat many time for a let fall set of slalom.

[Than_Bogan]

DIARY ENTRY

 

Replacement ski arrived Friday! Excellent customer service!

 

But I was away, so I just opened it today.

 

The re-unboxing was actually better than the original, because this time I knew it was supposed to look like that AND I knew it was an awesome ski. The first time I wasn't sure of either of those.

 

It reminded me of one funny thing I forgot to mention the first time, though: Wow does the ski smell bad when you first cut off the plastic wrapping!

 

It goes away in a matter of minutes, but is still kinda memorable. :)

 

I measured the fin and it's pretty darn close to the other one, but some measurements differ by almost a hundredth. Trying to decide if I'm going to try to force it as close to the other one as possible, or just go ski on it. Leaning pretty heavily to the latter, mostly since my previous settings weren't "tuned" anyhow,

 

The bad news is that my ankle has kind of leveled off at what I might call "85%." I think I could really damage something if I ejected again with it in this weakened state, so I may either delay my restart or -- more likely -- limit myself to -28 and -32 for a while.

[Zman]

@Than_Bogan - just ski smart my friend. @MikeT @Garn, @T8skier and @BobS 's wife do not want any more members to our 'club'.

Hope your ankle heals up soon!

[Than_Bogan]

DIARY ENTRY

 

Replacement ski feels a whole lot like the first one!

 

Unfortunately, my ankle is not quite as good as I thought. (I can hear the calls of "wuss" from here... Guilty as charged.) I can definitely ski on it, but I think it's going to be a whole lot of -32 for a while. At -28, the landing is a little hard and makes me cry ;), and at -35 and beyond I'd be too concerned about ejecting again and really damaging something.

 

This did remind me of how awesome this ski is at -32, though. Sure, I expect to make that pass almost every time on any modern ski, but this ski makes it feels sooo slow. I'm almost impatient waiting for the balls to come up so that I can start turning.

 

I also will need to retune my gate just a bit, because the glide is different on this ski. I noticed that on the very first pullout (with the original one), but the ski was so remarkable in the turns that I kind of forgot that my gate wasn't quite right. Hopefully this "forced" time on the longer lines will let me tune myself to this ski and be ready to kick -38s ass when my ankle is ready.

 

In any case, at least I should be able to stay in "ski shape."

[BuoyChaser]

Great review Than, impressive results! Hope you're healing up quickly.

[Than_Bogan]

DIARY ENTRY

 

Still very cautious about my ankle, but last night's set was going decently, so I decided to try one -35. The whole way I was barely pulling and always thinking "if anything is wrong, stop." 6 easy buoys later I'm shaking my head out the gate. I almost think this second Nano One is even better than the first one. It was like I was just standing there watching the ski run -35 for me.

[slalomboy96]

I love hearing things like that. I just ordered one and can't wait... Bring on summer. Thanks for all yours and hortons feedback on this ski.

[nzcabbage]

@slalomboy96..........and can't wait to have a turn on it as well.......and watch some good OTF's in the mirror......... I think we will need a GoPro this season ...........and rock on summer "Down Under"

[slalomboy96]

@nzcabbage got go pro. B day pressy. Well be sure to get some knarly crashes all right

 

[Stevie Boy]

@Than just wondering if you have seen any Nano Ones, with what looks like a Dry Patch on the underside of the ski I have one area quite big that looks greyish, almost like there was a lack of resin there, might have to email a piccy to dave and ask the question, but didn't want to bother anybody uneccessary.

[Than_Bogan]

I don't see anything that looks like what you describe, Stevie. I did notice, however, that on both of my N1s there are two oval spots underneath the Dire Warnings of Doom. Almost look like holes that were filled, but in the same place on both skis.

[Than_Bogan]

DIARY ENTRY

 

This doesn't mean THAT much yet, as I'm not quite ready to try -38s. But boy was I impressed with how easily I ran a -35 with strong tail-cross, 60 degree air, first day in the drysuit, a bit of backwash, and a cautious attitude due to my ankle. I should also mention that historically I am a complete dufus in a cross wind. (I mean even more so than usual...)

 

The head-cross was super-easy, and then I blew my first attempt at the tail-cross by being a moron. The second one may have been the easiest tailwind -35 I've ever run, despite all the other challenges. Tail-cross -35 should be a VERY tough pass for me. Apparently not any more.

 

Thanks to my chiropractor, I believe my ankle is going to be ready to attempt -38 on Wednesday. On the one hand I am really looking forward to it. But I still have to be a bit cautious, so I'm only going to be able to complete it if everything is perfect.

 

Also, I may get to extend my 2 seconds of fame on Wednesday, as a fellow from Goode is going to do a little videoing and a casual interview about my experiences so far.

[estrom]

@Than, after reading about your last few sets, it sounds like you should carry this thinking of "taking it easy" into your -38 pass and see what happens. It appears as though you've stumbled onto the fact that the ski performs just as well, if not better, when not being overly agressive on it. Just thoughts from someone observing your recent posts.

[Than_Bogan]

@estrom That is Freakin' Good Point. I'll definitely keep that in mind.

[Razorskier1]

@Than_Bogan -- @estrom is on to something. I ran 38 five times last weekend and twice this weekend with numerous 5s in between. Here's what I remind myself of before the boat pulls me up. 'Remember how little energy it takes to be wide enough for 1". I ski slower and with less load and all the sudden I'm coming out the end gates wondering why I make that pass so hard sometimes. Now, I'm still far from 100%, but skiing easier has worked. It also helped me to watch Harald on another thread about Tip Raise. That dude eases into the lean, eases out of the lean, reaches and repeats. Tried to emulate that this last week or so and it has made a huge difference in how easy all my passes are.

 

This skiing sport is just so different than everything else I do athletically. Other sports just demand that I go balls to the wall, which is relatively easy. Skiing requires more finesse, which is not my default mode of operation!

 

Remember -- it takes very little energy to get wide enough for one!

[estrom]

Hey - even a blind squirrel....:)

 

[Ed_Johnson]

@Than_Bogan....Keep in mind it really helps to tape your ankle when skiing after an injury. If you have not done that it really makes it feel a lot stronger and adds a lot of protection.

[jcamp]

Regarding skiing easier, I was in a tournament this year and the boat forgot to shorten the rope after a completed pass. I ran the pass again, but it was much harder because I THOUGHT it was a harder pass ... not because it actually was. Learned a little lesson there.

[Than_Bogan]

DIARY ENTRY

 

Ran another -38. Admittedly, it took two tries. But with those being my 1st and 2nd attempts in almost 20 days, I'm gonna cut myself some slack :). Oh, also the 7th time I've run it in my life.

 

I tried several -39s, which I've never repeated like that before, because I'm starting to think I actually care about -39. But I've worked hard to improve my gate to "barely adequate" for -38, and it's totally not adequate for -39. Still, loving the concept of trying to learn something about that pass.

 

As a huge bonus, the Goode camera man was there to capture it -- first video evidence of me running a -38. Eventually I'll post some of that set. It was definitely not my best skiing, with a lot of silly bobbles, especially on my -35, but the results were pretty sweet.

 

I continue to marvel at this ski. I want to be careful not to overstate it, so I'll reiterate that no ski is going to change who you are as a skier: See my total inability to get out of 1 at -39 (so far!). But this thing is for sure getting me more buoys. I wouldn't really rate the complete -38 as particularly good skiing -- I really feel my 9900 would have gotten me about 3.5 to 4 with that level of skill/effort on my part. And this is still with a check at every buoy of "am I sufficiently far ahead that I can continue with nearly zero threat to my ankle?" In fact, it's not totally out of the question that I could have run the first try, but it would have required swinging the ski out for 4, which was not on the agenda today.

 

To consider:

 

9600 (which I loved): 2 complete -38s for less than 1 per year

9900 (which I loved): 3 complete -38s for about 1 per year

Nano One: 2 complete -38s so far for about 1 every three weeks* (NOTE: I originally did some bad math here and had written two weeks. Not that it really matters, but I hate false advertising.)

 

*In fact, if I remove the time that I wasn't skiing or didn't try -38, it's nearly 1 per week.

 

I truly expect it to fall a lot this fall. Wonder if I'll figure anything out about -39?

[6balls]

keep running 38's and you will get that chance. Nice skiing...keep it up!

[Than_Bogan]

10,000 views! @Horton, is that a BoS thread record? (I wouldn't be shocked if it's not even close, but I can't recall anything near that.)

 

It has actually displayed 10k views for a while now, but it rounds I guess, because the mouse-over showed 99xx for a while until this morning.

 

What do I win? :)

 

Btw, I'm getting sorta close to ending this diary and writing up an actual review.

[GaryWilkinson]

Than before you close this thread out, any changes to your technique? Anything you had to do before that you don't have to as much with the new stick? Specifically, trailing arm pressure? Still doing it? I had some great sets this week knocking down -32 many times but my tries at -35 were less than good.

 

So any changes with the N1?

[Than_Bogan]

The closest thing to a technique change is that this ski likes it even more if you hold the handle crazy long. No matter what. Really. (Trying to remind myself....)