Than's Denali Log

[Wish]

Could that skier set a new world record if his turn was less "flowy" and perhaps more "abruptly" with speed and the ski under him..? Hmmm..

[Than_Bogan]

I don't see Nate's skiing that way at all. His movements are perfect so he never looks out of control or off balance like I do, but he finishes his turns HARD.

[AdamCord]

@Horton when you move through the middle as fast as he does you need to kill some time at the buoys. I never seem to have that problem.

[Adam Caldwell]

@horton, I agree with your statement, however, I would argue that any mastered skill looks easy to others when watching. Havnt personally seen those guys practicing 43off, a pass actually beyond their general ability level (like we all run into at much longer lines), but I have a feeling "flowey" would not be in the general description.

 

Ask anyone, but even just a few years ago my 35s and 38s used to be horrific, yet today, I have the capacity to run a "flowey" looking pass up and into 38,( and very rarely at 39), although that's not at all what I am trying to accomplish. It's more that I have learned the pass to a point that it's comfortable, more predictable, and far more relaxed then it used to be.

 

Anyone at that level (running 41) has learned to generate more speed before centerline, swing higher on the boat more effectively, and change directions earlier in the course.

 

Most of us normal guys struggle in at least one, if not all, of those areas. The philosophy behind the Denali is to promote these attributes.

[Razorskier1]

I have had nothing but great things to say about the Denali from the start. Crazy good! Oddly, in the dark the other night I only had time for six passes so ran 32 off and just kept it moving (we were also running out of gas). Here's the thing. The ski gets better and better as the line gets shorter. At 32 I was so early that I could have easily been turning in from wide and been before the buoys. So freakin' early!!!

[Than_Bogan]

@Razorskier1 I strongly agree, and I can't recall ever experiencing that on another ski. I think I noted somewhere (maybe in this thread) that -28 now feels a little awkward for me, so I haven't been doing it for about a month now. Even -32 can feel like a lot of rope sometimes, but is so easy. -35 is where the ski starts to feel "comfortable," which is really a weird thing to say. Last night I forced myself to do back-to-backs because I've been beating myself up with too many -38s. It was hard to run -32 again because it just seemed so simple. And I didn't really want to repeat -35 either, because I always feel like I might miss it the second time and then be confused about whether I should shorten. I have to stop thinking that way; -35 is just not hard on this ski. Not even in sub-50 degree water.

 

I truly believe that in mid-season in good conditions I'd be saying the same about -38. But we'll have to wait to see if my predictions there are overly optimistic.

[Razorskier1]

@Than_Bogan -- I do back to back 35s all year long on all skis. Difference on the Denali is that I don't give it a second thought. It is a pass that I've run in all sorts of conditions on all sorts of skis, but typically once the water is this cold I don't run it at all. On the Denali I've been running 3-4 35s in a six pass set with regularity. It is just easy. Feels like I'd be more likely to make a mistake at 32 than 35.

[Razorskier1]

I just put up another 38 on Lake Minnewashta. Haven't had very good conditions lately so I've stayed at 35. Calm today so just went for it. I can't clearly express how confident I am on this ski. On every other ski I've owned I would wonder each set if I should shorten to -38. With this ski I wonder why I wouldn't shorten every single time. It is just that good. Water 47 degrees, air 47 degrees.

[Wish]

We need a Razorskier1 log...haha.. Great skiing Jim. And no frign way I would ski in those temps..you're the man! Am feeling much the same. 35s are far more confident. And now I've started the process of testing the ski at all ZO settings. To me it skis differently enough then others that a new ZO setting could work better then my current pick of C1. Did A2 last night and no issues through 35 and ran 4 of them. Was getting to dark for 38..curse daylight savings. But there is a HUGE diff between C1 and A2 yet 35 seemed remarkably easy..a tad better at A2..a setting I thought I would never use.

[DanE]

Interesting regarding A2 @Wish, do you feel it is easy to stay connected through the edge change and preturn?

Or to put it another way, easy to avoid getting separated during the transition?

[Than_Bogan]

Edge change? Preturn? Transition? What are those? This ski is just full throttle all the time...

 

Ok obviously I'm exaggerating. But it really does have a different way of getting it done, and I definitely plan to follow Wish's example next season and start over again in evaluating ZO settings.

[Wish]

@DanE simply put yes. but your to put it other way is a bit perplexing. So the challenge for me with A2 was not getting separated as there is now some load after second wake if that makes sense to the another way to putting it....haha. Once I achieved complete connection which took a couple passes, it gave me more control and width out to the ball with more balance over the ski, and better yet, gave me the best timing so far in returning to the line and loading in that perfect sweet spot. C1 would often allow for an unpredictable off side turn with small bobbling feel and late loads and a boat was in the slowing phase coming out of the turn..lose line with me ahead of the boat. But still managed to run (sloppy-ish) 38s... and lots of them. Went out tonight at A2 and really wanted to shorten to 38 after a couple of what felt like the best 35s ever with A2 but the goal is to test all settings so moved to A3 and stayed at 35. Had the same connection as A2 but out of the ball but ran a narrower pass at 35..4 of them actually. The A3 seemed to drop me to soon and the ski would head inbound to soon. Could not achieve the same width. A1 for Wed morning set. We will see. But going back to C1 is not an option on the Denali for me. As said, I think this ski is different enough that to own one may mean a rethinking in the ZO setting you are comfortable with and accustomed to. But all this is still basically bata phase testing and research.

[Craig Aitken]

I'm probably at about the 10 - 12 set mark on the Denali, taking a pause to let a forearm injury heal but I can only offer positive comments about the ski. Coming off D3 my first set was an eye opener but some quick adjustments and the second set I ran within 2 balls of my season best to date. I'm still fine tuning with the help of the Adam (s) but here are a couple of things that I feel on the ski - I've found myself with a lot of space in front of the ball both sides, this takes some adapting to, what to do when I'm this early - relearn my timing. I also took the ski into my first tournament of the year and ran a 34 MPH PB in some pretty gusty conditions. I'm sold, my feeling is that its only going to get better as I fine tune and adjust my timing to work with the ski. One other observation, what I thought I knew about fin adjustments to some extent goes out the window with this ski, and I'm an A2 convert..