The Green Monster Goes Down

[Skoot1123]

Yesterday and last night were a breakthrough. Have been getting solid looks at 32@34mph this year and just knew it was going to fall, just a matter of when. So yesterday I was practicing my 28's to get them dialed in and make them "easy". I re-read the thread on shortening to 32 and the keys to making the pass. Own your 28' off pass was one of the keys. The other bit of advice was to "hold the handle longer" on your way out to the buoy. I tried this but it wasn't the right approach. The alternate to this is pinning your arms to your vest, which had amazing results. Practiced pinning my arms to the vest on my first set at 28 and a few attempts at 32. Knew that this would help. Got a chance at a second set and took it. First crack at 32 I got 4 buoys, felt good but still short. Second crack at it and it went down. The key for me was a good gate, look downcourse during the turn, and pinning those arms to the vest until the boat takes the handle from you in the turn. Pretty stoked to finally run it at 34. Now to get consistent at 32 and go on to the Blue Dragon!

[Andre]

Big congrats!!!

Ran my first 32 in 2007.

No 35 yet...

Blue monster is a different animal!

Good luck!

[RazorRoss3]

The blue line is certainly a different but don't let it get in your head. It is a perfectly runnable pass that requires a high level of technical discipline. You will definitely want to be comfortable at 32 before you spend too much time beating yourself up at 35 though.

[Chef23]

Congratulations great skiing.

[Skoot1123]

Haven't tried 35 yet @RazorRoss3 - as I for sure want to get real comfortable at 32, dial it in like I have 28. The site line does look a bit different (from what I have heard) and that is perhaps the biggest difference?

[RazorRoss3]

35 is different for sure but the sight line thing is more from skiers not staying outbound and coming in narrow I think. At the end of the day you still have more rope than there is distance to the ball.

[6balls]

Rope with mid loops can be fun, too (take off sections half way between the traditional loops). I did this more for my ski partner than me...though was thinking a 36.5 off loop for me might be more helpful than abusing myself at 38 only to make 1/10 passes successfully at 38.

 

As it turns out I used the 33.5 loop a lot for technique training. It's got a lot more 35 and shorter flavor than 32 but with much more room for error than 35. As much as I don't miss many 35's, it's a lot more work than 33.5 and many times I score 6 at 35 but it wasn't technique I was demonstrating...it was scramble/turn/pull and get out the end gates.

 

Brenda will make these ropes however you like them...can specify how many mid-loops you want.

 

Huge congrats, by the way. Now it's time to own that green line!

[h2onhk]

Congrats man! Great skiing! I know the feeling. I ran my first ever 32@34 late last season. Was running a lot of solid 28's but just couldn't get 32 to fall. Once I finally did my confidence shot through the roof and I ended up running it 2 more times before the season was over. I have very little experience at 35, only advice I can give is really work hard for a good gate and ball 1. Slack issues are compounded 9million percent as the rope shortens.

[Ralph Lee]

Good job!! Accept you have to try the next length after running your first full pass. I refuse to let someone back in the boat till they take a stab at the next line