Denali website, home page video. That's neat!

[roberto]

Wow! It's mesmerising, I must of watched it a dozen times, then some more!

[MISkier]

If it's the video I think, that's @CaleBurdick in a drysuit in Michigan early this Spring.

[AdamCord]

Yep that's @CaleBurdick at Tivoli in Michigan. Agree that video is totally mesmerizing!

 

There's a lot to be learned from watching how he moves through the center and off the second wake if you know what to look for. Hint: He's not trying to get to a wide point early...

[UWSkier]

Interesting seeing how much he moves the boat around from that vantage point too.

[MISkier]

@UWSkier, it is not Cale's skiing that is affecting the boat.

[ScarletArrow]

I was on the starting dock at Midwest Regionals waiting for practice to start immediately OM skied - Nate vs. Cale. They tied 3@41 and needed a runoff. Cale was totally loose and having fun. I should try this ski.

[roberto]

Adam Cord Hint: He's not trying to get to a wide point early...OK, tell me more. I missed that bit.

 

This video has a strange affect on me, I kind of stare at it and just start dreaming I am doing what Cale is doing. Dam he makes the whole process look so easy. The swing he gets off the rope is fabulous, I wish I had that line tension and connection to pivot round.

 

Tell me me more, maybe I am trying too hard to generate space and just end up with dead rope that I can t rotate around?

[Obrienslalom]

For others like me who tried to visit denaliskis.com on mobile only, it is the background video on the desktop version of the site.

[AdamCord]

@roberto it's probably in poor taste to quote from an article I helped write, but:

 

There is one dynamic that is paramount to success in slalom skiing. It is the only thing we need to focus on, and the one thing we can build our entire philosophy, technique, and understanding upon. Our objective is to:

 

“MOVE THE HANDLE AS HIGH ON THE BOAT AS POSSIBLE, AS FAST AS POSSIBLE”

-GUT 101: An Introduction to GUT

 

What becomes clear in the video is that as Cale comes through the wakes, his direction is changing drastically from what looks like about 45 degrees across the lake, to almost straight down the lake. The momentum he created by accelerating into the wakes is all he needs to get himself to a wide point. He doesn't need to point the ski and keep trying to develop width as he comes off the 2nd wake. What he needs in order to get that width is to keep his body close to the handle, which is on a circular path around the pylon. That means that after the 2nd wake, as the rope gets shorter, he must be going more and more directly down course. The handle path will be going down course...if he tries to ski too "wide" too early, it will only lead to separation from the handle. By skiing "down" the lake, he's able to maintain speed, stay connected, and he ends up wide and early of the buoy anyway, without every trying to ski "wide."

 

To boil it down into two discrete (but unfortunately not simple) steps:

 

1. Generate as much speed as possible into the first wake

2. Use that speed to get yourself down the lake (or up on the side of the boat if that's clearer) as fast as possible

[Wish]

It was interesting listening to the announcer at the Swiss pro stop earlier this year when Brooke B was on the water. He was saying how she seemed to be skiing narrow and almost at the ball. Yet she was killing it. What most thought was not the way to ski, my friend and I (Denali Summit participants...highly recommended BTW) saw it completely different and as a significant positive and an advantage. Handle path efficiency at its highest level.

[AdamCord]

@Wish I got to ski with Brooke this spring and she may be the best I've ever seen at doing this. That young lady could take women's slalom to new heights if she keeps at it.

[roberto]

AdamCord.....Not in poor taste, we all need a reminder of the good stuff that you guys have written. Thanks, note to self, go back and read the GUT articles. Now I can look at the video with a more informed eye.