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@susanm1ski if your team is in need of a trick ski rope send me an email with an address for the team's mailbox or if your team doesn't have a university mailbox just send me anyone on the teams address. ryan@echoskis.com Also, I would update your website. Take a look at some of the other teams sites to get some inspiration.

@msuws talk to @beans (same beans that skied for GVSU). Last time I heard he had some Reflex trick skis at his shop that were a few years old. I bet he would let you demo them. ~EMU

It wasn't winter but here is a photo of Eastern Michigan University's skier doing some ditch trick skiing. The ditch wasn't long but it was good for 160 points s,b,f.

For those that have not seen this yet it is a video of Andy Mapple's heel while he skis.

Pretty sure that is a 2008

Update on my bright green Radar handle. I called Radar and told them about my handle and guess what showed up today..... a brand new neon green handle. When I unboxed the handle it had just been sitting outside in 25* weather and the grip was softer and grippier that cold then my old one ever was. Thanks, Radar.

Going off what @gt2003‌ said. If whoever was doing this workshop had an original ski they designed and let everyone ski a production version of it. Everyone could be given an non rideable version of that ski made cheaply from low grade foam and a small amount of fiberglass. This nonridable ski could be their plug ski to make their mold from. The plug ski could cost very little compared to the whole program and people could then alter the shape of their plug ski before making their mold. You wouldn't get to choose any ski you want but no manufactures would sue the program and I feel that people that would pay for this are more interested in the experience and pride from skiing something they made rather than having the perfect ski.

Many boat owners learn to slalom ski and teach their families and friends to do the same. The problem is it can stop there for many reasons such as no access to a course, or their 24 foot deck boat is too big to go through a course. The solution might be to get more people trick skiing. I know using trick skiing to get people interested in running the course or trying jump might seem a little backwards since I know normally people get into course skiing and then pick up trick skiing. However, you can trick ski behind pretty much any boat and on any all sports lake. With more concerns being raised about sport related concussions and other injuries more people with a competitive drive may turn away from wake boarding and trick skiing could be where they go. Basically I think we could use trick skiing as our gate way drug into 3 event skiing.

Update: I finally got to talk to a couple snow ski boot gurus that came by the shop I work at. They are both long time industry professionals and most of the current boot fitters in the midwest have learned a lot of what they know from these two. Luckily one of them is a shortline skier and had some insight. He said that an aftermarket foot bed that supports the foot but also allows the foot to flex is a must. The other one that works for Sidas said that a water ski company had actually approached them to make waterski specific foot beds but the quantities were too low. As far a shimming the boot, which is very common in snow skiing, they said not to worry about it unless you are skiing into 38 off and have too much time on your hands to dial in the angles.

My name is Ryan and I am the sole member of the Eastern Michigan Water Ski Team. I am 23 and have been slalom skiing since I was 11 but it has only been the last few years that I have actually been learning the correct technique. During the spring and fall I get to ski the course and compete in Collegiate tournaments. I have run the water skiing program at a summer camp in northern Michigan for 4 years. At the camp I am lucky enough to get access to 4 Mastercrafts and free gas but no course. My first time in the course was when I showed up to a collegiate tournament alone, with no team and had no clue of what was going on but the open arms of the water skiing community has kept me hooked ever sense. After being so welcomed by the collegiate water skiing community I have felt like I need to give back and help out collegiate teams. So, I recently have started a company making no stretch trick skiing and wake boarding ropes that will be using some of the profits to provide collegiate teams with free ropes. P.S. I love all the support and help that is given here on BOS, it is definitely helping me get through the off season. ~Ryan Black

I am finding the topic of how long a 15 off skier should stay on the line very interesting because I experienced this issue over the summer. I am a struggling 15 off skier and in the beginning of the summer I would wheelie out of every buoy and had a pretty terrible stack. Since I had all of my weight on my back foot I had to pull past the second wake to get to the buoy. This worked and I was able to ski into 32mph this way. Over the summer I worked on my stack and getting weight off my back foot. Once my form improved my buoy count actually went down. The problem was that I was still pulling way past the second wake and I was coming into the buoy too fast and with no time for my edge change. Once, another skier told me to stop pulling so long my buoy count started to improve again. So, I guess what I experienced was that pulling past the second wake can allow a beginning skier have fun and get buoys but I probably would have started correcting my bad form earlier and faster if I had been told from the beginning to not pull so long.

Yeah bit of a typo on my end. However, just imagine if a collegiate tourney went on for a month...so many kegs, so many.

5/16 - 6/17 I believe.

Thanks for all the responses. I have a clinic coming up soon with the Sidas foot bed rep and I'll ask him if he has anything to say about foot beds and waterskiing.

A shot from the summer camp I worked at.

Quick note on heat moldable liners. When you get a fully custom snow skiing foot bed molded the idea is to try and mold it while your arch is in a supported position. To do this you curl your toes up towards the ceiling while the mold sets. (try it just sanding there, it will line up your foot). So the problem with a heat moldable liner is that you can't really mold it into the proper shape. It may be molding to your arch but it is molding to your arch in a mostly unsupported position. That is why I still ski with a custom foot bed even though I have a a heat moldable liner. P.S. I don't claim to be an expert that is just my opinion after having been a boot fitter at ski shop for a couple years. Also, I don't suggest throwing in your $150 custom foot bed into your water ski boot if it has layers that are glued on. I use a one piece foot bed for water skiing.

In the snow skiing world if you walk into a quality shop to get a set of boots you are most likely going to walk out with a set of aftermarket foot beds. By supporting your arch with a good foot bed you gain comfort and more importantly it helps with balance. So, why is there not a big push for arch support in the water skiing world?

Read my second post at the end of the thread about my new Radar handle I have a two year old bright green strada handle that seems to get slippery when it is cold. However, the guy I ski with has a brand new standard black vapor handle and the material seems different and stays tacky at the colder temperatures. My handle looks cooler but I don't when it pops out of my hands.

Went up north this weekend and skied in 48* weather and then took the dock out. Still have a few weeks down here in southern MI.