dchristman

@sm who all skis at Spencer's these days? I ski'd there some in the late 70's early 80's. I know Jud died some time ago... Is Dave still around and skiing at all? Does somebody else own the lake now?

@SM I would love to see the side by side videos to help me ski like a girl... The guys vs. Nicole would probably be more helpful than Nicole vs. Andy. How about posting them?

@Jody_Seal‌ sounds similar to @MISkier‌ ... strange.

I'm RFF and into -32. Aside from the "into -32", it would also be interesting to correlate that with hand position. I am a convert to the "correct" hand position after 20-some years and a loooong winter in anticipation of better skiing and great tips from BOS!

Love the US Gear handles, but our group is unlikely to order again unless we hear there have been a significant change in the way business is done. Take heed of what was discussed in that other thread. We had ordered a bunch last April for a tournament at the end of June. Our check was cashed, we were told "they're going out today" several times, and then no response to inquiries. After legal threat we finally received that handles this February or March. They really are nice... I just ski'd with one today. I will be sad when our current supply runs out.

@gator1 Well sure, that's what brought me here in the first place!

@sherwood I'd love to come down there to do some "testing", but I don't think that's going to happen this year. Vacations that involve skiing are now verboten. I don't get it... I've taken my skis along on every vacation the past 30 years, including our honeymoon. What's wrong with that? :-) @eleeski OK, I think I understand what your envisioning. Your picture just looks like a couple pieces of rubber bike tube laying over your "wing" ends.

@eleeski I'm not sure if your poking fun or serious, because I don't see how that works by the picture. I do understand how your gatorade lids work.

Finally! The first skiing for the season yesterday. I tried my binding "as-is" just to see how it would work. I didn't try too much since the cameraman was also the pinman and I was a little tentative with the setup. It certainly needs some work, but I still think it has potential. Definitely more comfortable than rubber, and my foot stayed warm - this old guy is sold on this hardshell thing regardless how this hair-brain idea works out. The main problem will be figuring out the right materials to get the right amount of friction between the shell and the rubber. While dry, the boot hangs in there pretty good. Wet, I could feel my heel sliding up and down. It didn't inspire confidence, especially because the heel rubber is so low. The second issue will be the lateral stiffness. It wasn't as bad as you would think, especially given that the rubber is only 1/8" and the bottom of the shell isn't flat and mated well with the ski. To solve this problem, instead of th I think I'll try bondo, ala Mapple: @Horton‌ - I came across your "magic bindings" post from 2007: ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/8/magic-bindings In it, you mentioned you had made a carbon fiber heel cup. Do you have a picture of that? Maybe that's what I need. The cuff of the brittle, 30-year old shell cracked so I'm going to have to get a new one before I begin work on version #2. Also, another plug for Camaro. I bought the Titanium 2mm over the winter based on the reviews here. Fantasic! The water temp was 53 and I was comfortable in the water and out of the water afterwards riding in the boat. Here are a couple videos, just basic stuff (don't judge my ability on this). Of particular note at second 25 on the second video you can see the ski it still fairly perpendicular to my leg and it didn't just flop off:

You should be able to get inserts from D3 if you want to go that route. I got some from them last year.

@horton - I think your description is going to be the single most important thing I have read all winter and is going to be responsible for getting me to the next level. Not that I intend to ski with straight legs. In all my years of skiing no one ever told me "I do not advocate locked knees". The dynamics of it is clear to me now. I always moved my rear binder as far forward as I could to get my toes to the rear of the front binding because it's a more comfortable position to get knees locked. When I got a Monza in 2006 I didn't understand why it was recommended that the rear binding be at a particular distance from the tail when it put my feet so uncomfortably far apart. I see know why some skiers prefer an RTP because they have to be able to lift the rear heel - they feel the need to get their knees locked. If you separate your knees, it's easy to keep both feet flat AND get in a balanced, stacked position.

My ski arrived today! I've never been so excited about an old ski! It looks like brand new except for a couple small tip dings. I can't wait to try it! This is the ski that started my addiction so long ago. It didn't come from Florida, it actually came from Utah. @scotchipman‌ maybe you've seen this one in person before. My wife's going to kill me ...

Don Christman, hopeless addict. Hooked in the spring of 1977 on a senior skip day at Lake Wallenpaupack. Started my first real job at Bell Labs in Reading, PA because "there's a ski club there!". Ski'd 3-events in the early 80's, but tricks was my primary event. Wallenpaupack and the Schuylkill River were not very conducive to slalom. Although Reading was a great site for jumping, I gave that up early on. I decided I would rather be able to trick (and walk) later in life. I found out how, mmmm, passionate jumpers are when I declared in an interview for the local newspaper that "jumping is not for intelligent people". I tricked daily with Jimmy Mandolos on the river, and took annual spring pilgrimages to Lakeland and then Okeeheelee with Jimmy, Kenny Mead, Bud Raley, and Al Luck. I can remember Bud sanding on my slalom ski edges ... "see how that works" ... and Schnitz showing up with his top secret fin in a sock. I married in the late 80's, kid's in the early 90's, so skiing took the back seat. I came out of retirement briefly for a tournament in '91 in men 2, and thought that maybe I would ski in one tournament in each division. I didn't ski in another tournament until last year. The comeback begins! We (Reading Water Skiers) lost our site when the dam broke in hurricane Floyd (1999). A group of us was lucky enough to find another great private site locally - Christman Lake. No, I don't own it, but it sounds good when people ask me where I ski! Now for some reason I just can't get enough of this. Last year I became more obsessed, got some new equipment, and thanks to this site and the never-ending winter even more new stuff. I'm ready to go! The oil's changed in the boat and we're just waiting for the ice to melt... unfortunately it looked like about a foot of it left on Wednesday when we checked it out.

Sorry for reviving another old thread, but God help me, I am an addict. I just bought a '73 O'brien Mach1 with a bag in excellent looking condition off ebay for $70. How could I pass up this classic ski that cost less than a pair of new gloves? The guy in Florida emptying his garage into mine is probably a recovering addict. @Horton‌ where can I sign up for that 12-step program?

I can attest to Tim Nelson. He has ski'd with us the last couple years maybe 3 or 4 times, his only time in the course during that time and still pretty easily runs through 38. He lives here in PA now.

OK, it wasn't us then... that would have been Fox Run. Basing my assumption on the boat house as we don't have one.

@igkya‌ who did you ski with?

@Edbrazil a little more than several years ago. It doesn't seem that long ago, but it's been 15 years since the dam broke during hurricane Floyd. The fun tournament that @ThePantsManCan‌ mentioned was the 2nd annual Reading Water Skiers Memorial tournament. That was held on a Schuykill River impoundment called Staircase Lake.

I guess I should pay attention - I didn't notice it was a resurrected thread. You can still come and ski with us!

Yes! Didn't you know where we ski?

@ThePantsManCan I guess it's not super sneaky, as we do have a permit for our course. I ski with a group of former Reading Water Skiers at a private lake north of Reading. We'd be happy to have you ski with us as soon as the ice melts.

... spelling correction - I mean't sugru: http://sugru.com

@bracemaker I think your getting my concept with your o-ring comment. I can envision is a rounded ridge around the back of the heel that would snap into a groove molded into the heel cup - the detent I mentioned in my first post. I've been looking into what materials I might use to prototype this... maybe PCL for molded heel cup and Sugra to add a ridge to the back of the boot. Does anyone have any experience working with these materials? Wow, those Dynafit bindings are pricey!

oops - the missing image was supposed to be this video: