brettmainer

I took my last ride for the year yesterday. The weather looks like it is about to turn for the worse here in Sacramento. I usually start back up in March (just a couple of rides due to a snow skiing focus) and start getting serious about it in April. I could buy a wetsuit to shorten the off season, but I feel like my body (mostly my elbows) benefits from 3-4 months not skiing and doing other workouts instead.

I noticed the skis popping off the trough more than usual as well. TGas round 1 is exhibit A. Maybe a little bit of denial by our fearless leader. To be clear, if I could pick any of the three current boats for a tournament ride tomorrow, it would be the MasterCraft, so I am definitely not a hater. I think the larger trough than I am used to seeing from the MC was due to 3 people in the boat and maybe some extra electronic gear.

@scoke, 12 good IPAs is the bet. The loser pays off next time you get to Sacramento or I get down to the New France.

Since a world overall record was set, a key component of which was his slalom score, I think the course would be surveyed post event and the ropes re-measured. The boat path videos will be scrutinized. There either was or was not something out of tolerance and it won't be a mystery or subject to opinion; everything will be checked and not subject to conjecture. I for one doubt anything was off and I will take @scoke up on the case of Zima he is trying to get out of his fridge. I don't know all of the skiers on that list, but of the ones I do know, there is not a single score that is ridiculous PB or beyond what they have scored dozens of times in practice. Take Blaze Grubbs. His 3 and his 4 at 39 seem like big scores (they are very impressive), but he ran 4@39 at the BOS tournament and I know he has run 39 in practice. End of the year, equipment and technique are dialed, perfect day at a perfect site, I believe it is perfectly plausible for 21 of 34 skiers to ski to their PB.

So what is the verdict on the experiment? Are we keeping the current 5 kids divisions, going back to 3 divisions, or going to Jeff's 4ea 3yr division idea? Or, are we going to get to vote on it, majority rules? I might actually side with @JeffSurdej and vote for the three year divisions.

It will fit, but it is not an ideal fit for every day use. I used my 200 trailer to pick up Jack Horton's 2000 196 in Newberry and drive it back to Sacramento last year. I shimmed up the front of the main runner bunks to provide better support, and it loaded and made the 500mi trip alright.

I will buy a keg of beer and a couple socks of red solo cups at next year’s Western Regionals and put it out there. Anyone who donates can have a solo cup. I hope to raise a cup with every M4 skier there. Not one at a time though, I still want to have chance to ski well ?.

No adjustment. Need to replace. I bought the seal from Miami Nautique this spring and had a local boat mechanic replace it. He said the internal wear that caused the leak was from shaft misalignment. I hit a submerged branch and wasted a prop when the boat had about 10hrs on it. Never a noticeable vibration, but just enough to wear the seal over time. He saved the old seal for me. The wear and thus the cause were obvious.

Schroeder gave it a good effort, but came out second best in the Chico State Alumni bracket.

@oneski, my understanding of the reasoning behind the criteria you are griping about is that it was relatively easy to put together a Record tournament’s worth of senior officials until it came time to pull the older men’s and women’s divisions. Who judges the senior judges when they ski, the vast majority of whom aren’t setting any records but certainly deserve the right to ski that day? “Wait, there are a dozen Open skiers here at the record tournament that is basically being held for them. Let’s make them senior judges too so we can finish the tournament.” I am unaware of any major mistakes made as a result of this and think it is often necessary as long as 5 senior judges are required to judge a record slalom ride.

I got a close look at one today. Innovative thinking and first rate craftsmanship. Nick sure looked good on it.

Pull quality as I meant in my post had nothing to do with Zero Off, other than perhaps Zero Off is the current speed control and if you ski tournaments you should probably have it - 13 or so years of boats to choose from. I meant that a Carbon Pro with a novice driver will not be driven as straight as a 200. A crooked boat path (unless done by a friendly expert) does not feel as good as a good boat path. Boat paths longer than -35 are fairly unimportant compared to wake quality. Some folks complain about some boat and engine combos as “not feeling as good as their favorites”, but if it is your boat, whatever it is, it becomes normal. At the end of the day, all of the newer boats are good, so pick the one the strikes your fancy and enjoy.

It appears that heavy hitter Cole is not scheduled to get an at bat. Is that the final running order? If not, do you know when you will lock it down? I have some work stuff tomorrow I am trying to juggle between ski rides.

The Carbon Pro had the best wakes, 15LL through -39, although as @Horton said, no difference -32 and shorter. However, the Carbon Pro was harder to drive straight at deep shortline than say a 200 and the feel of the pull matters more than the wake at shortline. Everyone has their own personal opinion as to which boat provides that, but the 196, 200 and newer MCs tend to be the favorites, although a top driver in the Carbon Pro felt just as good. FWIW, I ski the same bouy count behind all of the new boats, so other factors such as cost and finish are the deciding factors as far as picking a favorite.

I am surprised locals Ryan Canepa and Brian Detrick are not on the list.

I think the real reason dirt is foregoing the tournament is that Rio Linda is a little too upscale for him. He might feel a little outclassed at the corner store.

“What is wrong with @Dirt” should be its own thread.

It looked to me like he didn’t get all of the soap out of his bindings and his right foot came up out of the binding as he hit the ramp. Mid 170s with, let’s say less than optimum kick off the ramp, is impressive.

I agree with all the comments above. You are not a pro, but there is a lot good about your skiing, and that fall should not have happened. That ski is not your friend. Settings or something about the ski itself is off.

How many carts of cans and bottles would @dirt have to push down to recycling to cover his entry?

I guess my point is that, if you are going to have a 34mph “elite” tournament, then let everyone 35+ or female enter. If Terry, Rossi, Caldwell or Regina wins, great. It is not about rigging the tournament to exclude the best, it is about having the best ski in an “elite” tournament. So what if you run 2@41 and get 5th? That is better than winning an “almost elite” tournament. I max out a pass below that, so I don’t have a dog in the fight myself. And ok, @Horton, I will sign up for the ballofspray tournament, even though it would be less effort and easier on my elbow just to give Terry my $200 next time I see him. You still owe me a hat for last year’s nationals photo contest.

I agree with @AdamCord Let everyone 35+ or pro women ski or change the name of the tournament to, “Elite Women plus Really Good But Not Actually Elite Skiers Aged 35-49 and Elite Male Skiers 50+.

I put my couple dollars in the pot. Get better JB.

Drop the mandatory Regionals requirement as a condition of skiing Nationals. @Horton's finance problem is solved. Skiing's problem is at the base of the pyramid, not the top. There are way fewer local tournaments than there used to be. In the Sacto area, we have about 30-50 skiers skiing in the one, sometimes two local tournaments any given weekend. 20 years ago, there would be 5+ local tournaments per weekend with what I'm guessing was 400 combined participants. That is the problem and where we should be focusing on growing the sport, not Nationals participation which is already maxed out as it is.

Based on extensive research, I can definitely say that drinking IPA does not help my skiing. It does, however, help me deal with the stench emanating from my skiing.