pgmoore

@Ed_Obermeier‌ and @ricar116‌ During the week I mainly ski on a private lake with the club boat. But on weekends, it is mainly on public water with friends and my boat. We've been debating a portable course for next summer. This is something I really want to do... but how long really does it take to set up and take down? That's really our biggest question that would be holding us up. This is definitely something we're hoping to line up for next summer!

I came across this Twitter post tonight and it made be think of this thread: https://twitter.com/SciencePorn/status/504377521069367296 Much to my chagrin, the picture really does make a compelling argument for the imperial system :wink:

Living in Alberta, I've often thought that a shower would be a nice addition to my boat. I've already got a heater... would it be a relatively simple install to add a shower? Either way, this is a really cool product.

More importantly, how can we acquire one of those stickers?

@lhoover‌ Get in touch with Ken at Shalom Park in Alberta - http://www.shalompark.com/contact-us.html. Ask him about the PassTime system he developed to solve exactly this problem. Each member is issued a card with minutes preloaded. The card goes in the boat and the minutes wind down when the boat is running. Once your card is empty you buy a new one. Bottom line, you pay for exactly the gas you use. No more, no less. It is brilliant.

Turns out the impeller was gone and the water pump was going. Replaced both and we appear to be back in business. Haven't ran the boat in the lake yet, hope to do that tomorrow.

I drove down from Edmonton to catch the finals and shootout last night. Then headed back after through an epic storm. It was quite something. This was my first time at a pro event and I couldn't agree with @schafer‌ more. Everything ran exactly on time, the venue is first class, and the skiing was incredible. There were lots of options on site for snacks and food so there was no reason to leave. I'll be going back next year for sure! Highly recommended!

I can't think of a single situation in which the imperial system is superior to metric. Oddly, the list of countries that don't use the metric system include: Liberia, Myanmar... and the United States. It defies logic.

The person skiing in the video is my friend, Reid. He is an incredible athlete and has been skiing all his life. Reid has skied in a course maybe three sets and has had professional coaching just once. He also happens to be in the final throws of completing medical school and doesn't get to ski much these days (the pass in the video was his first of the year). This weekend, Reid was asking me about coaching and technique tips based on his skiing. And to be honest, that is a terrible idea. I'm the last person that should be providing advice. So I will turn it over to the Ballers. Based on this video, what are the top 2 or 3 tips you would offer Reid. I promise to pass them along! The video is 30mph, 15 off. The first half of the video is at full speed and the second portion is the same clip and half speed. Thanks in advance.

Specs: 1997 MB Sports Boss 190, GT-40 Problem: We pulled quite a few great sets this morning. Then, out of nowhere, the water temperature started creeping up on my engine. The temperature alarm eventually came on as we were limping back to shore. I can see water pumping through the clear plastic filter in the engine box. Checked for leaks, blown hoses or belts, etc. No issues noted. I'm a great driver, but a less good mechanic. What should we check to try and salvage the day? For information, this is a relatively cold Alberta lake. Some normal algae but no thick gooopy blooms. This is the first issue I've ever had with the boat! Bad luck!

@skierjp‌ You have hit the nail right on the head. For us, skiing on the public lake means skiing in open water as there is no course. Sometimes when we are up early in the morning, it frustrates me when there are people fishing in the portion of the lake where there might be perfect glass. But I have to remind myself that maybe that is where the fish are and that is where those people have chosen to be. Just like that is where the calm water is and that is where I want to be. So we steer clear until they move on. It's easy to think that skiing is the only acceptable activity on the water. And on private lakes that might be true. But public water is a whole different story. To @Live2ski‌ 's point though... slalom course or not, the police (and all boaters for that matter) should know better than to be pulling acrobatic driving maneuvers nearby to ANYONE in the water (skier, swimmer, diver...). That is absolutely not acceptable.

@BraceMaker‌ - Good catch! But no, for sure do not rep them. In my "real life" I'm a CPA... partner at a national accounting firm in Canada. But in the winter, I work part time with the US Ski Team as a ski tech on the World Cup. I also do quite a lot of racing for myself. This means that I've got a lot of skis :)

@BraceMaker‌ Thanks for checking up on me! Still haven't made a final decision on what boots to go with OB4 yet. The main reason is that I need my feet to get back to normal so that I can try a few things on! But, as a great development, last night I was able to walk a bit in my boot without crutches. That felt like a pretty big change to me, so I made this video :) In two more weeks I should be done with the air cast, which will be REALLY nice.

No chance. 100% no.

I was planning on making a post like this too! You beat me to it :) If all goes well at the office over the next few days, I'm hoping to make the drive south to Calgary.

It would appear that @Chris Rossi‌ measures "back of the heel to the back of the ski."

@DmaxJC_ski‌ @jayski‌ - Ok, wow. So there are more people on here from the northern Alberta area than I knew! Really cool. Looks like that was a great day! I'll leave the skiing critique to someone with a better eye than me.

Re the note from @andjules‌ : "As long as you don't over-tighten the elastic laces, they're very safe..." That part is the key. You can do up the bottom laces as tight as you want. But do NOT over tighten the top elastic laces. This will increase the risk of injury dramatically. Which will make you sad.

" I need something a bit more intuitive to use for my wife when she pulls in open water." I guess I've never really considered this, but do the pull and feel characteristics of Zbox work in open water in addition to in the course? If the engine response is based on an accelerometer (as I think it is?) as opposed to the boat's position in the course, the various pull settings would be equally applicable in open water?

Appropriate boots of your choice on OB4. After a lot of research and discussion, as soon as my broken ankle is healed, that's what I'm going to do. I know that @mmosley899‌, the owner/designer of OB4, has a ton of experience working with kids. Send him an email or give him a call. Based on my interactions with him so far, his customer service is outstanding.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada!

In support of @Than_Bogan‌ , I'll also be the n00b: What are the logistics of this? I get the idea of using weight, but how in the world do you get it to stay in place so that it's not sliding around as the boat rounds the turn island, etc.?

Awesome! Thanks for the responses, guys! I was thinking more along the lines of do you have a favourite brand or model of calipers, etc. Same with the other gauges. Or maybe none are particularly better than the others.

Following a crash that took me out a few weeks ago, I have had a lot of time to contemplate skiing topics that had never previously occurred to me. One such topic is binding and fin settings. I've had two and a half seasons on my 2012 Strada and have never put a moment's thought to the fin settings or binding placement. I simply picked it up from the dealer and went and skied. And frankly, that has worked out just fine. But now I'm curious to see where things are at and how close the settings are to stock. I'm not necessarily proposing to mess around with things as I'm no expert at ski set-up. I just want to know where I sit. What are your favourite calipers and wing angle gauges? I'm particularly interested in slot calipers (as opposed to traditional) as the measurements would seem to be much more repeatable. Any other tools I should be considering?

Sounds pretty intriguing, for sure. I had checked out the wakehouse.com site noted in the ad yesterday morning, but at the time nothing was posted. Is the concept of a tunable tip weight new? I don't think I've ever heard of that in a production ski. Wonder if that will really stick or if it's just a gimmick.