ShererSkier

My dad bought a Pulse after talking with Bob LaPoint at a tourney in Wisconsin in the late 80s. He also skied on one behind one of their boats after the tourney with my mom and baby me watching from shore. He skied on it until I was around 15 and started using it and had to put new bindings on it. I used it until the HO coefficient came out and my skiing addiction began. Last time I skied on it was a few years back after thanksgiving 34 degrees with snow on the ground. Not sure why that was the one I grabbed for that day 😅 It’s defiantly a different feel than the newer skis and now we have it hanging up with the rest of the “semi-retired” skis, along side my coefficient! 

I was reading through another thread and @klindy mentioned Virtual Slalom is a interesting bridge between free skiing and course skiing. I was wondering if anyone here has used virtual slalom and noticed if it translates into course skiing.

 

I’m talking about people that have limited course time and use it to try to maintain the width and rhythm of course skiing. Kind of a training aid to keep consistent on the course.

 

I have the app downloaded but always forget about it when I’m free skiing.

@jhughes The course is way better than last year. They have all buoys this year and pre gates. The buoys are a little discolored though so it’s hard to pick up sometimes early am or late evening.

Lots of cool names in this thread! I like @6balls idea of the different colors for line lengths. I think the cap should be orange like buoy color! How about “Buoy Count IPA”

@oldjeep I know the rules have changed this year but that with the other changes I was talking about, IMO, would make passing even better. There has been races this year where cars go rocketing past or just can’t pass and I haven’t seen much wheel to wheel like years past. Plus as I said I don’t like the fact driver have to worry about their tire deg SO much. I’d just like to see them hit the perfect set of specs and rules to complement each other more.

What F1 needs is to ban aerodynamics on the car rearward of the front wheel and below the top of the wheel line. That would kill the underbody and diffuser which kills air behind the car. Also DRS doesn’t work the way it was imagined and if they keep, it the drivers should be able to use it anywhere they want to. I used to watch every practice, qualifying and race but now can pretty much predict what’s going to happen. I do still like watching but it’s not a big priority anymore because of the decreased passing and excitement. Also even though it’s cool to see technology that advanced in engines, it did add a bit of unknowing when someone’s engine had a chance to blow up in the middle of the race. One big thing they need is to let them run more fuel (wish they would do refueling) so drivers can push the entire race and not have to manage their car and tires. I miss when they could bang out qualifying paced lamps over and over to make a pit strategy work.

I ski probably 10 times a week for 6-10 minutes at a time, with 4-8 runs during that time. I ski the course every other week (on a good year) and do about 6-12 sets. I go through a pair of Arama palm Radar boa gloves a year. I’m thinking that’s over 300 rides.

I’d rather do drills that isolate certain postures of slalom behind the boat. Like the pull out and swing drill, that way you have all the other effects of the boat going that provide the most realistic feel of how the position will feel and will build better muscle memory. From the stretching aspect of it, there are better stretches to get way more flexible to make it easier to get into the proper stacked position. My 2 cents

That video was really good. This is my problem in the preturn also. The stand tall and straight rear leg cue is what I’m going to try this summer. I also need to stay connected to the handle longer after my edge change. Another thing I may try is move my boots back a little, I moved them forward at end of 2017 and all last summer was having more of a hips back problem than before. After hearing what @AdamCord said I think that may be adding to the issue. I seem to come in and out of the turn on my back leg then yaw the ski to get tip access and get into a better stack, but it’s all after I make the turn.

@drew widening the course is an interesting concept that I never considered. I always think rope length or boat speed when I think about something that could be done differently. I like your idea a lot and I agree that most lakes should be able to handle the extra width. I would like to see some of the top skiers try that out sometime to see what it would look like.

I have to get one of these. But if there is a triple panda shirt eventually @Horton should have to approve the sale so he can filter who’s in the award recipients club and should have one! Haha

I think anyone that likes a sport enough starts to get serious about it. You’re only too serious when you stop having fun doing the sport.

Thanks for the cool video. Ever since I started using ML ropes and handles I’ll never switch to anything else, they are so high quality it’s crazy. Plus they have the best comstomer service. I need to buy another rope and handle!

@dbski Nice! Is there a thread somewhere that you talked about what your envisioning it looking like? I looked a little but didn’t find it. Was wondering what exactly the car is, also what color you’re planning? I paint cars for a living and work at a shop that restores classic cars besides just collision work. Just got done with a 69 mustang convertible last fall and a 31 Packard last spring.

 

 

 

@Jboss sounds good!

 

Haha yeah that snowy pic is a 86 Mastercraft. It’s my brother @PacMan and our family boat. Unfortunately had to store it there this winter. We’re going to have to borrow a tractor to move that snow!

@Jboss thanks. Looking forward to it!

Maybe we should start a new thread for Northen WI ski weekend haha. I’ll keep a sticky note too just in case.

@Jboss @jhughes @Jetsetr @swc5150 if you guys are going to set up some time to ski this summer can you let me know? I live in Arbor Vitae and ski at my parents in Minocqua on a portable course with my bro @PacMan

 

I think if anyone is going to ski at their highest level with a risk of injury they should have a spotter or another boat with people ready to go in and help. As said earlier, the first time I skied without a spotter I had a terrible OTF so now if I ski without one, I don’t ski at my max. I’d be a hard thing to deal with an unconscious or disabled person and drag said person into a boat by oneself. Especially if they weight a lot more than you. I also would hope people never do this on big waterways. I imagine lake Minocqua (by where I live) has that prohibited because that lake is rediculously busy in summer.

I need to work on staying centered on the ski and not let the rope get pulled from my hips. I got into a bad habit of that last year. I also want to ski the course a lot more. I only made it onto a course 3 days last summer, that needs to change! I’d also like to get a ZO boat (probably won’t happen). Ever since I skied behind ZO at Eden Lake I’ve wanted one. Still hand driving an 86 MC but it pulls!

@Than_Bogan hit my thoughts on this about right. Plus there is a reason that rope lengths get less and less taken off the shorter you go so I figured the last two lengths, the hardest ones, would have an even smaller increment than the previous.

Just invite them to hang with you while you and your cousin ski. Ask if they want to, if they don't, don' make it a big deal. Just have fun skiing and tear it up! I have some friends that aren't in the mood to ski often but when they hang with my bro and I and watch us ski, talk technique and have tons of fun they usually end up wanting to try it. We're always trying to improve and run a better pass and I think that how into skiing we are, no matter how we're skiing, is what draws people into trying. It's all about having fun after all, so make that the biggest point!

They make decimals... like 10.0584

Well, Its been in the single digits here in Northern WI for the last month and only warms up to mid 20's when its going to dump the 60" of snow we got total just in February. So I'll be hitting the slopes for quite a while I imagine.

I've been wondering lately why do the lengths jump from 41 to 43 off? Since Nate can run 41 off no problem and a few others can run it but get tripped up so quick into 43, you think that 42 off would have been the next progression. I'm not sure if anyone has tried 42 but I would imagine in touneys it would make the ending a little more interesting... Thoughts?

@dave2ball mine broke when I let go and the handle caught the edge of my ski and popped the ski top away from the ski bottom. Luckily one of the Denali guys made a post on how to repair that. For whatever reason this handle really impacts the ski harder than my non ergo masterline not that it happens that often. And yeah we both have bent normal handles too, but the ergo feature is what we like. Idk... just our opinions I guess. Masterline is the only company for ropes and handles that we’ll use in any case.

@Chef23 I think @Pacman meant the inserts that guide the rope into the handle bend. They look like hard plastic still and @Pacman had the old style ergo just put a hole into his syndicate vtr a couple months ago. I have the old style one and an insert recently broke on it too. With the insert broken, the rope will most likely rub on the aluminum core edge. I haven’t contacted masterline to see if they would repair it.