CaleBurdick

Ricciardo won't beat Verstappen in championship points so he definitely won't be World Champ. Vettel and Ice man will have better years. Bottas is there to support Lewis, not challenge him. I admit my favorite driver, Vettel, can be hard to like, but it's so much harder to like Lewis and his big headed, cry baby attitude.

My dad bought it for me for Christmas (maybe he was trying to tell me something), it was a great read! The only downside about the book is that it filled me with regret for not buying it sooner! As a fan of open wheel racing, it was that much more fascinating.

Nate will win every pro event. Tgas will run 41. Clem will be slalom world champion.

After a great start with making finals at Moomba Masters my year turned into a bit of dud. I skied more pro events this summer than ever before, which means I spent more time with a lot of good people (and I made some money at the black jack table with Tom Brantley!) Though, I didn't make it into finals anymore... My season was cut short by a partial rotator cuff tear that I got at Malibu Open, I continued to ski but eventually got an MRI and decided to quit skiing and start physical therapy. I was able to get 147 sets this year. I spent too long experimenting this summer. Willingness to learn in this sport is important, but since I don't make the sacrifices that other skiers make, I don't have enough time for that crap! Next season I will be more decisive about settings! I like that other people realized that this sport isn't all about themselves and so I'll follow suit...my wife slalomed her PB (with Nate Smith driving of course, which she won't let me forget) and my daughters both improved while having lots of fun. And we just bought a new boat yesterday!!! Can't wait for next year.

has anyone analyzed pro skiers? I would bet, based on my own casual studies, that the majority are looking to the next buoy as soon as they are comfortable that they are getting around their current buoy(10 to 20 feet before). A smaller amount of pro skiers look down course at the next bouy (3 ball if going around 5 or the horizon if going around 5). Does anyone look to the boat? I also bet that all high level skiers look at something specific and consistently. I like what @fizer said about it depending on your own personal weaknesses. One must experiment, but be confident that not having a specific thing to look at during all points in the course will limit you.

www.silverspraysports.com has a XS Eagle full baggy front zip. I absolutely love mine. I can run 39 in it and stay 100% dry.

That's how my dad would run 35 off, do a "grandma gate"! nice and easy and slow and long pull. Then when he gets out of one ball, pull like the grandPA that he is! haha At 34 mph and up to 35 off, it works! This reminds me of training with Javier Julio (world overall champion) back in the PerfectPass days. He would run 39 off with the most shallow gate. I wonder what his approach is now with ZeroOff and different popular slalom theory.

The $7 temporary membership can only be purchased at a sanctioned event like a practice, clinic, or grassroots tournament. It is signed up for on the "Event Membership Application" which the organizer of said sanctioned event can print online at usawaterski.org under the event sanctioning tab, then under online tournament kits, then found inside basice skills clinic sign up sheet I believe.

We live on a private but big lake with a course so we can ski as a family; wife and two toddlers each get a turn. Its all about having fun on those days, hopefully my young ones stay interested and drive me as they get older. Also, I try really really hard not to have any negative experiences for my wife in the driver seat. I go to the ski club 40 minutes away for a longer set up, friendships, better driving, and super early morning sets (no need to piss off my own neighbors)! Those early morning sets are so I can ski on 12 hour shift days, but also to help the 'balance.' Meaning I can just be home to help with kids and spend time with them. My friend describes skiing as a sport only real men/women can compete in because they have to work hard to afford it and do a major life balancing act to find time to do it.

I use a prodigy for my back foot. Its a great binding for the front too, I just prefer something more stiff. I've no experience with the Vapor boot, sorry. I have a brand new prodigy on the shelf as my back up, I assume this one will fail eventually, I have been using it for 6 years! Good quality, and safe release mechanism(assuming they haven't changed it)

ProGear increased their quality recently. They are a hair thicker and more robust stitching. Best grip and callouses are doing great.

Those weights that screw into the tails of the skis to help them float tip up may be a good idea. I loved getting bribed with toys..."if you learn to do it we'll go back to the store and get that toy you liked!" Also, over the top enthusiasm from my parents made it a lot of fun at a young age.

check out the Glif at www.studioneat.com. it works really really well, holds onto the phone through some gnarly handle pops. I used to use a spring loaded mount that sent my phone flying through the air at 36mph. Thank goodness it landed back in the boat.

@adamhcaldwell as you know, I've done it, and it's awesome. I can't wait to get your new Denali fin block so I can fine tune it!! Its fun to me that my notes for ski settings now have a new section: onside depth.

I just studied some pics of Corey, maybe it's just a tall sock, I hope so (to help my own ego)

That's gnarly @Horton! Doesn't Corey Vaughn wear a spray leg? I lose sleep over the fact that someone better than me wears a spray leg.

I'll give you $80 plus shipping for it. Email me please at caleburdick@gmail.com

just to back up my opinion on best exercises to help you this winter... Aerobic vs. Anaerobic Exercise Kenneth Cooper, M.D., an exercise physiologist, first coined the term “Aerobic”. He used running, walking, swimming and bicycling in a scientific exercise program. When you walk briskly or run slowly without a shortness of breath, you are exercising aerobically. Anaerobic exercise occurs when a person runs faster and they gasp for oxygen due to a shortness of breath.

Olympic bar for dead lifts...the most effective strength training for most sports, especially skiing. The reason being that it strengthens the core so much, especially if you consciously flex your transverses muscles while lifting. Use the same bar and weights for power cleans, the second most effective for skiing. If that takes too much space, Third would be a pull up bar, palms away works the back better. I argue that course skiing is anaerobic, so doing low rep workouts and ignoring 'cardio' workouts will leave you less winded after 6 buoys in the spring. Also, studies are starting to show that high intensity/short duration exercises are better at preventing cardiovascular events than a long drawn out medium intensity cardio workout.

I skied in neighboring Kenya. The lake had crocs and hippos so I did a dock start and landing just to say I'd skied. Apparently the Kenyans are only afraid of the shallow water. The next weekend we went white water rafting on the Nile in Uganda(I bet I've rafted that very part of the river pictured above). Falling off the raft in the rapids was only dangerous due to the rocks, but they said not to get off the raft in the calm water areas!!!

@eleeski When @AdamCord was still dialing in the art of resin transfer molding for the O'Brien Elite, he sent me a prototype that hadn't fully "wet out" so there was exposed carbon on the bottom of the ski that would expand when wet. Andy Mapple told me to just wax it. I rubbed some snow ski wax on and voila; it didn't absorb water anymore and didn't affect the way the ski rode either! Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't ever wax a normal ski bottom, or top(dings/scratches/fade give it character), but I don't think the surface of a ski has much effect on performance. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm way off base here. To stay on topic though....tried and true back up skis go in the basement for longevity. Current ski stays in the below freezing garage to earn its right to be used the next season. If it absorbed any water leading to delamination issues when said absorbed water expands then I don't want to be using it anyway...

When is the last time Scot Ellis won a big event? Seems he is often top 5 at big events. I would love to see him put together a big one for a win.

Skiing the Yarra River in the Jr. Moomba Masters. The usual trash and jelly fish floating through with the current was enhanced by 3 huge swans in the course. They delayed taking me into the course so a couple dinghies could zoom around in circles to scare them away. Then they took me into the course with all the rollers. I would have preferred the swans! I made that pass, whew. Or maybe it was the 2008 Malibu Open preliminary round here in Michigan on Pontiac Lake. Crazy cross wind from across the large part of the lake. Literally only me and Ian Trapp ran their first pass out of every single pro there. There were some video worthy crashes that morning. JB and Larkin had the nastiest if I remember.

@MattP a bigger size is being made too. At this point it is kind of a 68 inch. I'm not sure what @adamcaldwell has planned for different sizes other than the 66 and 68(a big 67)

@MISkier you are right about little mountain. But I only ran 2@41 at worlds. So today I tied my PB on a ski that I've had 6 sets on. The 3@41 in July on the predecessor to this final version was great for me, but today's 4@41 felt like I gave the pass away at 3 ball. It felt way better than just a buoy better. The way this ski decreases the amount of slack without compromising any other aspect of the course is such a genuine feeing to me.