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Our daughter was only on a tube a few times. She didn't like it that much (particularly after banging heads with another kid). We went another direction. We have 3 or 4 knee boards. Put two or three kids out there at the same time and they will ride for hours. Also spent many hours pulling two or three skiers at a time. Last couple of years have been pulling two at time on trick ski. Kids love it. Sure, it's not hard core training. But they learn a lot about stability in all conditions, handle pass, edging, variable speeds, manipulating the board/ski, etc. and it's fun. Also sent my daughter to a bunch of youth ski camps. She liked the camps as much as the skiing, which led to increased skiing skills, which led to more interest in skiing. One guy's results. Your kid will likely vary.

Length of the box makes a big difference. I shipped a ski two weeks ago. I had an original Radar Box which was 75 inches long (71 Inch ski). Estimated shipping was $140. I cut the box down and it came in just under 72 inches in length, estimated cost was about half. Ultimately buyer used his corporate account which was a much better rate, and sent me the label. Still dropped his costs in half when I cut the box down.

Yes, it is/was a ski handle. Found amongst my father's boat stuff when he passed in 04. I estimate he used it in the late 40s or early 50s.

Probably a rarety on your site. But, in our family, my wife and I ski a bit recreationally. Most of the money for equipment, awsa membership, lessons, travel, etc. is for our daughter. Thus, when answering the questions, I feel like I provide an inaccurate mixture of both my responses, and answering on her behalf. I've met a number of families at tournaments in the same position. Not sure if it is a common enough scenario in this sport to distinguish in your survey.

Just put a ribbon on the zipper. That's the way all surf suits are designed. If the flapping ribbon bothers you, then just tuck in the neck of the suit.

I'd vote dish soap as well. Though spot specific because it foams up so much. I worked several years auto shops and we use dishwashing soap, or Tide to clean up most oil spills, only occasionally resorting to harsher cleaners.

For those who can't leave good enough alone.

How does a Triple Britney measure up against a Triple Panda? What is the relative level of respect or shame to be attributed? Want to be sure I have this correct.

Really interesting! Seems so counterintuitive. That's why they are the experts.

I'm not a ski technician, but drilling a $50 set of clearance bindings vs. drilling a $1500 + ski would seem like an easy choice to me. ICBW

@Rawski reminds me of some of my favorite watering holes. Love the shufflepuck board. Do you have a bar in that room?

@storm34 Goode is 15" wide

14th Birthday. Daughter wanted last run of the year in the CA Delta. 68 air/57 water. Will be snow skiing in two weeks. Was a good year of water skiing.

Not a comp slalom skier. But, I do know that when you stop moving, bad things happen. I've had cervical fusion, thoracic spine surgery, and too many other injuries and surgeries to mention. Heart surgery last year, and cancer surgery this year. As soon as I can slalom ski again, I will. Bought myself a big fat Goode trick ski, mostly so I can do something side by side with my daughter who is comp skiing now. Whatever makes you happy, but I feel as though when you stop moving you expedite the slow march to death. I for one am not ready, no matter how much it hurts some days. My vote: keep going and do whatever you can do, brother.

So this did not start out as a Snow ski vs. water ski thread and it should not now. But, to the topic of why not on ESPN vs. why snow skiing is routinely on television: Snow skiing lead sponsors include Audi, Land Rover, Visa, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab. That's some deep pockets, aimed at high income viewers. Proctor and Gamble, Paul Mitchell, Blue Diamond Almonds, Pacifico and xfinity amongst the household names with deep pockets. Any one of these companies have more sponsorship firepower than CC, MC, Bu, and all the ski companies combined.

@ Horton. Lot of money. Particularly painful when we know the money could go a lot further in other states. Still not as costly as a home or condo anywhere near slopeside. I love both sports. They have unique experiences and unique challenges. It is what it is.

Snow skiing cheaper than waterskiing? Certainly not for competition skiers. Season passes for my family of 3 over $5K. Team membership for my daughter $1800. Price of lodging for minimum of 60 nights per year - minimum $100 per night with advance reservations and staying in a very simple place. Or, buy a place near the mountain which are hard to find for under $500K in Tahoe. Price of lift tickets for my wife and I when she races at an away mountain $70 to $120 each. That's 4 or 5 races per year. Three new pair of skis, minimum , and usually every year - $700 to $1000 per set. Racing poles $150 per set times at least two sets, replaced every time she grows 3 inches. Pair of race boots every year $200 to $500. Race suits $175 and up. Plus Jackets, gloves, training pants, goggles, helmets, ski bags. Race fees that equal or exceed any water ski tournament. Throw in the extra costs of driving 4WD vehicles as well. Water skiing, I bought a perfectly good 98 Ski Nautique for 13K. I can join the Berkeley water ski club for about $500 per year, or even a private lake for $2-3K per year. I splurged and bought my daughter a KD Platinum with a reflex and a D3trick. Not even close to what I spend on snow skis - every year. Throw in mid level water ski for the wife and me, and we are still way ahead. Even sending my daughter to lessons with top pro coaches, still cheaper than snow skiing. I also agree with loopski. Even a weekend for 4 in Tahoe can cost the new skier $2K - easily. Lift tickets are $169; ski rentals are $40; hotel is $200 or more; meals, gas, etc.

If ever there were an activity that implores beer (Anhauser Busch) and bratwurst (Johnsonville) sponsors to step forward, it is Cornhole. Not even difficult to see why Cornhole is on television. Just sayin'.

It seems like they are almost alway off a a couple of inches to either side, even if I have a lot of experience with that particular boat and do everything right. With a ski boat, most times I just push it over to perfect center while the bunks are wet. With a wakeboard boat that's a lot tougher. If the boats is only off by a couple of inches from center, I find that it usually bounces itself to center by the time I drive the one mile from ramp to home. FWIW.

His and hers

Ha Ha @luzz. Kids seem to remember every detail when its something they want to do, or when you promise to buy them something. But ask them what went wrong, or why they didn't take out the trash -not so much. Sounds like many of you had similar experiences with your kid's excitement at tournaments. Makes it fun. Enjoy.

My daughter is 13. I'm used to one-syllable, mumbling responses. How was school? Ok. How's your burger? Good. What did you do today? School. Talking to my daughter about water skiing: How was it? Oh my god, Dad. Did you see my 32 mile an hour pass? I totally thought I was going to miss it. I had a really weird pullout and I was late. That caused a bad gate and I totally thought I was going to miss at one. But, I got there and cranked off a really hard turn, and I was actually kind of early at two. Then I came around two and got back on my tail a bit. I thought I was going to crash, but I made it around three and, actually, four was pretty good. I don't know what happened at five, I got late and I think I might have hit the ball. That totally threw me off, and when I went around six I could hardly turn. I didn't think I would make it out the gate. I had to kind of hop on my ski to stay inside. That wasn't easy but I made it. Me: Great

@bsmith. I'm no expert on wakeboards either. But, that board you are looking at is a 124. Not meant for more than 120 lbs in the wakeboarding world. If I were you, I wouldn't use a wakeboard under 138 at your weight of 195. BTW, that's about the same length as the 54" Goode trick ski. FWIW

@bsmith. I'm no expert, but FWIW. A friend of mine was a very good three event skier, and a pro jumper for a while. He put his kids on Hyperlite Motive wakeboards as a lead in to trick skis. The Motives start at a size 118 kids version and went up to at least a 140. I see them used on facebook market, craigslist, etc. In the case of my my friend, he mounted the boards with Liquid Force Bindings that had a swivel base. Just loosen a couple of screws and easy to swivel the bindings forward. He removed the fins from the wakeboard. Every so often he would swivel the bindings a couple of notches forward, getting them closer to trick ski position. When the bindings were swiveled as close to trick ski configuration as possible, and the kids were comfortable, he moved them to a trick ski. They did not lose a single trick when making that transition. I'm a lousy wakeboarder, and even worse on a trick ski, but my experience is that on a wakeboard I can usually do S, B, F, WB, WF, and the reverse of each. That's worth about 640 pts. Sometimes I can do an O and reverse, that would be another 180 pts. On a trick ski, I'm still struggling with starts and a side slide :) which is the point of the original poster - Trick skiing is hard.