pregom

Great, thanks for the endorsements for McCormick!

Are there ski schools in St. Petersburg? I know of the McCormick school, but I don't think one can get there without a car. Also, are there skiers I could hook up with and get a pull? I'll be down there in mid October with one or two free mornings...

@rawly so, what vapor size would you get if the shoe size is 10.5? I'm thinking that size 11 should be enough. I can't see going to size 12, even with the plastic shim you recommend. Would you agree?

@rfa yes, I wanted to go to Oakham in July and then, life happened. I'll get in touch with you. Thanks.

@BraceMaker we do have the Nipmuc Ski Club over there. I understand it hosted a national tournament back in the days. There are not enough of us interested in slaloming to have "border guards" while we ski. Our membership is growing, so, who know, maybe we'll be able to do what you suggest.

Has anybody tried to use a net like those for a lacrosse stick? It would have none of the folding problems of a piece of hard plastic, for instance.

@Andre, I don't think I will ever see that perfect glass at my public lake... I have seen a few (very few!) mornings where it was close, but never that good!

I got the slalom bug last year and usually ski at Webster lake, a busy public lake. Even super early in the morning, it's difficult to find adequate water conditions, especially on weekends when I normally have time to ski. I often find yahoos who decide to cut through the course right when we are approaching the gate! So, I'd like to explore what other lakes in central Massachusetts have a slalom course, say within a 45 minutes radius from Webster? Feel free to PM me if you prefer. Thank you!

Would anyone here consider Radar HRT as a suitable alternative? Pros? Cons?

@mwetskier is this the picture you are thinking of?

Thank you @A_B and @sodbuster88 -- good to know there are good zip ties and bad ones! I'm tempted to use simple figure-eight follow-through knots at each end of the tubing...

@Chef23 we too drop the course when winter comes, but it stays in the water year around. (I imagine your Lake Cochituate is not that different from our Webster Lake)

Thanks, @Mark_Matis. Do you lay your course on the lake floor? Our lake is too deep where we have our course - more than 10-12 feet, I think. So we have been "suspending" the course: all the floating buoys pull the PVC pipes up through bungee cords that stretch until forces are equalized. Given our situation, highly stretchable tubing might not be necessary to account for changing water levels like in your case. Our bungee cords need to be replaced and this year we decided to try the latex tubing. We already bought the 3-8" tubing and I hope it will work. I'll keep your suggestions in mind, though!

Thank you guys, I'm getting a bunch of good ideas here. This is what I have so far, all from Skier to Skier: - yellow foam boat guides - plastic clips - latex tubing And I also have a boatload of zip ties from Home Depot. At this point I'm leaning towards two possibilities. The first possibility is to use nails as suggested by @Chef23. That is making me think of nylon spikes like these or these. After punching one of this through the side of a guide, I can thread the latex tubing through it and clamp the tubing end with a couple of zip ties. At the other end of the tubing I can attach a plastic clip and I'm done. The second possibility is to use a PVC pipe threaded through the guide as suggested by @BrennanKMN. Maybe I can secure the pipe with some couplers at each end instead of gluing it and then drill a hole through the bottom coupler. I can then clip it to the course with bungee cords made with the latex tubing and a plastic clip at each end. I'm going to check out these options at Home Depot (and Lowe's) and decide. I'll keep you posted with this project.

I like the nail idea. Have you had any issues with the nails rusting? Our course goes in the water in the spring and stays there the ice appears on the surface :-) I think the mason's line would not work for us, given that we have a fixed course on a public lake...

I bought new foam boat guides from Skier to Skier for the slalom course on our lake. Is the method suggested on the same site what you would recommend to attach them to some latex tubing that I also bought from them? It seems a bit complicated and I'm wondering if there is an easier method you guys have used with this type of buoy. Thanks for your comments!

@bananaron yes, it's a Gekko. I love it!

Webster Lake, MA. The picture was taken today, with my friend's boat down below ready to pull us...

Thanks, @ipskier. Glad to see the bar is set low but not too low! :)

@ipskier are you going to have a minimum level of slalom skiing ability required?

@ALPJr your idea of using Webster Lake in Mass caught my attention, given that it's where I normally ski (with the Nipmuc Ski Club). I have seen that picture from 1964. My understanding is that it was at North Pond. These days Webster Lake is very busy - closing it for the tournament would probably require an act of God... It would be nice if it happened!

Great skiing yesterday in MA (Webster Lake). Very (very!) foggy early in the morning, but then it was just perfect! Glassy and warm! Yay!

Skied this morning in Massachusetts. Air 41F (actual reading), water high 60's (guess). No need for any stinking dry/wet suit, heater shirt or anything. Just a vest and go! :)

It must be the Denali effect!

@Stevie Boy the question I asked above may be not clear. It originated from the "not kevlar" part of your recommendation, so I was wondering if your experience suggests that kevlar is not a good material for gloves.