david_quail

Not answering your original question ... Wrt ski sites, aside from Liquid zone (which looks amazing but is a bit of a drive from Sunnyvale) or ski sunset ranch (which I've been to and is awesome), there is a water ski club up in Berkley. That was the closest option I found when I lived in the Bay Area. That said, I was mostly there for work, so never took the time to go - and found info on the web fairly opaque. But I'd look into it if you're there often. I was always surprised there wasn't more options local.

Great game. But the best was the half time show. Snow storm, featuring Shania Twain entering the stage being pulled on a sled by a team of Huskies, and then being escorted on stage by a Mountie. I wish I was kidding. You couldn't parody Canada any better! PS I'm Canadian so I can make fun of Canadians right?

Good point by @dhofert I absolutely love the feel and warmth of my camaro suits. But it does *seem* to come at the slight expense of a bit more fragility than others. I've got to be extra careful about storing it, not hanging it on a hanger etc.

Camaro blacktec. Warmer (and I'm in Canada) and most comfortable I've tried. And I've tried a lot.

Very good points made by all. Somehow I feel wrong if I allow a thread like this go by without giving, based on my own experiences with various training programs, a thumbs up to CrossFit (as others have done as well). Nothing will prevent you from being stiff after your first day back on the water. Nothing. But if the relevant muscles are in shape (via CrossFit or other) it’s days rather than weeks of stiffness. But more than that, you’ll have the strength to carry you through the season performing better, and with a lower risk of injury. Kettlebells, core, pull ups, Olympic lifts, deadlifts, high intensity intervals, farmer carries, sled pushes all translate to slalom well, and incidentally are all emphasized in CrossFit. If you have the time and money, it’s way more enjoyable to do these in a competitive group setting, than making your own workouts up and then throwing weights around in your garage/local gym by yourself. Slalomers seem to be the type of people who thrive obsessively in competitive environments so I reckon many would enjoy this type of exercise setting Apologies for sounding like an infomercial :\

Ya. Just GST at the border. And a trailer inspection at Canadian fire (which honestly took the guy about 2 minutes). I believe I had gotten the boat insured, and already gotten a plate for it for the drive home. But not sure either was needed. They didn't ask at the border. IMHO most Canadians selling their ski boats base price on USD. For example, The 2016 nautique 200 from our club is going to be sold this year. But he's selling it at a higher cost in CAD because of the week Canadian dollar. So I think there's good deals out there even given the current exchange rate.

I'm sure you've looked into it ... But for what it's worth, definitely look into importing from the Us. I was in similar shoes wanting to spend mid 20's on a ski boat, living in Edmonton. Pretty much no local options. But lots in Washington, Idaho. All well within a day's drive (3 hours closer for you). In the end I got a sweet nautique ski 196 from standpoint ID. Import was pretty easy and the drive was actually beautiful.

What exactly do people mean when they say a ski is "more forgiving?" This seems to be the go-to line when talking about more mid level skis vs. high end ones. I actually used it the other day when asked what the difference between my Senate and Vapor was ... and then was pressed with what exactly I meant ... and then realized I didn't really have a good answer.

Ha. Ya I'm the same way with hockey sticks. I switch between a few different models depending on how I'm playing. But am paranoid about switching skis.

How many skis do others actively use? I'm sure all of us have a garage full of old sticks. But how many of them are actually used? *first world problem alert*. I ski two locations: a private club lake, and our cabin property. When we travel to the latter with a small car, coolers, golf clubs, and kids, overflowing, my wife is never impressed when I leave the extra duffle bag at home to make room for my ski!!! So I love the idea of keeping a ski at each location. I have a 2016 vapor i currently shuffle between the two places, but am considering the new NRG. Other than @horton who skis 100 different skis per season and doesn't seem phased, do others bounce between different skis without it compromising their skiing much? I reckon there'd be a minimum amount of transition time switching between the two. But not more than a couple passes. I also kind of think that part of being a good skier, is being dynamic. But that's probably just the part of me seeking justification for dropping coin to ski on the coolest new gear (NRG or other).

@JBB That was my exact experience as well. I actually failed 5 of my first 9 starts. If I was lucky enough to get up, I'd then go to pull out to set up my gates .... nothing really happened. After a while. things started to feel more normal. I have no idea why it's such a different feeling. Especially the failed starts.

I'm just starting, getting 32MPH, 15off, and 30MPH, 22 off this year, but can totally tell the difference between ZO and PP. I constantly switch between skiing behind my PP Nautique 196 at a public lake (mostly in the course but a bit of free skiing) and then behind a new 200 with ZO at a private ski club. Each time I switch, it takes me a few passes to get used to it, especially switching back to the ZO boat which will simply not give back anything, regardless how hard I pull. I agree with @foxriverat about getting a ZO if you plan on tournaments. But IMO both are fantastic to ski the course and learn behind. They're just different.

@Horton thanks for all the info on this. The reason I (and I think others) are focusing on twisting falls, is that I've been told that this is the main place where hardshells let you down and are unsafe. (Obviously you can get hurt plenty of ways, but this is the main downside of hardshells). I took this to mean that they're less likely to release than my normal lace ups. But thinking about the physics of these types of falls, it seems as though a skier is in trouble regardless of the binding (with the exception of a few bindings which have been mentioned). If this is true, converting to hardshells from my current set up doesn't come at the expense of any of my safety.

Lots of good stuff in the thread! Im still undecided. Seems the biggest knock against hardshell is the "twisting" fall, where there's only twisting force. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you in trouble regardless of what binding you're using in this situation. In my lace up vector bindings, I'm not magically going to pop out if all I do is twist my foot. I need that combined with some pressure to lift the heal.

@Horton gotcha. Makes sense. Under that definition, I still have a ways to go before I crash once a month. But I'm close, rather than an order of magnitude off. I guess this photo would qualify as a crash by any definition(not me, but a ski buddy)? Should belong in the other "this is why we have Internet" thread but can't help putting it here now.

@Horton Wow. Do high end skiers really only crash about once a month? I'm clearly not one of them, but have skied with folks who run 32+ regularly. They're no pros, but that's pretty decent. And they seem to take way more tumbles into the lake. EDIT - and I'd define a "crash" as anything that causes you to let go of the handle. Not just major OTFs ...

@Deanoski I'm definitely going to set them a bit looser next time. That said, it already set it looser than was suggested by my weight/speed. I reckon it was just one of those weird falls.

I'm watching this thread closely. I've skied on open toed, lace up bindings up until now (my only 2 years skiing). I've crashed every which way possible, and I've come out of my bindings nicely each time I should have. Never felt any ankle pain since they felt like they came off plenty early. I tried a hard shell (HO Syndicate) for a weekend this summer and had a crash where I came out, but it felt really late, and while there was nothing major, I limped around for the rest of the day. I reckon it was one of these rare twisting falls. Everyone I talk to says the reflex/HO style release system is the safest,, but it doesn't quite match my limited experience. I'd like to make the switch to the syndicate but am curious to hear from others.

Most people over 30 shouldn't do crossfit? That's almost like saying most people over 30 shouldn't slalom. Sheesh. I've been a crossfit for the better part of 7 years and have never experienced anything close to an injury. Nor has anyone I train with. Many of whom are 60years and older. Sure, like any activity, there's risk, but I find it absolutely insane to discourage people from doing something that's been shown to be so addicting and efficient at building strength. Don't run. Don't ski. Don't do crossfit. Too risky!!! As I said before, a good trainer will make sure you are safe. They won't let you lift 1lb too much. That's the trick in crossfit. I've been lucky to have some of the best trainers. Perhaps I've drank the Kool-aid. But I've experienced the benefits of crossfit first hand (chronic shoulder pain caused by muscular imbalance gone. A much stronger beer league hockey player! And I posted my fastest half marathon time, while doing way less pure "running" leading up to it, compared to other years .). And for those creatures like me, who are super competitive, and social, it's 1000X more fun than just hitting the gym solo. A few bad trainers have given it a terrible name

I forgot to add that knowing what you're doing wrong, but not knowing how to fix it puts you in the company of pretty much every single skier on earth. Including pros. Every single person I ski with, including those that ski 35+ off, could rattle off a dozen things they know they don't do right. And that they constantly are trying to fix. The only thing to do to get better is soak up as much of the theory like you're doing, taking video, ski lots, and be patient. You ARE at a pretty big disadvantage though skiing behind a wake you can't trust. I also sent you a DM with a couple suggestions.

The Robert Marking dryland videos are great. But I think they do create one bad habit, which I see you doing in these videos. They train you to lean straight back onto your back foot / heal. Think about it. If you're standing still or moving slowly holding a handle connected to something (like in the Marking training video), the only way to stay still or move slowly is to lean straight back from the rope (ie towards your back heal). If you leaned perpendicular to your ski (like you should in slalom), you'd need to sprint back towards the middle because ... well that's physics ... and that's good for slalom. Anyways, you'll hear advice from a bunch of people more wise than me, but as someone who obsessed about those dryland videos, I can tell you they're great because they teach you good body position (hips up, elbows to vest, shoulders square to the boat). But they also train you to stand with the weight on your back foot (he even says that's where the weight should be at some point of the video) which is clearly wrong. If you hit the wake with the weight on this heal, the ski has no choice to go up, your butt straight down, and your arms out ... no matter what you try to do.

In addition to being great people, the owners run one of the only nautique dealerships in western Canada. They maintain, and winterize Many of our ski boats. They also sponsor events like the Canadian open, which part in thanks to them, was able to draw the likes of Nate Smith to ski in front of us local mortals. I could go on. And this is $800k of their product. IMO an issue well worth sharing on our form in hopes it may help them ... Rather than "Meh."

@blakeyates we have plenty of older men and women in our classes. As others have said, the workouts can all be scaled to an appropriate level of intensity for each individual. The important thing with any crossfit gym is making sure that the trainers are anal about technique and safety. My last gym wouldn't let me power clean anything other than the bar until my technique was flawless. They also made me do less volume until I was in good shape. This is the way it should be, as opposed to be thrown into the deep end, lifting as much as possible regardless of technique and current conditioning. So it's important to ask around to make sure the gym has a good reputation for these things. They vary incredibly.

I can't do crossfit "occasionally." ie. 1-3 times a week. If I do, I'm stiff after every workout and can't do much else in my day to day. But if I do it consistently (5-6 times a week), I get in great shape, and then it's only the really nasty workouts (maybe once every other week), that I get stiff from. Other than these exceptional days, I don't feel it impacts my skiing. So therefore, I'm kind of binary with crossfit during the season. I either do a lot, or none at all (like this year). Skiing is really hard work ... but I can't rely on it to keep me in shape during the season. 20 seconds X 6 ... even at incredibly high intensity ... just isn't enough volume for a days workout. So I try to find other ways to exercise during ski days (Running + I have an old training program from my hockey days I can draw from. A lot of core work, agility, balance, power, but not a ton of pure strength).

Pretty much every skier struggles with being too far back. I know I do. Different things help for different people. Thinking about being "long" during the turn works for me. If I don't, I sit back and the turn is toast. "Being long" results in straight legs and no bend in the waste. In fact, I actually think about straightening my legs in the turn. If these two things happen (straight legs and no bend at the waste), you're likely in the sweet spot of the ski. And the ski almost turns on its own. I also think about the ski swinging around and in front of me. Then I connect and hold this position through the wakes. I don't have to think about bending my knees/flexing my ankles through the wakes. That just happens if I'm stacked. I just hold this position. With respect to the turn itself, i can only really swing/carve the ski (vs turning it like a hockey skate), when I have the right speed, handle control, and edge going heading into the turn. Which means a good wake crossing. Which means a good turn that puts me in position for a good wake crossing. The chicken and egg of skiing. Sigh. On another note, I also believe that thinking about leaning straight away from the boat when not turning (including between wakes) isn't necessarily the best way to think. Doing so means you're often on the back of the ski, pulling with all your might. Essentially slowing yourself down. Instead, think about being stacked, handle to hip, and leaning in the direction that puts you perpendicular with your ski. This means leaning slightly towards the wake. Which seems terrifying at first ... But is safe and fast, so long as you're stacked on your ski with handle near your hips.