gavski

https://fb.watch/pQHDEw1Uz8/?

Joel’s is absolutely smashing the Radar Vapor ‘24….but what is this ski? The ‘25 model…

Sounds like you need to go ski with KLP…

Fair point, but judging by the side by side comparison of the 2 skis in your video - they looks very different…

anyway, how does the sizing work? That info is a little scant on their website? Are they like the Denali or Syndicate?

Rossi has been involved from the start..Every radar ski has his dna all over it….the process doesn’t stop when a ski is produced…it is a constant process of tweaking and improvement…there is no rest..

looks like the ‘24 is a step change..whether it’s the shape or the materials or both - it looks awesome..

well done Rossi - well done team radar..well done Joel!!

7 hours ago, Horton said:

@Than_Bogan I'm just taking a couple of rides on these skis for now. My real season is about over so I was just trying to preview some skis that I'm going to actually review in the spring.

I didn't really get to do much ski review work in 2023. The 2024 lineup is absolutely bonkers.

so if you're asking if I'm seriously stoked about the pineapple, the answer is hell yes

It looks like the website is still populated with the original pineapple…what is the deal with the sizing, set up etc etc?

On 9/12/2023 at 2:48 AM, kc said:

@ETskierand @dave2ball There was a “one off” dual course head to head event just last year, (or maybe year before?), in England. They didn’t have the deepest of fields, in terms of all the Pro Tour regulars, but a fair representation. I recall it was pretty windy. 

The Duel wasn’t planned as a one off….economics, sponsorship, site politics etc etc all played a part in why we didn’t run it this year….

Apart from the wind direction - which was not prevailing, the event was a big success. We learnt a huge amount..

The Duel will be held again!!

Be interesting to know if you can:

A: retrofit/ swap out your old fin block

B: use any ‘other’ fin, or does it only work with the supplied fin?

2 hours ago, ToddK said:

I drilled out the rivets to take off the toe cap and then shortened the toe of the foot bed with a dermal to make it even with the liner. 

I used to ski double vapors on a sequence plate but had to switch to Reflex after breaking my ankle on my front foot and now having a limited range of motion. Wanted to get back on the Vapor when the current model came out with a mechanical release but with the bungee cord on the upper I could easily reach my max range of motion before any force was transferred to the binding release. So I added snow ski buckles to the upper cuff to limit the flex of my front ankle. Works great. Still gives me a good amount of forward flex and much less lateral stiffness than the Reflex even after I cut down the inner and outer shell of the Reflex. 

That’s exactly what I want to do….thanks for the photos..👍

9 hours ago, C5Quest said:

@gavski. You can always drill out the rivets then replace the with screws to put it back together.   Just don’t cut anything.  Remove the whole toe piece.  Only thing with that option is more of the liner being exposed but whatever

👍

I can’t ski with a rtp, I also have wide feet and the Vapor/ strada boot is perfect.

i, like a lot of skiers, am only on a reflex type boot because of an ankle injury. I skied with a double Vapor set up for a couple of seasons after I mashed my ankle, but I occasionally tweaked my ankle with this set up, so I moved to a reflex front, and kept the strada rear..

over the years I have modified my set up and now run a ‘r style’ strada boot at the rear…I really like to look of the new Vapor boot and was drawn to the fact you can remove the cuff & toe piece..this would allow me to create an r style rear, with the option of returning it to a full boot later..

a dremmel is my friend, but it would be a shame to have to drill out rivets and/ or take a dremmel to the supposedly removable toe piece..

1 hour ago, C5Quest said:

Remove the side screws and either 

1.  Have to drill out the rivets on bottom of toe piece and remove the entire toe …or

2.  Cut off the top of the toe piece and leave the bottom without drilling out the rivets.   
 

otherwise you can’t lower the reflex release back far enough to get the front boot in.  There are pics somewhere on this site of some examples

From my time at perfski with MM, that’s what we both came up with, but thought it was an unusual step as we both thought the toe piece was removable/ replaceable just like the cuff…MM was convinced that he was shown this boot with the ability to unscrew the toe toe piece…

it doesn’t make sense to have a front boot that can use the reflex release, not to be able to use the rear boot without cutting plastic or drilling out rivets…unless of course, it was never designed to be used as a rear boot with the front reflex..?

why have rivets? Why not the same screws that hold the toe piece and cuff on? 
 

3 hours ago, C5Quest said:

You’ll have to cut the toe on the rear Vapor boot to fit up snug to the front reflex mechanism.  Easy mod .  

Have done this mod on my old Vapor boot…the question is whether you can avoid this on the new Vapor boot as there are screws either side of the toe section that would lead you to believe that you can remove it..as you can with the cuff…

On 8/3/2023 at 9:49 PM, gavski said:

Is it possible to remove the toe piece?
 

MM @perfski tried and it now looks like the toe section is riveted to the base - although you can still remove the 2 side screws..Mike tried to call @brooks, as he was convinced that you could remove the toe piece - but he didn’t pickup..

the build quality is ‘off the charts’ amazing, and I love the plastic moulded footbed that helps the liner slide in/out…

I want to use the boot as a rear, but I need it up close and snug behind a reflex release. With the older Vapor/ strada boot, I have had to cut a section of the toe away to allow free movement of the reflex release mechanism…

at $350, it would be a shame to take a dremmel to the toe section…although I have done a lot more to my reflex boot - care of @adamhcaldwell..😃

Is nobody able to answer this question?

even if you use the new Vapor boot as a front boot with the reflex release, you will have the same issue when using the new Vapor boot as a rear…

Is it possible to remove the toe piece?
 

MM @perfski tried and it now looks like the toe section is riveted to the base - although you can still remove the 2 side screws..Mike tried to call @brooks, as he was convinced that you could remove the toe piece - but he didn’t pickup..

the build quality is ‘off the charts’ amazing, and I love the plastic moulded footbed that helps the liner slide in/out…

I want to use the boot as a rear, but I need it up close and snug behind a reflex release. With the older Vapor/ strada boot, I have had to cut a section of the toe away to allow free movement of the reflex release mechanism…

at $350, it would be a shame to take a dremmel to the toe section…although I have done a lot more to my reflex boot - care of @adamhcaldwell..😃

Watch the YouTube video…great skiing…

Anyone know anything about this new book by Filippos Kyprios?

https://www.filipposkyprios.com/product-page/mastering-the-art-of-waterskiing

This is him as a skier:

https://youtu.be/nXQ0pL3kHks

@MattP interesting suggestion. Thank you. The lake is has an existing 6buoy that I used to line up the new 4buoy course, I then converted the 6buoy to 4buoy for the event.

The lake does look busy at first glance, so we tried to reduce the number of buoys to a minimum. Nobody that has skied it has then subsequently asked about making it 6buoys…

The other main advantage of having 4buoys is that it easier to spectate. The whole point of this event was to create a live ‘spectator sport’. From one viewing area, you can see all the action in close up detail. It’s a mute point, but for example, F1 and downhill ski racing only really work as a live sport because of the cameras. Without them, you get a 0.5sec glimpse every couple of mins…

I will take another look and I am already looking at tweaking the format to make it slicker and more exciting..sadly, I can’t book the weather…

Good question and I get it a lot..the problem with 6 buoys is that you will struggle to fit the course in 99.9% of ski lakes…it’s not the width, it’s the space at the end of the course for both boats…

This has been 5yrs in the planning and I have reached out for advice and help from pros, coaches and lake owners.. there has to be a compromise, and this was what we ended up with..who knows, we may develop into a 5 buoy duel..now that would make for interesting skiing…

Almost every mainstream sport has had to change and adapt whether to fit into tv schedules or shoot for Olympic status. I don’t think that having a 4 buoy course is that much of detraction or lessens the sport..it was such a shame that we had the wind..we were hoping for some sub 41’ off duelling..now that would have been amazeballs..

Look at alpine dual slalom - bmx start, snowboard style gates, 6ft jump halfway down the course, equally spaced turn gates, and on a shallow gradient because it runs into the ski resort…who would have thought that skier cross would be a major hit with skiers and spectators alike?

Reinvent, reignite and improve whilst still remaining true to the core…

Without serious money from alternative sponsors and revenue streams - our sport will, sadly, remain a fringe sport withering on the vine…

Our pro skiers should be standing toe-to-toe with every other elite athlete on the public stage..the only difference is money..

Semi-rant over..sorry..

Mic Drop..

Just for clarification - this was a bonafide Pro Tour event - sanctioned by the IWWF, not just some ‘fun event’ to be dismissed. It just so happens to be great fun to ski in..

We are not trying to replace traditional formats. We have taken a previous idea, tweaked it and launched it into the world to make an exciting ‘spectator sport’ that can be watched and enjoyed by anyone, with the aim to significantly increase awareness of our sport to general public.

Almost all professional sports have had to adapt and evolve to keep them exciting to watch..just look at fencing or curling.

I would like to acknowledge the great work by TWBC and the others out there trying get the sport to the masses..we just have a different vision and at no stage are we looking to do anything other than co-exist in the same way that WWF, UFC etc share the same platform..

Although I am probably biased - the webcast alone far exceeded our expectations. Yes there were a few mistakes with names etc - but you will always get this with a live broadcast…

To me it was like watching ESPN, SKY SPORTS or the BBC.

Chemmy and Aimee managed to put everyone at ease - even the pro skiers. Those characters that are known for ‘being in the zone and focused’ to the point of being unapproachable, came out of their shells. I think Glenn Campbell, in particular, has a new career ahead of him as a tv sports presenter.

With Chemmy and Aimee being ex-professional athletes - olympians no less, and now professional TV presenters made all the difference. It reminded me of the hayday of waterskiing with Wayne Grimditch etc presenting..

Chemmy spoke to the pros before the event and explained the parallels with the this event in the alpine world and how she has been at the forefront of helping launch dual alpine racing to where it is today - a fully funded and integrated event in both the FIS calendar and olympics…she was so excited to see this event launch successfully..

Everyone played their part. I few more tweaks to be made to make it slicker and simpler etc…I think we created a really fun event for anyone to watch. The atmosphere at the event was electric, hopefully that comes across in the webcast.

Just a bit of background for those that maybe wondering why we hosted the webcast on Vimeo…

Because we had a DJ playing music to the crowd throughout the whole day, YouTube wanted a significant licence fee for each song that may or may not have been picked up by any of the camera mics…I did try and argue that this would fall into background noise - like the wind, crowd, birds, but to no avail.

I had already paid for a music licence to cover this event, but the added restrictions imposed made it impossible for us to live stream the event without killing the music and atmosphere…

Now that the event has been lived streamed and you can hardly make out any distinguishable music on any of the camera shots etc, we will be working to get the event up on YouTube asap.

Having watched the webcasts, the best experience is to play them back through the Vimeo app.

Typical….

Same wind - normal direction….this as rough as it gets 95% of the time…