Fam-man

One of my ski buddies is going to Florida mid February and is looking for ski opportunities. He will be staying at Vacation Village at Parkway Kissimmee and is hoping for something close by. It looks like Matt Rini is close by and might just go that way. Thanks for any help.

1998. Moves to next category in a matter of months

@buechsr I used the Senate when first learning the course at 15 off 30 mph to consistently running 15 off and 22 off at 30, 32 and 34 mph. Curiosity and finding a sweet deal is the only reason I bought the Vapor. My season is long done but on the Vapor I skied 22 at 32 mph consistently and 28 at 32 inconsistently.

@buechsr I'm in a similar situation where it isn't easy to try skis which makes it challenging to decide. I also believe there's a lot of skies available that would work well at our level. I currently have a 2015 Senate Graphite and a 2017 Vapor Pro Build. The transition between the two was fairly easy for me. Biggest difference I found is the senate is more forgiving then the vapor. What that means for me is I can be back foot heavy on the senate and still make the pass. If I get on the back of the vapor in the pre-turn it turns like a school bus and I really scramble to make the pass. I think skiing the Vapor has forced me to ski more technically correct and has helped advancement.

@Don11 this year I went to a vapor probuild and felt the ski to be much more buoyant then my previous one. When the boat first puts tension on the rope I will push my feet down into the water slightly and tuck my back foot under me as much as possible. After a couple sets I didn’t even notice anymore.

@Ridemx59 to answer your question of what’s best to learn behind my experience is 14+ Prostar, Carbon Pro and Ski Nautique 196 are the flattest wake so could be considered the easiest to learn on. One of our ski crew has a TXI (2012 I think) and I feel the 15 & 22 wake to be bigger then the other boats listed however it is soft. When I focus on keeping the ski on edge behind the boat I don’t notice the wake. When I cross behind the boat with a flat ski i will catch air off the wake. Similar to what @IGski said. So it’s been my experience that the “flat wakes” are more forgiving but the TXI required better technique. Just something to think about.

Had a similar experience this summer. Skied every day on vacation and was running 28 off about 75% of the time. Got home from vacation and didn’t ski for 1.5 weeks. When I finally got back out I couldn’t get past 2 ball at 22 off. Same problem, too back foot heavy. Stayed at an easier pass and skied it a bunch without over thinking it. I’m LFF and focus on keeping the handle close, standing tall through the course and “feeling” my front foot pressure especially in offside preturn. Being tall (chest up) is important to keep me from breaking at waist. So I’d suggest don’t overthink and ski an easier pass a few times focusing on your keys

@ALPJr or @Horton Same question as above, going to be in Vegas next month and wondering if rides are still available at Ski The Great.

Definitely on the downhill slide. 59F in Medicine Hat, Alberta and cold days ahead. First set in trunks and second set with heater top. Not as bad as @david_quail no snow in the forecast...yet

@ESPNSkier have you stepped right away from the course and focused on technique and conditioning free skiing? Take some time without the balls to get back to where you were previously, might even be a good warmup for you first pass. This year I've focused on being patient finishing the turn and it's really helped me progress from 15off. Here's what I'm doing; I don't worry about going through the gates until I'm skiing well. I pull out wider then the ball line, get stacked and glide feeling front foot pressure then turn in (slightly early) focused on making speed to 1 ball without worrying about gates. The goal is making good course speed and being early at 1 so there's time through the rest of the course. In the course I think about being stacked and patient. Reset your stack during the pre-turn as necessary. For the patience/ handle grabbing I can't remember if it was a Rossi or Cox article that recommended keeping your free hand at your hip like a western gunslinger and skiing that hand/hip back to the handle in the turn.

@sunvalleylaw skiing looks really good. Your position is strong behind the boat. On your offside it looks like you start to bend forward at apex and reach for the rope. This is causing the ski to stop and sink. You recover into a pretty good stack for the offside acceleration.

@"Keith Menard" great job! Consistent access has made a difference for me as well. Started the year working on consistency with 15off 32mph. Have progressed in 2 ways (shortening and speeding up), getting consistent at 15off 34mph and 4 balls 28 off 32mph.

@dnewton in your first post you mention "can't get the ski to turn offside". Keep in mind I'm at the same stage as you are, learning 28 off. I see similar things in your video as I see in video of myself and what I feel is that if I'm on the back of the ski it doesn't turn offside. I see your hips going over the back foot during your gate glide & turn in and they stay there the entire pass. There's many ways to say it and lots of discussion on this forum about getting your hips up and really focusing on that part of your skiing will help throughout the course. Straighter legs Proud chest Shoulders back Push hips to next ball etc Find a thought that works for you and gets feet, hips, shoulders lined up throughout the course. When your weight is balanced between your feet the water should be breaking at the ball of your front foot or even farther ahead when in the glide. When I'm not stacked behind the boat I think about re-stacking from the wakes to the ball just like in the gate glide. Re-balancing weight on both feet as you head into the ball will get your center of mass forward in a strong position for the turn and load after the turn. Establish stack during glide and wakes to ball Keep stacked behind the boat. You're looking really good especially how well you finish the turn and set angle before loading on the rope. Great Skiing!

@Chef23 downstream level control? In wet years I've seen some dams in the area hold extra water to prevent flooding downstream.

@LeonL 2 factors at play; No significant rain for a couple months and temperatures reaching 35C (95F). The irrigation district also changed their management plan, previously they would maintain a higher level in the lake by pumping water in, the new strategy is to drain farther and hope for more spring time fill.

Went out with the crew last evening with the intention of moving the course into deeper water. We are tucked away on a public irrigation reservoir. Placing the course where we do gives us good conditions and is out of the way from the main use areas of the lake. Unfortunately as there is much more water going out of the lake then coming in the water levels have been dropping 8'-12" per week. Had a relocation spot in mind but decided to just pull the course because if the trend continues that area would be un-skiable in a couple weeks. It also has some fairly heavy fishing traffic which is potential for damage. We may try a different spot to leave the course in or start dropping in a pulling each use. Disappointed in the early season end, had been making progress towards my improvement goals which is hard to do without regular course access.

50% of the time my boat crew is my wife driving, 10 year old running the camera with 6 and 8 year olds observing. Ammy actually takes feedback better then some of the male drivers I ski with. Learned early on to use feedback and not criticism. Ammy learned that most often its my performance not hers that gets "that look" on my face. Also very important to recognize specifics of good performance especially when its something we are working to improve. I'm learning to ski the course and there's lots that I figure out each pass. Ammy does not ski the course so things like speed, boat path, set up and turnarounds are even more foreign to her.

@Jetsetr you probably won’t believe how different the course is from free skiing. When I started in the course 3 seasons ago I had no idea. Entirely new level of intensity required. Either forget about gates and pull right to one ball to start or go early for gates with purpose. Aim for an early one ball to set yourself up early for the rest of the course. Don’t worry about turns and focus on getting your best stack behind the boat. If you’re not sure about stack do some searching on this site and compare videos or pictures of yourself to what you see. For their first passes the goal is to understand the timing of the course by using the balls as reference points for your turns. Don’t try to make it around the balls unless it’s naturally going to happen, keep a rythm with the course and go for 6 good cuts in time with the balls. 28 mph and 15 off is a good place to start.

@FSSPCat I've personally done a mix of speed up and shorten. First work on 15 off at 30mph until you've got it dialed in. Then open with 15 off at 30mph for 2/3 of your set and focus on form. For the end of your set challenge yourself either with speeding up or shortening. Speeding up helps develop timing Shortening helps focus on technical aspects

@Stevie Boy I was similarly wondering the difference between ski's however the transition I was considering was FROM 2016 Senate (carbon) To Vapor. Found a used 2017 Probuild Vapor so decided to give it a try. I find the Vapor to be faster which means I can ski my same pass with less effort. I find the Vapor turns quicker. There could be potential to tune the Senate to turn the same, I'm running both at stock settings I find the Vapor cuts through the wake smoother than the Senate. This could also be form improvement so is hard to quantify. I found the Vapor highlighted my technical weaknesses especially being on the back of the ski for offside turn. Less technically forgiving then the Senate. Have never been on a Lithium senate Those are the biggest differences I noticed. Both ski's are 67" and I'm 180lbs skiing though 22off at 32mph. This is only my 3rd season in the course so mostly focused on form. Going one size up on the Vapor might be a good solution for you.

@sunvalleylaw I totally agree. Watching the video and explanation helped me see differences in edge change, handle control and level shoulders. Amazing resource

@Chef23 did he see a rapid increase in buoys after adjusting to the new ski? I'm assuming the change was to a Vapor like course ski.

The kids vote Zippy

Jujubee Paying homage to the previous Bumblebee

Twilight Sparkle Glitter Train