GZ22

I do have a rear tow eye. That is a good idea. I've almost never used it.

My friends and I are in our early 30s and are raising children, which is awesome as they learn to tube, kneeboard, and hopefully ski soon. BUT with a full boat it's hard for the dads to get a ski set off the pylon of my 2003 Supra Comp LTS. One negative of the mid mount pylon. If we have the whole group we tend to ski off the tower and just turn easy and focus on wake crossings and the Rathbun edge out drill and such. Anyone else have some good drills or ski activities to practice? I don't feel comfortable pulling super hard on the tower for some reason, also I find it a bit harder to hold position cross course from the tower. Or should we just go nuts and not worry about pulling on the tower? We have kind of grown out of wakeboarding. It's nice to be back focused on skiing like we did growing up.

@schafer I saw that on the wswa site! I'm from Northern AB but I'm trying to get a buddy in central to go to the adult clinic/session at your site tomorrow evening. Very exciting for Albertan skiers. Nice work!

@S1Pitts I have the same exact issue. Little to no course access. I also will maybe get an off course someday. But as stated above, the flag slalom looks like a decent option. I think I may try to rig it up. This website gives you a a printout of the rules, course times per boat speed and a "protractor" you can staple or glue to some cardboard and use to mark your flag locations. http://www.flagslalom.com/ I'm having issues finding a price effective suction cup flags in Canada. But I'll keep looking and brainstorming on alternatives

UPDATE: @S1Pitts coincidentally I shortened up to 22 off 32mph today. My friends and the kids said I had some solid walls up today. So I guess problem solved, just push myself harder. No more 15 off freeski sessions for me.

@sgregg gets it, HO Sports gets it, Wade Cox probably gets it but is preoccupied at 41 off. I'm aware it's a silly thing to care about. It's just hard enough getting people to try skiing without looking as impressive as possible. This dying sport takes talent, fitness, and tenacity to learn and progress; And any lazy person can wakesurf and look cool in 30 seconds. That just bothers me a little because I find skiing quite rewarding and most people won't try it. I did invest in a deep V handle last year. My buddy (mid 30s, never skiied before) got up first try with it and on the second day didn't need it at all. So tools like that help ease things along.

Hey all, Not a great skier here. Been freeskiing for fun for 20 years but only ran the course a couple times when taking lessons on vacation. Upgraded to a Connelly Aspect a couple years ago and my skiing has been feeling quite good ever since. Really proud of my turns lately, and my wake crossings have gotten very consistent and strong since I got a "proper" slalom ski. 15-22 off,. 30-32 mph. Supra Comp. BUT, the folks in the boat say I barely put up a wall anymore. Do the modern skis just ride higher in the water and spray less? Or am I just riding more smooth than I used to? Should I be just absolutely dropping into the turn? Slow the boat down to ride lower? I wish I could run the course more. We don't have any ski clubs or anything here in Northern Alberta. I've converted a couple ppl to slalom recently, and having big spray is definitely a cool factor that helps ppl want to learn the sport. Slalom just doesn't "Instagram" as well as wakeboarding for the kids hahaha. The pic in my profile is legit just an Obrien Performer combo ski we had, and that throws a solid wall. Anyways just a fun freeski thread to try and help get new ppl into this sport. If you can't turn balls, may as well throw up walls haha

@jeromezz430 Im also a freeskier and I took my first lesson yesterday so I could learn/try a course. It was super fun having buoys to turn. I ski a newer low-mid end ski (Connelly Aspect) and it's been great, but at the ski school I was on a 2019 Senate Pro. It was insane. Turned super nice and carried a ton of speed. I spent half of my lesson getting used to the extra speed. I can only imagine a vapor pro would be amazing. Congrats on the new ski. I'll be in the market for a newer radar too. ?

Great position paper! I think the comp skis are amazing, but honestly i think a lot of it is cost and versatility. A crossover ski for freeskiing often has lace up bindings so that it will fit a range of riders in the boat, and is often a forgiving ski that will ride flat and cruise nice, but can also rip a turn and accelerate across the wakes nice. So I can rip it up on the open water on a ski that still performs very well, but a buddy can take that ski and learn on a stable platform that isn't a combo ski. This is a tangent, but @bsmith why is it you think that recreational skiing died off so hard? It was so popular in the 80s. Is it Cost? Wakeboarding? Time? Or just a new generation with different interests? I'm 30, I grew up skiing with my family, and I've spent that last 15 years trying to convince my friends to learn to slalom and none of them want to, scared of failure perhaps; maybe it doesn't look as cool as wakeboarding, or more likely they just don't feel like falling 15x before they figure it out. I mean I love to wakeboard too, but have some diversity. Perhaps I should get a boom to teach my friends and all the kids, try to ease the learning curve. Also we have no courses up where I live, maybe I should invest in one and get people hooked. Anyone else live in a place with amazing lake access and yet no skiers? How do we get ppl to want to learn to ski?

I was referred to a Connelly Aspect by a few folks on BOS. I absolutely love it and it was very well priced. 28-32 mph is its range. Basically its a Connelly V made wider.

Thanks @brooks I might look at one for the boat then. If you can drop the rope behind a ski boat that is all we need ? Getting people convinced to learn to slalom seems to be a difficult endeavor. Should have pushed harder on them all in my 20s. So once the skiers are tired we usually wakeboard, and just recently have been trying to surf. Maybe i should get a boom instead, to help bring these fools to the dark side.

@skibrain lol. I considered asking elsewhere, but it's a Radar product, and I cant think of anyone more qualified to talk Radar than the ballers. Ps. also dreaming of a 2020 Senate. ?

Looking for a surf style board to surf after everyone has had their ski set. I've Supra Comp 20 LTS with a tower and fatsacs. My current wakesurf board is a phase five diamond CL. It's a skim style board and I can barely surf. I've done more research and it seems I am in need of a surf style board. Bigger the better. I've been looking for deals on Hyperlite Landlock, CWB Ride, O'brien Haze 2 and other large surf style boards that have good reviews on smaller wakes. But then I saw the Radar surfer, and then then I saw how inexpensive it is. Is this a gimmick board for the kids? Or is it actually decent? I can't find any reviews or specs at all anywhere. Any other board recommendations?

Mark McMorris seems to enjoy a good session of Shlalom Shkiing (Mark makes a lisp joke in the vid). Skiing starts at about 30 seconds into the clip

Really enjoying my Connelly Aspect, was very cost effective. Skis 28-32 mph. Turns super nice and crosses the wake so much nicer than my learner ski.