DangerBoy

Who cares anything about buoys? I've never skied a course in my entire life and I assure you my passion for, the joy I feel water-skiing and my competitive spirit is just as high and intense as any of you course skiers. The competition though, is with myself. I learned to waterski in the 1970s when my parents bought a cabin on a beautiful lake in British Columbia, Canada. I was just 13. We didn't have a boat that first year so I would have to bum skis off other people in the bay. I quickly fell in love with skiing and became absolutely shameless about bumming a ski off anyone I saw who had their boat out pulling water skiers. Whenever I saw a chance to ski I took it and never let anything stop me from trying to find a tow. Fast forward to now. I'm 57 and almost all of the people I grew up with at the lake quit skiing at some point believing they were too old to do it. But I don't believe that. Not for a minute. And neither does my ski buddy, Kent, who's 6 years older than me. When we're out at the lake during the summer, we're on the dock every single day at 7:00 am to get the glass ahead of everyone else and we ski until our arms and legs become noodles. If it's not calm where we are, we travel one way or the other down the lake to find it and we always find it. We are relentless in the pursuit of our passion. Is anyone else up to see us ski and know how well we did? No. Are there any accolades or medals for us? No. So why do we do it? Because we love it and it brings us joy. It also keeps us from giving into age and decrepitude. It keeps us young. The interesting thing is that I got a new ski a number of years back and I've been improving in ability ever since. I can't measure that improvement in terms of balls made at what speed because we're just out there free skiing but I know I'm digging deeper, getting lower and rippin' better turns than I ever have. Kent just got a new ski this summer and I saw him take the best runs I've seen him take in the more than 30 years we've skied together. That's pretty cool when you're 62. Sometimes Kent and I are joined for skiing by the twenty-something year old children of the kids we grew up with along the lake who've caught the water-skiing bug. They marvel at Kent and I and respect us because of both our passion and ability and because we shatter their perceptions of what 50 and 60 year old people can do. We're also better skiers than they are but then again, we've had a few more decades to practice. ;-) Whether I'm actually skiing my at my best or just think I am doesn't matter one bit. It's all about the joy I feel doing what I do. And that's what it's all about; the joy you feel rippin' turns, throwin' up some spray and shredding up a nice stretch of glass calm water. How many buoys you can make at whatever speed is irrelevant. In the end, it's all about the joy you feel rippin' the turns. I'll never quit skiing and my greatest hope in life is that I'll die from cardiac arrest right at the end of my second run on a beautiful morning of skiing on glass calm water. If that happens, I want my friends to haul my carcass out of the water, set me me up in a chair on the dock with a Bailey's and coffee and keep on skiing until the ripple blows in from the west and it gets too rough to ski. They can then deal with my expired hulk after the morning of skiing is done and the calm water is gone. I know you've got some injuries and pain to deal with but never give up and never give in. Water-skiing doesn't have to be about competition, buoys and personal bests. It can just be about the joy you feel and the fun you have doing it. For me, and I suspect for you as well, there's joy to be had for a whole lifetime from just getting out there, feeling the power of your turns and shredding up some calm water. So get out there, feel the joy of doing what you love and the pride of overcoming adversity and keep on skiing to the best of your ability until your last dying breath. Go the distance. Here's me showing what an old guy can do: Here's Kent showing what an even older (61 in this pic) guy can do: We're just self-taught, never had any lessons and are by no means anywhere close to the best skiers in the world in terms of our ability or technique but I assure you that no one feels more joy and passion than we do when we're skiing.

or work better... The whole point of my post was just to make people aware this other option was available. I used Kevlar glove liners for a lot of years but now have found this product and much prefer it. Now the community has been made aware of these gloves and people can try them and decide for themselves which they think is better. I don't think anyone cares about the price under a certain point so the question comes down to fit, performance and durability. I don't care which glove liners people ultimately choose, I just wanted to tell people about the alternative gloves I've found so they can give them a try and decide for themselves. A lot of people have looked at this post so I think I've accomplished what I set out to.

@PHXBuff I don't know if this will be helpful or not but it has helped me get a lot more consistent at deep water starts than I once was. I'm assuming you've got double boots and not a RTP and starting with one foot out. I ski on a HO Monza which is a fairly narrow ski and a bit harder to get up on than many of the wider skis they make today and this works well for me. What I do is just before the start, when the boat is trolling me at idle speed, I suck the knee of my front leg in as close to my chest as possible. The back leg is tucked in as much as possible too. I guess you could say I'm getting into the lowest crouch I can get into. Then all I focus on mentally is telling myself to push down as hard as I can with both legs after the boat starts to pull and tell the driver to hit it. As soon as I feel the boat start to pull my upper body forward, I push hard down with both legs (originally I was taught just to push down hard with the back leg) and this helps me to pop right up quite easily. I also don't have to pull as hard with my arms to get my shoulders out because my legs are doing most of the work. I think another thing to mention here is that starting is not just a physical/strength game, it's a mental game as well. It's kind of like golf in that way. When you think you can hit a good shot and know you won't mess up, you will hit a good shot. When you're a little bit psyched and not feeling confident, you're way more likely to hit the bad shot or in this case, not get out of the water. So maybe part of this is that it's gotten into your head so maybe what you need to do is what good golfers do which is be consistent in your routine before a start and focus only on doing that routine and block everything else out. That's part of why my method is working for me. Lastly, I will say this. I don't know what kind of ski you're on but if it's a narrower one like my HO Monza, they are more work and harder to get up on. My ski buddy just bought an '18 Radar Senate this year and I'd say it's about 3/4" or a little more wider underfoot than my Monza. That may not seem like a lot of difference but I tried his ski once this year and was absolutely amazed at how much easier that little bit of extra width made doing starts. It felt waaaay easier and maybe took half the work to get up on his ski than mine. Both his and my ski are the same length so it was just the extra width that made all the difference and it was remarkable how much difference it made. So if you continue to have these problems and are on a narrower ski, going to a wider one could be a the answer for you.

@Chef23 Good to know.

The HO Omni Syndicate looks intriguing. Can you mount regular bindings to it or do they have to be direct mount? Also, what year did they start making those and are there any differences in the years aside from graphics/aesthetics?

This link works for Zorro.com https://zoro.com/ansell-cut-resistant-gloves-white-size-10-pr-11-318/i/G8496695/ It's interesting that Acklands - Grainger charges $14.25/pr in the US because when I ordered a set through the local AG, they only charged me ten or twelve bucks Canadian. Anyways, Zorro.com seems to be the best place to get 'em. I hope that people who buy 'em and try 'em will report back here with their opinions. It'd be nice to have more reviews on them instead of just mine. Since I had to drive a bit of a distance to get to the local AG I figured I should order a number of pairs so I ordered 4 pair. The first pair I've used is showing such little wear so far I think I may have enough gloves to last me 8 - 10 years or more! The other thing I should report is that I had a lot less callousing on my palms after my 3 week stay at my cabin this summer than I had during the years I was using Kevlar glove liners. Without liners I was having callouses torn off after two weeks or so and skiing in pain for the rest of my vacation. With the Kevlar liners, I was getting through the 3 weeks with my callouses intact but had considerably more callousing than I had this year. I've used the same gloves all along so the only variable is the liners.

@igkya If you are ordering them on-line, this place sells them for $11.46 a pair: https://tenaquip.com/product/ansell-hyflex-11-318-cut-resistant-gloves-11318080-sfx070 As shipping a few pairs probably costs the same as shipping one, you might as well order a few pairs at a time. ;)

I did try my ski buddy's new '18 Senate Alloy this year and I found it harder to turn than my Monza. It felt like I had to push a lot harder on my back foot to get it around the turn compared to my Monza. To be fair though, I didn't get a chance to set the ski up the way I have my Monza set up. For example, he had the rear binding set straight and I prefer the rear binding to be canted so it's not exactly an Apples to Apples comparison and I did only ski on it the one time. I did like how the extra width under foot on the Senate made it easier to get up out of the water than it is with the Monza. Much less work. It sure didn't turn like the Monza though.

Like I said in my OP, I'm not really sure if I do want to change but I am a little curious to know which of today's skis would be a good fit for me if something did ever happen to the Monza or if I did decide to go to something newer. Then there's always that curiosity about whether something with a newer design would help me take my skiing up another level the way the Monza did from my old ski. My old ski was pretty old though so it's not surprising my skiing improved several levels after I got the Monza dialed in and figured out. I wouldn't expect a new ski would be such a radical difference from the Monza the way the Monza was from my previous ski but the Monza is a few generations old now so I'm always curious to know if a new ski would be noticeably better and might help me improve a bit more. There are so many choices though and I figure there's got to be a few people in this forum who skied Monzas in the past and would have a good idea of what would be a good ski to move up to after that.

Here's a handy link to an Ansell glove sizing chart: https://legionsafety.com/ansell-glove-sizing-information-and-chart.html This page has a reseller locator you can use to find the nearest Ansell resellers in your area: protective.ansell.com/en/Knowledge/Selection-Guides/Trellchem/Sizing-Guide/

@igkya Ansell is the manufacturer so you need to find a local safety equipment store that sells Ansell gloves (which is most of them). Ansell makes thousands of gloves so they may not stock that particular model but hopefully they'll bring some in for you if they don't. I got mine from Acklands-Grainger and I think they cost something in the order of $10 - $12 CAD (~$7 - $9 USD) per pair. Pretty cheap and good value. Let us know if you get a pair and what you think of them. I for one would be interested to know if you like them and prefer them to Kevlar liners like I do.

I'm not sure if I'm that interested in changing skis at the moment but I am thinking a little about it and curious to know what skis would be a good choice for me if I did decide to do that if anyone would care to take the time to make a suggestion. Right now, I have an '06 67" Monza. I just do open water skiing. I'm just about to turn 57 and would rate myself as intermediate to advanced but I'd be in the lower end of advanced if I could be considered to be in that category. I ski hard whenever I ski, giving it my absolute all, never letting up until the arms and legs turn into noodles. I cut pretty hard and when I do a run, I probably do about 20 - 22 turns before stopping for a rest and then do maybe 15 - 18 more before I'm really bagged and toss the handle. I typically ski 31 - 33 mph depending on water conditions. and always at 22' off (to get the best spot on the wake). I tend to be a smoother carving type skier and what I mean by that is that I transition into turns a little earlier and carve through it turning hardest at the end vs the kind of skier who goes into a turn full on and then just cranks it right at the very end practically pulling the back end of the boat over 6". The picture shows me in one of my better offside turns. I started to love the Monza after I moved the bindings up as far forward as they go on that ski (which is not as far forward as you can go on today's skis). I find the Monza really stable, forgiving and easy to turn. It also seems to handle a variety of water conditions fairly well. The guys at the local ski shop seem to be pretty knowledgeable and they say either the Radar Senate Lithium or Vapor Lithium would be good choices because they're both fairly similar to the Monza at least in terms of their construction materials (PVC/Graphite). I also note that for 2019, Radar has a Senate Pro Built which would be a step up from the Lithium. Would any of these be good choices? As I only ski in the 31 - 33 mph range, I don't want a ski that only starts to come into its own at 34+ mph and I don't want one that's going to take a lot of adjustment to get used to. Besides Radar, what HO or other skis might be a good fit for me?

I fixed the link in the original posting so now it takes you to the right page. Sorry for the goof up.

@dvskier Have you noticed anything different in the fit between the '16 and '17 Profiles? I believe I saw a video on the Profile saying that for the 2017 model they made the linings about 2 mm thinner than the previous years. That gives you an extra 4 mm laterally. I'm just curious if you found there to be more room in the '17 boot over the '16. I have narrow foot and heel so a '16 Profile should theoretically be a little better for me than anything newer. Obviously, a Vapor would be better for my narrow feet but I can't afford them. I'm waiting to hear if my offer has been accepted on the barely used 2016 Profiles... Keeping my fingers crossed...

Sorry this got posted a second time. There was some confusion when I first posted it and it looked like it hadn't gone through so I hit the submit button a second time. Now it's posted twice. Admins you can feel free to delete the duplicate posting if you want.

If you're like me and end up with callouses being ripped off your palms after a few weeks of water-skiing and need to use glove liners to help prevent this, I have some information you might be interested in. Previously, I was using those yellow kevlar glove liners you can get for cheap from a safety equipment store or pay about $20 a pair to get them from a ski shop with some water-ski glove company's logo silk-screened on them. I found they got a bit baggy and wore out/tore fairly fast. This is what I now use and they are terrific: Ansell Hyflex 11-318 cut resistant glove liners. ansell.com/en/Brands/Hyflex/Metal-Fabrication/hyflex-11-318 These are Dyneema, not Kevlar. They're very thin, fairly abrasion resistant and fit skin tight so they're easy to get into tight water-ski gloves. They're also fairly inexpensive. This is my first season using them and so far I can report that they work really well and are holding up great. By the looks of it so far, I think I'm going to get a number of seasons out of one pair. I just wanted other skiers who need to use liners to be made aware these gloves are out there and work very well for that purpose. If you're using Kevlar liners, I recommend you pick up a pair of these and give 'em a try. http://sc-cdn-prod.azureedge.net/-/media/PIM/Product-Assets/HyFlex/Hyflex-11-318/HyFlex-11-318_03B.jpg?modified=20180214084622&h=480&w=480&hash=DD63C313A270B1F90FF44F56F30FF12D309FC492

If you're like me and end up with callouses being ripped off your palms after a few weeks of water-skiing and need to use glove liners to help prevent this, I have some information you might be interested in. Previously, I was using those yellow kevlar glove liners you can get for cheap from a safety equipment store or pay about $20 a pair to get them from a ski shop with some water-ski glove company's logo silk-screened on them. I found they got a bit baggy and wore out/tore fairly fast. This is what I now use and they are terrific: Ansell Hyflex 11-318 cut resistant glove liners. ansell.com/en/Brands/Hyflex/Metal-Fabrication/hyflex-11-318 These are Dyneema, not Kevlar. They're very thin, fairly abrasion resistant and fit skin tight so they're easy to get into tight water-ski gloves. They're also fairly inexpensive. This is my first season using them and so far I can report that they work really well and are holding up great. By the looks of it so far, I think I'm going to get a number of seasons out of one pair. I just wanted other skiers who need to use liners to be made aware these gloves are out there and work very well for that purpose. If you're using Kevlar liners, I recommend you pick up a pair of these and give 'em a try. http://sc-cdn-prod.azureedge.net/-/media/PIM/Product-Assets/HyFlex/Hyflex-11-318/HyFlex-11-318_03B.jpg?modified=20180214084622&h=480&w=480&hash=DD63C313A270B1F90FF44F56F30FF12D309FC492

Deleting and accidental duplicate post. Sorry. :s

Deleting and accidental duplicate post. Sorry. :s

Just my $0.02 worth, I don't recommend ditching the liners but I could suggest an alternative to the kevlar glove liners most people use. I'm now using these Ansell Hyflex 11-318 cut resistant safety liners (ansell.com/en/Brands/Hyflex/Metal-Fabrication/hyflex-11-318 and they are terrific. They're very lightweight and tight fitting and they seem to be holding up much better than the yellow kevlar glove liners I used to use. They're also thin enough for me to get them inside my Masterline K-palms that have extremely tight/narrow fingers. I believe the cut resistant fabric in them is Dyneema. I actually communicated with an applications expert at Ansell about whether Dyneema or Kevlar would be best for our specific application and they recommended Dyneema over Kevlar and after one season using them, I wholeheartedly agree. I actually might start another thread just to make people aware this product is out there if I can't find it talked about in any other threads. I also recommend a skinnier and curved handle for better grip.

Just my $0.02 worth, I don't recommend ditching the liners but I could suggest an alternative to the kevlar glove liners most people use. I'm now using these Ansell Hyflex 11-318 cut resistant safety liners (ansell.com/en/Brands/Hyflex/Metal-Fabrication/hyflex-11-318 and they are terrific. They're very lightweight and tight fitting and they seem to be holding up much better than the yellow kevlar glove liners I used to use. They're also thin enough for me to get them inside my Masterline K-palms that have extremely tight/narrow fingers. I believe the cut resistant fabric in them is Dyneema. I actually communicated with an applications expert at Ansell about whether Dyneema or Kevlar would be best for our specific application and they recommended Dyneema over Kevlar and after one season using them, I wholeheartedly agree. I actually might start another thread just to make people aware this product is out there if I can't find it talked about in any other threads. I also recommend a skinnier and curved handle for better grip.

I'm a 9.5 in most street shoes, sometimes a 10 but never over 10. Right now, I'm in a Medium Approach boot. I'm pretty sure a 10 would be the right size for me and 11 would be too big.

The guy I've skied with these last 30+ years (and we just do open water) had a top-of-the-line or close to top-of-the-line HO from the late 90s. I think it was a VTX Venturi tunnel 9.8 flex. This year, he finally switched to an '18 Senate Alloy. It didn't take him long to adjust to it and he said it skied similarly but better. He says it's a lot easier to get up on since it's wider under the foot (I noticed this too compared to my Monza) but the thing that's most striking is that he's not falling nearly as often as he was before and I'm talking way less than before. This is a guy who throws very hard abrupt cuts where timing is everything. I think he's skiing the best I've ever seen him ski and that's pretty good when you're talking about a 63 year old. The bottom line is he couldn't be happier with the Alloy and would never go back to the old HO.

That sounds tempting but I need size 10s. :s

What year? I think I can get a pair of 2016s that have only been used a couple times for $275 CAD (~$209 USD) shipped across the country. Smokin' deal, no?