Slalom.Steve

I've never used inside-out gloves. I've tried them on in-store and am intrigued but suspicious, and feel like I need to actually ski with them to know. But I don't want to drop $90 on a pair to find out I don't like them. Do you have a worn-out pair you're planning to toss anyways? I'd love to snag them just to demo for a set or two.

I love the webcasts by TWBC, and agree they are fantastic for the sport. However, even as a slalom ski addict, I rarely watch them live. I'll start them late so I can skip ahead. It's not even so much the time inbetween passes, especially with replays, commentary, and interviews... but it's the fact that the first 2-3 passes of each skier is a warm-up that they're almost guaranteed to make. With the football analogy, it'd maybe be like: not only having to wait inbetween each play as we do now, but before each play you also watch the team just practice the upcoming play, without defenders, a couple times (and have to wait inbetween the practice plays as well)... then they run a play or two for real against the other team. Then repeat. People want excitement, and that's just not very exciting. It is nice to watch some warmup passes, especially if I'm looking to learn from their technique (since I know it will be ideal at easier passes rather than their hardest ones)... but I can only watch so many before it's boring and I just skip ahead to the shortest lines. I agree that to be a viable broadcast for the public, tournaments would have to be edited down to 1-3 hours.

@Jmoski yeah I also cut off the front of the plate and pad to get it closer to my front boot. I'm not sure why they design it as long as it is - there was quite a bit of extra footpad in front of my toe, I'm size 10.5 shoe, and the Standard-size HRT is for shoe 7-11, so if anyone has a much bigger foot, they'd do to the XL anyways.

@mmosley899 - Cool, I'll give that a shot! Does it matter what kind of stretchy laces? I have 2 spare T-Factor top laces, I could use one of those, though they're pretty thick - would T-Factor thinner lower laces be better, worse, or doesn't matter? (over-anxious perfectionist here lol). Or even something like Lock Laces? I also want to replace the clasp that it came with, not crazy about it.

...your friend shows you a video of her 4-month old rolling over for the first time and you think "she's almost ready to ski!"

A simple-but-affordable ski boat with just two features: skis and drives well. I haven't been around long enough to know for sure that this ever has been made, but my understanding is yes, and there's certainly not one now.

Just started using an HRT, lace-up version. I'm still getting up on one and kicking in, and once I adjusted to a different kick-in motion, am having no trouble with it. I'm slowly tightening it more and more to find where it's as tight as it can be while still being able to kick in. Has anyone ever tried replacing the laces with elastic laces (like those found on the D3 T-Factor)? The HRT laces don't stretch much at all. I'm wondering if replacing them with the D3s, which stretch quite a lot, would allow me to get the boot tighter-but-still-kickable, since the laces will stretch when I kick in - sort of like being able to force the laces "looser" on the kick in but then have them go "tighter" once I'm in. Obviously stretch could then mean the overall effect is less tightness, since any movements while skiing will also be subject to stretch, but I figure I'm (hopefully) not making any huge moves with my back foot in the course anyways, so I'm not really gonna be pushing the stretch hard. Thoughts?

...you have several different Ski-It-Again ski search pages saved to your Bookmarks bar and check them fairly often, even though you don't have the money or need for a new ski.

I seem to be in the minority, but I'm into it. People who think it's dumb won't use it, people who like it will, without any negative effects on fairness, fun, time, etc. Why not? Update after @BraceMaker 's response - good point, there is a negative effect on time, and tourneys are long enough as is, so I retract.

@C5Quest - I'm a 10.5 US shoe, but never used a Radar boot before. I tried on a size 11 Vapor at Nationals and it was quite tight. Now, I had a sock on and the liner wasn't molded, but I imagine at least if one is inbetween sizes, go larger.

I believe the new C85s no longer use the S-wing.

Wait I'm confused.. the US Open is happening at the same time as Nationals, at the same location... but it's separate from Nationals? Are some of the people competing in the US Open also competing in Nationals?

How will Denali do demo rides if the lakes are running competitions the whole time?

Alright, answers as expected :) One last addendum to this question - does is change anything that for my weight, I should really be on a 66"? Like once I'm at 34mph and 22off, would picking up a used 66" be helpful? If it's used, I ought to be able to swing both school and a ski together.

@dbutcher yeah it's mostly just that I've never done double-boot before, and it seems like a lot of pros (and amateurs) are going away from full doubles.

I use a size Large D3 Contour RTP, and I moved the strap one hole back on the frame. My shoe size is 10.5. I get up on one foot and kick into the RTP. Sometimes I get my back foot in nice and far, it feels really secure, and I'm good to go. But a decent amount of the time, I try to kick in and my foot gets stuck short, and I don't feel locked in. I try to wiggle it forward but that doesn't do much cause it's already tight. Or I'll pull my foot totally out and try again, but that often doesn't work as it seems even harder to get my foot far enough in once the boat is at speed. I also ski at a lake with a somewhat short setup, so I'm finding this issue distracting. My understanding is that D3 bindings are on the narrow side, and I do have slightly wide feet, particularly across the "bunion-to-little-toe" line, but I've tried my brother's XL and it's too big (though his doesn't have the contoured footbed). I also use a T-Factor front (Large) and it's certainly tight but I like it. I'm planning to try the Radar HRT, but figured I'd throw this post up as well and see if anyone has any thoughts/tips. Thanks!

My budget dictates that for next year, I can either get a new ski, or go to a week of ski school, but not both. Which one would better help my progress as a skier? I'm still learning the course, skiing 15off. I'm getting very consistent at 30mph, and making a little less than half my 32s. Feels like I'm progressing well. Here's video of me at 32mph (keep any technique discussion in that thread). I'm currently on a 2016 67" Radar Vapor Lithium. I'm 5'10", 155-160lbs so the ski is a little oversized, but that's actually probably been good at slower speeds. Despite my daydreams of a C85 or those sexy new 2022 Vapors... I'm 99.9% sure I know the answer for me right now: ski school, ski school, ski school. But I'm curious to see the discussion, and my brother and I have been debating: at what point would a new ski become the better choice? Like, how old does my ski have to get and/or how far down the line do I have to progress to where getting a new ski would be more beneficial than ski school in a given year? Thanks!

Damn... those designs are so slick. :o

I've seen pictures of a blue C85 and even a purple one. Are those purchase-able options, or just red?

@503Kento - that's pretty much as aggressive/deep as I know how to cut right now lol. I have watched that gate video in the past, but been awhile, I'll revisit it!

less zoomed in , if the shake bothers ya. I ran my first-ever 32mph on June 12th, and now running close to half my 32s. Where can I improve? I know I'm struggling on my gate timing. I feel like I was pretty good at 30mph, but I keep ending up late at 32mph. And I'm not even getting as wide as I want, which I'd think would mean I need pull a little longer, but then I'd be even later. I'm already starting my pull out before the boat gets to the greens, and pretty much as soon as I get straight coming around the turn island (like this video). Thank you!

Can you still kick into the HRTP, or do you pretty much have to have your foot in before you get up? Radar says you can do either, but I seem to remember seeing someone say that they struggled with kicking in.

@swbca - I previously had the D3 Blackout Leverage and just this season switched to the T-Factor. 6 sets in and I really like it. I haven't tried really yanking on the laces as tight as they'll go, but I've sinched them quite tight, and at the end I've still been able to pop my foot out about the same as my old Leverage. It's maybe a little bit tighter than the Leverage, but not by much, and the Leverage always released really easy in falls, so I'd predict the T-Factor is the same safety-wise. And if you are nervous about it, you can always not tighten the laces as much! I'm a beginner and have never had a hard shell, but I read a lot of BoS lol, and it seems to me that unless you're a really advanced skier looking for that little bit of extra competitive edge, and are willing to spend dedicated time maintaining and even modifying your boot, hard shells aren't worth the hassle, risk, and cost. Again basing on what I've read here, the T-Factor is still an exceptional boot, without any of the potential drawbacks of hardshells. Personally, I don't plan on changing from the T-Factor for quite a long time.

I am in a similar boat, 28-32mph 15off, and this question has long vexed me... well for the 2 years or so I've been seriously skiing. Here is my post from 2019 asking the same question: https://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/22121/skiing-2016-vapor-but-beginner-course-15-28mph-remove-the-wing I've found plenty of people both pro-wing and anti-wing. There seems to be more on the "pro" side, but @SkiJay, who seems an authority on fin setup, is in the "anti" clan: https://finwhispering.com/ski-wing-removal, so who knows. I haven't yet tried a "back to back," but my skiing is still so inconsistent technique-wise that without touching a setting, I'll have some great passes and some crap passes... so I don't really trust myself to know whether a difference is the ski or just me.

I never noticed this before, but watching the 2021 Swiss Pro, it seems Nate Smith uses a decidedly unbalanced hand width position on his handle. The left hand is all the way to the edge, but the right hand is much closer to the middle. This position is most noticeable and consistent on his gate, but even through the course - the left hand always grabs at the edge, but the right hand grabs closer to the middle (even if not always quite as far in as on his gates). Particularly since that's how he sets up on the gates, it has to be intentional. I've never seen anyone discuss this on the forum in regards to Nate or just in general, though maybe I missed it. Now that I noticed it with Nate, I flipped through some other skiers and most seem to have balanced hand width, but check out Stadlbaur - same thing as Nate (pics below). Anyone have any insight or ideas here? Here's some screenshots of Nate from this year, but I checked back to 2020 as well and it's the same. These are all gate shots, but again, watch the passes and his post-turn re-grabs are very similar. 2021: And here's from 2020: Here's Stadlbaur from 2020 (gate shot):