Slalom.Steve

cool, thanks. I didn't realize coming out of the hole throws a wave "forward" from the boat. If the boat comes out angled away from the course though, doesn't that then create a "regular wake" roller that goes from the side of the boat towards/down the course (like what happens if you cut across a course perpendicular to it)? so much to learn lol

One of the comments says that "courses without islands may require you to start at an angle, so you don't send bow rollers down every pass." Can someone clarify this for me? I know to not throw a wake perpendicular to the course, but not sure what that comment is referencing. Thanks!

That's like, a very melodic/accessible hiphop track. Can't imagine how ya'll would respond to actually-bad rap music lol.

Some questions of terminology and a couple about rules: 1. When people talk about PBs (Personal Bests), that includes both practice and official tournaments? And a Tournament Best is only at a tournament (and are those TBs)? 2. In terms of Tournament Bests, that implies that the skier also ran the preceding line lengths (ie. 4@39off means they ran up to 39off to even get a crack at 39off)? 3. PB doesn't imply any "up the line" passes - it's just the best pass someone has ever run (knowing it may or may not exactly fall in a tournament tolerance, and it might have come on the same length 6 times in a row)? 4. Is there any rule in tournaments that prevents a skier from simply opting all the way to, say 41off? I understand that means no warm-up... but say someone's an inconsistent 39off skier but thinks they'll be able to get 1 at 41off, couldn't they opt up and "skip" the need to run 39, and be happy with a low 41off score? I have no personal experience past 15off lol, but I have to think 1@41 is actually easier than 6@39? 5. To set a record (national, age, world, etc), that obviously has to happen at an approved tournament to make sure it's legitimate, but that means it also requires running up to that line length, and only one shot at that line length, correct? I'd be curious to see a tournament where the top guys just get 5 stabs each at either 41 or 43 and see what happens.

Aw man for a second I thought there was a new ski, the Carbon Core XTR Hashtag. :D

@BCM - what aspects of a rubber or soft shell boot do you have to test/inspect and adjust every 1-2 weeks?

It seems from this thread and the other RTP thread that a good number of amateurs and pros who use a RTP prefer something with a very thin, non-padded footbed. Then why aren't any of the brands making one like that? D3 only has a padded, contoured one. HO and Radar offer mostly padded, contoured ones - they both also offer a simpler flat one, but they still look pretty thickly padded. The thinnest I found is maybe the GOODE RTP. I know the padded contour maybe looks nicer/fancier, and a company can charge more for a more "heavy-duty/complicated" product, but it seems to me the ski community is driven by performance, performance, performance. So what's up? @Than_Bogan - I seem to remember in another thread you (or maybe one of the other Denali dudes) saying that arch support in front boots is actually detrimental, and something flat and is ideal, giving the most direct contact from the foot to the ski. Is that correct? If so, does that sort of principal extend to RTPs? Would you say that padded and/or contoured RTPs are detrimental?

This is all confirming my decision to not use a hardshell. If I was an elite skier needing an extra ball or two to win tournaments, maybe. But if getting an extra ball or two means I have to always be worrying about my boot setup, and increasing my chances of getting injured, not worth it to me. Missing months on the water sucks more than missing buoys in a pass.

hmm, @AdamCord - any thoughts? I'm 5' 10", 155-160lb depending on the time of day, though I'm low on muscle right now after almost 4 months off of strenuous activity due to a f***ing concussion. I'm hoping to train hard this winter, could certainly end up more like 160-165. Or maybe if I just eat too much lol, but I'm good about diet - all that to say I don't see any way I'll get under 155, whereas I could see myself getting closer to 165. I suppose I should just wait to see what weight I'm at when I'm ready to buy a ski lol... but if a small would be best, and since they're harder to find, if one pops up on SIA for a good deal... it's gonna be hard not to make a poor financial decision :# Of note also is that I'd probably be looking at a 2020 model due to budget, rather than a 2021 with the different flexes, but my understanding is that the 2020 is fairly close to the the regular flex, which is where I'd be anyways. I'm still skiing 15off, 30mph (PB is 4 at 32mph) but I'm only 32years old, have really only had 4-5 months ever in the course, and have access to good (video) coaching, so I'm confident I will make progress fairly quickly - my goal is to run 34mph,22off by the end of next year. @MattP - https://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/comment/384162 - Horton said "next year will be the C87"... though that was followed by "that thing will not be cheap" lol

basic question: the RFF vs. LFF is just which wing is attached, right? The ski itself is the same either way? I'm hoping to snag a used one next season sometime, but I'm 155-160 lbs, so will be looking for a small, which seems much harder to find (where my lean dudes at?! :D ).

@Than_Bogan - Alright I retract that I'll take you lol. I played very casually back in the late 90s/early 2000s, then didn't for a long time, then found out my best friend used to play as well, so we'll occasionally play with our old-ass cards, decks that would get trounced at a tournament. But earlier this year, during lockdown spare time I endeavored to put together a legit Modern deck. It's not phenomenal, but it can hang. I also discovered https://untap.in, which is amazing - full catalog of the cards, pretty good interface, totally free, upload your deck and play strangers from around the world anytime of day. So it allows one to have fun with it without having to pay a bunch of money for cards, and play a bunch of different people without finding actual tournaments. In a world of infinite time, I'd be more into it, but it just doesn't make it high enough on my priority list to get much attention. But still love the game. Just signed up for the Arcane mailing list :) ...imagine it's not long now till we get shut down (rightfully so) for being way off-topic lol.

haha, bro I'll take you in some MTG if you play.

@jhughes - I sent them a message a week ago asking a different question (about replacing a Leverage overlay with a T-Factor overlay) but never heard back. Guess a week isn't too long, but I always like logging things into the "ski knowledge public domain" that is Ball of Spray lol, so someone 2 years from now can search and find the answer if they have the same question.

On the bottom of D3 rubber bindings, the top set of screws looks like it has 3 different places it could be screwed in. I saw in a different thread that these have something to do with adjusting the width near the toes, but not which direction does what, or how it works. Do you just unscrew and rescrew it into a different hole? Like.. the screw must be attached to or holding something on the other side - if I unscrew it, wouldn't it lose grip on the other side and whatever that other side is would also need to be moved to line up with the newly selected hole? Feel like this will be a "duh, I'm an idiot" answer, but such is life. Boot on the left is a newer D3, right is one of the old lace-up Leverages. I am 99.9% sure the bottom is the same on the new Leverage Blackouts.

Friday stream was in 720p, looks like Saturday is only 480p? Still crazy happy to watch, but it's definitely blurrier than yesterday.

Thanks everyone! Always inspired and uplifted by the ski community's willingness to help others :) In regards to set up, as @6balls said, I received the ski from him. Having only started seriously skiing last year and now only about 4.5 total months in the course under my belt, I unfortunately really know nothing about ski set up, especially fin adjustments, and do not own calipers. I really do want to learn though, and this has spurred me to reach out to my current club and I believe I'll be able to do a "tutoring" session with a fellow skier. At that time I can measure my current fin and let you guys know. I am running it without the wing on. Time to search BoS for caliper recommendations lol. At my (different) club last year, someone who said they knew what they were doing, after watching me ski, made some fin adjustments and also recommended moving my boots back one notch. I do not know specifically what fin adjustments he made, but I did move the boots back. Especially back then, my skiing was inconsistent and unfamiliar enough simply from a technique and awareness point of view that I couldn't say for sure whether the adjustments were any better or worse. Note that the ski is 67" and I only weigh 155-160 (first thing in the morning), so my understanding is that 67" is a touch long and a 66" would be more ideal. Since this maybe has also turned into a "ski set up recommendations" thread, here is a much more successful pass from a week before, probably my best of the year (despite running over 1 ball), in order compare the good vs. the bad: Back to the fall, a lot of the technique recommendations from @MISkier, @6balls, and @braindamage make a lot of sense to me. I can definitely see how I get disconnected starting at the wakes, relax my body stack, stay flat, and roll onto the back of the ski. The fin definitely didn't fall off. In regards to hitting something, there are a lot of small turtles at the lake. But the fact that I fell in a very similar way on a different lake last year makes me think that's less likely. Here's that video as well:

This video is from June 18th, and it gave me a concussion. The concussion later triggered 10 days of anxiety attacks, and I am only now maybe almost over the concussion recovery, so this will knock out 3 months of my season. Needless to say, that all sucked... a lot, and I do not want to fall this way again. I also have video of a very similar fall from last summer while free skiing (no injury - video's been added in comment below), so it's something I seem to have a bad habit of, but it's a weird place/way to fall, so I'm not sure what's going on. This is 30mph, 15off, so obviously there's about 1000 things to improve overall, but I'm wondering if there's one or two specific things that may help me avoid another fall like this one. Thank you!

@brody magic of the C75?

Seein' some wicked MasterCraft ProStar designs using very-dark interiors. The claim is that the Coolfeel Vinyl doesn't get hot, even if it's a dark color. Can anyone corroborate or refute? I ain't affording one anytime soon, but a guy can dream! (and design different color schemes for fun lol) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEL4RaMFnEn/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CE35WXIljIb/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CD42IdIFIAO/

Would the C75 be good for a beginner course skier as well, or is it really only once you get into shorter lines? I know there already seems to be a split among skiers as to whether "top tier" skis also work best/just-as-well for beginners VS if beginners should use less aggressive skis. But I'm wondering if the wild uniqueness of the C75 influences those opinions in either direction. I'm not gonna buy a new ski right now (budget), but will likely be looking for a "new" used ski within the next couple years, and I love the vibe of Denali and this ski. I'm currently only at 30mph, 15off; but between last year when I started late and this year due to injury, I've really only had 4 months ever in the course (coming from skiing my whole life but literally only one week a year while on vacations). In a couple years I'm confident I can at least be running 34mph at 22off, hopefully more. I'm currently on a 2016 Radar Vapor Lithium, but that's entirely because I got a great deal from my uncle on it, not because I chose it specifically.

I have no idea if this will help in your case, but the Armaid is an amazing self-massage tool for forearm issues. I bought one years ago due to repetitive stress tightness in my forearms from drumming and typing. I also use it on my legs and it's really powerful without much effort needed. https://armaid.com/

I began course skiing August 2019. I was given as a gift the Leverage Blackout front binding with a Contour RTP when I started. I'm still only running at 30mph, 15off (had big plans for this year, but I've been out since June 18th due to a concussion.) From what I can tell from this thread and others is that most people actually don't like the new Leverage Blackout overlays, say that they are too soft and not supportive enough. So now I am intrigued by the T-Factors. Two questions: 1. At my beginner course level, is it actually a good idea to use something that is more forgiving like the Blackouts, even if it's not the most "high performance" driven? Or could that actually encourage bad habits, and better to just get accustomed now to a performance binding from the start? 2. If I do switch to T-Factors, can I just buy the T-Factor overlay and swap it out on my current Leverage Blackout plate/base? Does that become exactly like a T-Factor, super close to a T-Factor, or only sort of like a T-Factor?

How is the schedule working? Is all of slalom on Friday, or Saturday as well? Will the webcast be uploaded after the fact in case we can't catch it live?

will there be a webcast/live stream?