Slalom.Steve

@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?

I seem to be in the minority, but I think the exterior is cool as hell.

Done

Anyone know what Travers was upset about? Seemed to be complaining to the driver.

Interesting, USWSA has Freddie listed as USA:

 

Looks like a lot of the top skiers aren't in the Open Men's running order. Freddie Winter, Brian Detrick, Dane Mechler, etc. - anyone know why? COVID concerns?

Ah my apologies! One of the many things I couldn't do during the early days of the concussion and during the anxiety was keep up on BoS, so I'm way behind! (and I should have searched first anyways)

 

If this thread should just get deleted, I'm fine with that (I can't delete it myself, right?)

Background to the question:

On June 18th, I got a concussion from a ski fall. It seemed mild (I even finished my set, then on the way home developed a headache), and I was expecting a quick recovery. During the 2nd week of symptoms, I got pretty emotional, sad over the total loss of ability to "do life" (and SKI!) and worried about the injury and recovery. Then on July 4th, I got an intense anxiety attack, and despite starting medications, continued to have attacks for the next 10 days. These were some of the most emotionally difficult days of my life. I have some history of anxiety issues, but never anything like this (though it seems occurrences like this are not uncommon for underlying brain issues after a concussion). Now 7 weeks later, the anxiety has been stable since those 10 days, but I still have a mild headache all day. I seem to be able to do almost any activity without making symptoms worse, so that's encouraging, but the headache means the brains still healing and I still can't ski.

 

Question itself:

Does anyone ever wear a helmet for slalom skiing? I know the jumpers do, cause what they do is psychotic lol, but I've never seen a slalomer with a helmet. I am intrigued by the idea of wearing one though, at least for the rest of this season, assuming I get back out with a month or so to go, and possibly to wear one in future years as well. It's one thing to get injured and not be able to ski; it's another to get injured and not be able to ski, work, exercise, watch tv, do anything at all; and it's whole other ball game to get injured and thrown into intense anxiety for 10 days. I DO NOT want to go through that again.

 

One possible issue: would a helmet even help in most ski concussions? If the injury comes from the ski hitting your head, then yes, but if the injury comes simply from a rapid change in speed of the head during a crash, would a helmet even do anything? Below is a video of my fall, and it's basically a faceplant followed by tumbles. Would a "skateboard-style" helmet have even really helped? I think I'd have needed a jump-style helmet, with a piece in front of the face as well to break the water before my head hit. But would those helmets give enough visibility and mobility for slaloming?

@BCM how intense are you working out besides skiing? I'm a fairly scrawny guy, only 2nd season in the course, and definitely didn't do enough offseason training. I'm skiing about 3x a week, and my body is sore and fatigued enough that the idea of doing anything else right now seems crazy lol.

Last year I was at Laurie's Quarry, this year at Hidden Beach (not an official AWSA club).

@MDB1056 certainly a good point lol. I just get a kick out of the technical side of things, my brain thinks in variables and spreadsheets. I'm sure I'll figure out a preference over time, I'm just trying to avoid having to ditch a mostly-new glove that didn't work out, as I'm on a pretty tight budget.

 

 

I've yet to have any issues with callouses, maybe because I grip more in my fingers? (and I'm only running 15off, 30-32mph). My current gloves are Straightline Tournament, medium. Amara grip, don't really know if they are thin or thick. There's no holes, some wear on the palm, but my main reason for another pair is I think I need to size down to a smaller glove. These get pretty loose now when wet.

 

There's two boat shops about 40mins from me (Skipper Bud's and Munson Ski). My understanding is that neither has a prolific selection - Bud's only has HO gloves, Munson I know has Radar, not sure what else. But I'm gonna swing by both tomorrow and see what feels good.

Me: "Instead of telling me your favorite pizza place, can you explain how using different flours affects the crust of a pizza?"

BoS members: "Pizza Hut." "Naw, it's Papa John's." "I love Jet's Pizza."

:D

 

seriously, I do appreciate all your responses, but specific models is not what I'm looking to learn, and we're mostly just duplicating threads now, as debate about specific glove recommendations are covered in a variety of other threads.

 

I'm looking for the general characteristics of different materials/constructions, regardless of brand.

So if you like the thin Amara MSN, what is it about a thin glove in general vs a thick glove that you like, and has there been any trade-offs? What is it about an Amara glove in general that you prefer to Kelvar, and were there any trade-offs? etc.

 

Looking to buy my second-ever pair of gloves. I've found a good number of discussions about or recommending specific gloves, and there's pieces of answers to my questions distributed here and there in those threads, but I didn't find a complete, general discussion, all in one place. So not looking for debate on, for example, which Kevlar gloves are best. Brands/models as reference is fine, but just seeking here the general characteristics of different constructions/materials.

 

In terms of performance/grip, comfort/wear on the hand, and wear of the gloves/handle:

 

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of inside-out vs. regular?

- It looks like all of Radar's hi-end gloves are inside out (or "seamless"). All of Connelly's are regular. And HO has a version of each for their top gloves.

 

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Kevlar vs Amara palms? (tangential comments on HO's "BlueTec" palm also allowed, or some other material I'm not yet aware of :smile:)

 

3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of thin vs. thick gloves?

 

THANK YOU!