Slalom.Steve

When skiers come in late and hot around 6 ball, they turn the buoy normally and end up taking a huge slack hit. When they come in late and hot around earlier balls, they s-turn and cut back to the wakes without a slack hit.So why doesn't anyone s-turn the 6 ball? The only reason I could see not to is because you may end up cross the wakes before the gates, which doesn't matter on earlier balls but does after 6 ball. But I have to think you could adjust the pull to make it through the gates, at least in most instances.

SKI!

Gorgeous. You doin' a full review or just for fun?

Yeah Zane was great! It was nice watching longer-line skiers because Zane was giving real time "coaching", often things that will be helpful to me, also being at longer-lines.

I've never used one, probably not as necessary at 15off, 32-34mph.. but I'm progressing and better to be safe so I'll grab one before too long. I see there's 2-foot and 4-foot versions - which should I get?

@Horton lol, well I guess I actually shouldn't talk - I haven't tried a bunch of different diameters and only been seriously skiing about 3 years, but I almost never have issues with blisters or callouses on my .940. I have smallish hands (wear small gloves) and even shorter pinkie fingers (seriously, it's weird, I've got extra long thumbs and extra short pinkies). So on handles over 1", in order to actually get my fingers around it, the handle ends up sitting more in my palm than in my fingers, which seems to create more friction/pulling on the skin of the palms and more blister issues.

so to be clear, I do already have a Radar padded bag and a fin firkin, but that feels kinda clunky for inbetween sets in the boat. I did warn you that I want to baby the ski lol.

I find a smaller handle is easier on the hands, you don't have to overgrip and the handle can sit more in your fingers rather than ripping on the top of your palms.

I just bought a new ski and wanna protect it well (read: baby the s**t out of it), so I want one of those neo sleeves with the fin protector for in the boat. But I spent all my money on the new ski lol. Anyone have a sleeve (used/beat up is fine) they'd be willing to sell on the cheap? Thanks!

I seem to remember my parents telling me "Well son, life ain't always fair." Even if the training is a total waste - and I actually don't think that but I doubt either side is changing their minds on that point - but even if, skiing is way too important to me to not sacrifice a couple hours for it. If I had to sit in a empty room for 2 hours, or run a mile backwards, in order to partake in the sport that means so much to me, I'd still do it. And the intention with SafeSport is at least valid, again even setting aside arguments whether it's effective or dumb or anything like that, it's at minimum nothing nefarious. Seriously, the number of hours we as a society waste on a daily basis doing meaningless things, spending 1-2 hours over an entire year for something that is at worst meaningless, at best helpful, doesn't even register on the scale, particularly when this sport that I love needs all the support it can get or else there eventually won't be any tournaments for us to argue about in the first place.

Yeah I don't think he's advocating riding the tail all the way around the turn :D It does look to me like the top skiers, as they pass the buoy at short lines, are pushing into the back foot to rapidly change the ski angle and in a sense "stop" their downcourse speed, then immediately getting back into a forward/balanced weight position. Consider this piece from Denali GUT 101: "In order for a skier to complete a pass within the constraints of the slalom course at the 10.25-meter line, the variance in down-course speed is huge! They are traveling significantly faster than the boat in the down-course direction from CL to the buoy, and much slower from the buoy back into to CL." The physics of being tied to the rope dictate that in order to get around a buoy at 41off then be back at center line with a tight rope, the skier must drastically reduce their speed at some point before getting back to CL. In a race car, the more speed you can carry through the corner the better (generally speaking), so that they can finish the lap with a greater total average speed than other cars. But skiers ultimately can't go through the course any faster than the timing of the boat, so every person who runs the pass has roughly the same average total speed through the course. [edited following @brettmainer's corrections below] I think @A_B's comment is insightful: how do you stop if you're about to hit the dock? You slam the back foot. Whether that's the best way to create deceleration within the many other considerations of running the course, I have no idea lol, but at least in isolation, digging in the tail is an effective way to slow down, and slowing down is necessary to run short lines. Going off the GUT theory, my understanding of the Denali approach, and I could be way wrong here, is to allow the ski to slide, like a rally car on dirt drifting around a corner, so that the ski is starting to point back into the course and scrub speed, even while still traveling outbound (due to the swing of maintaining rope connection/load even as the ski unloads), so then at the finish of the turn, there isn't as much a need for immediate drastic loss of speed after the buoy. @AdamCord?

Any similar dampening mechanisms for a Wakeye? I'd be willing to buy one from someone, I suck at DIY lol.

I'm doing more tournaments this year, Indiana skier. So far one was honestly too full, took forever lol, one was good, and one was really small.

@skialex Nice idea! I'm wondering though, wouldn't that create a weird gap between the ski and the boot? If I put the aluminum piece under the feather frame, then the feather frame is at an angle, and if I put the aluminum over the feather, then the aluminum is at an angle. Here's pics: My proposed solution: what if I just use the entire aluminum plate and mount the feather frame on top of it (using the countersunk + nuts strategy)? Seems to me like that would work, and the holes line up. It would add a tiny bit of height to the back boot but I think that's fine. Here's a pic (I haven't ripped the footbed off the old plate yet, which is why the HRT is "floating" but obviously I would take that off):

Alright I got the C85 in and indeed the inserts don't line up left-and-right with the Radar feather frame. I was planning to just drill new holes in the feather frame... but a bigger issue is at hand - the plate doesn't reach back far enough either way: So new questions: 1. If a get the BOA HRT on the aluminum frame, would the frame really extend that much farther? From images it looks kinda similar in length to the feather. I could honestly even see moving my back binding up one more hole (which would put it even farther away), but I'm also already maxed out on the front holes. 2. If I find and get one of the earlier HRT models on the aluminum frame, is the overall quality any lower being the earlier model, or were recent updates just cosmetic? @Broussard 3. I suppose I could add new inserts to the ski, seems on one hand the most straight-forward solution, no need for new bindings or anything... but I really don't trust myself to not mess that up. Anyone around Chicago and/or Indianapolis confident adding inserts? 12-pack of craft beer or a bottle of whiskey on me lol.

Strange, I've found Amara gloves give me better grip than Kevlar.

I believe the ProGear, the MSN, and the Stealth Lite gloves are all similar. I'd love to see someone buy two or all three, test them out for a season, and give us a report :)

Well I'd buy the lace version of the HRTP on aluminum if it was offered on aluminum :/

@aupatking Yeah I feel like Radar wouldn't keep selling them if they though they were a liability. That said, I wouldn't want one on my front boot, but the rear doesn't bother me. The ski gets in tomorrow so I'll see how it all lines up. It looks like just drilling the HRT is the way to go.

Curious the thoughts of anyone who's used both a T-Factor and the new Vapor Boot - looks like maybe @Deanoski and/or @ctorthopa13. Comparison between the two boots, pro/cons? I'm currently on a T-Factor but am super intrigued by the Vapor. I'm a 34mph skier, ran 22off for the first time last week.

I also have a binding compatibility question, different ski but figured I should post here rather than make a new thread: I have a used Denali C85 arriving later this week. I currently use a T-Factor front binding and for the rear, the Radar HRTP on the feather frame. My understanding is that the feather frame will not line-up correctly with the Denali inserts? If so, what about the Radar Sequence Plate? Can I mount the T-Factor on that? What about the feather frame? Or any other ideas how I can keep using these bindings on my new ski? I expect I will either stay on the T-Factor long term or possibly switch to the new Radar Vapor boot as some point. And I expect to stay with the HRTP. I know I could get the HRTP on an aluminum plate, but they only offer that in the BOA version, and I kick in to the HRTP so I replace the laces of the HRTP with bungee cords (from a T-Factor) so it can stretch as I kick in, and I really like that setup. So the BOA wouldn't work :/ @mmosley899 - you got any tricks up your sleeve?

One weird thing though, when Matteo Ianni and Freddie Winter were discussing Dane Mechler switching to a T-Factor, they said "well, there's a safety risk with it being a non-releasable binding." ?? Have these guys been using hardshells for so long they forgot the old school way of releasing, that your foot can just come out of a rubber binding? lol, I use a T-Factor and know many others do as well and I haven't had or heard any issues with non-release. Of course, you can cinch the bungees tighter or looser, but even with them quite tight, I can push the back of my ski and my front foot comes out fine.

@Booze somewhat depends on how tight you cinch it. I don't do it as tight as physically possible, but I keep it pretty tight and I've never had any issues with releasing.

It was very tight when I bought it, it's taken two years to stretch out and it's still not terrible, just wondering if I can improve it. For reference, I'm 5'10", 160lbs and I use a Small.