gschorr

Got a few sets in at Kitsap Lake this morning--same conditions as @Rednucleus reports, but a good way to feel alive!

Just over a week ago, my son decided to take a ride on his Connelly Firecracker for the first time. That day, he heard about a kid’s tournament happening at Maytown Lake this week, and said he wanted to be in it. When I told him he wasn’t prepared, as he’d only skied a few times, he went back out for a second ride as his way to convince me otherwise. On a lark I called the tournament director, Steve Burdick, and explained the situation. I was completely surprised when he told me that he would get my son into the tournament, pulling him off the beach as the first skier! I want to say a huge thank you to Steve and all the other tournament officials who worked to make this happen. More importantly, a huge thank you to all the other kids skiing at the tournament. I was blown away by the amount of support and encouragement they gave him, even though they had never met him before. I was equally inspired by the caliber of skiing demonstrated by those same kids, and the support and encouragement they gave each other. Way to go!!! Sebastian and I had a blast skiing in our first grass roots tournament together, and we’ll be back for more, that’s for sure—What a great day, and a great group of people to spend it with. Thanks to @RichardDoane for snapping and sharing the photo!

I'm relatively new to this forum. I'm not new to skiing and definitely not new to injury. From a few of the posts, it sounds like many of you are in the same place as me. Why does that matter? Because this thread should be NOTHING more than people wishing an elite athlete a speedy and full recovery (and good on you for those that did just that). If this was a post asking for a bunch of people's (men's?) opinion on how long it would take to recover, or if she should be jumping given her dominance in slalom, some of the posts might be relevant. However, that's not what this post was/is (thanks @Horton for sharing). So the comments pontificating on how long it takes to recover are not helpful to an athlete trying to recover. My recovery (and yours) from ACL surgery means nothing compared to hers--everyone is different, every tear is different, every repair is different, and every rehab is different. As for if she should be jumping? Don't you think (and the evidence of her career, both on water and off, clearly suggests) she's considered all these factors? Are you really in a better position to question her choices? Regina, if you read these, I wish you a speedy and full recovery. Ignore all the antidotes about how long it will take you to recover, and what you have/should be doing with your career choices. You're an inspiration, an incredible athlete, and I have no doubt you'll come back stronger having learned whatever lessons you feel are important from this.

The bottom of any body of water should just be called the Tool Box. That's what we called it when working in the north Atlantic ocean. When people would ask 'Where's that wrench/battery/sunglasses/etc?' the answer was always truthfully, "It's in the tool box!" I once had a co-worker ask if I'd seen his 20" monitor, and when I said it was in the tool box, he looked down into the water and said 'hmm, how'd that happen?" and walked away like it was completely plausible. Given what we lost, it was a reasonable statement!

Entropy

I worked for years doing solo diving with a drysuit that had a cross the back zipper (impossible to reach, and drysuit zippers are notoriously stiff). Fix a peg to a wall that you can hook the zipper pull onto, then use that to zip it the last six inches by holding the bottom of the zipper, then squatting down on the wall to pull the zipper up. Not elegant, but if it worked for drysuits, can't see why it wouldn't work for a wetsuit.

@cougfan Look me up if you want to make a journey to the Kitsap Peninsula. Course on Kitsap lake (public), and a fun crew of skiers at the lake. greg

Yep, the new fin settings were definitely not working for me--except in the flight category! pushing the ski hard at the tail of the turn didn't help either. Actually settled down when I moved the bindings back a few clicks on the mikro-just.

March 12th, first day of the year at Maytown, with three sets in! Air 40 to 50's, water 47.

Good to see the old Supra ts6m is getting some mentions. We skied behind my '91 updated with the ZR6 and PP w/ Stargazer yesterday (no, these photos aren't from then)!

concur with @Rednucleus . If it is made by Kokatat, send it back to them directly. They'll do a factory repair quickly and immaculately.

3rd day for the month! Air 34, water 42. Out with four skiers and my 4 year-old. cold, but fun! Loving the longer days, and looking forward to the warmer weather. Here's to March!

I'm Greg Schorr, from western Washington. I grew up sailing and boating on Puget Sound, and when I was about 12 I learned to ski on two. Two years later, I finally was able to get up on one (yep, that transition sucked for me). My step dad immediately took me to a lesson on a private lake (Broho), and a few weeks later ('88) I entered my first tournament. While my skiing was never great, my boating was ok, and I managed to get a Supra promo boat at 16. Skied in local/regional tournaments until 92 when I went to college where I completely destroyed my shoulder. Slalom skiing life slowed down for many years, but then I got back into it. 4 years ago, I welcomed my son, and since then my skiing time has increased dramatically (who'd have thought?). My wife needs her time to work/ etc., my son loves to be in the boat, and my friends have been incredibly welcoming to having a toddler in the boat. So, instead of rushing to get a set in and get back to work, now skiing gives my partner her time and I can spend more time at the lake! On a good year, I'll run some full passes at 12m/35'off at 55/34 and 1 or 2 at 11.25. Still have my '91 Supra, updated with an '04 ZR6 engine and Perfect Pass with a z-box. Thanks for making this forum available and so relevant!

@cougfan, I agree dry suits, showers and heaters are nice, but having skied in the PNW since '87 mostly without them, they're definitely not a must! I admit I'm generally pretty cheap, so when the seals of my suit needed to be replaced, I punted and didn't fix them for years (opting instead for a 3/2 wetsuit).. Heater and shower would be great, but we make do with thermoses of hot water that we can pour over skiers hands/head when they stop to shorten line or take a break, or heat back up when done. Not elegant, but it works! Hope to find a way to ski with you and the Wednesday night crew sometime. In the meantime, enjoy!

We got a set in today. Was calm and overcast (Air 49, water 45) when we committed, but a solid heavy mist when we got going. Still calm though! First day this winter in a dry suit, I'd forgotten how wonderful those are. Great way to end a long week!

1) mental health (way too many facets to list under this category) 2) physical health (same as #1) 3) social interactions (feed into #1 and 2, and damn important during this pandemic) I'm still skiing with friends from 30 years ago. And I'm still meeting new ski friends every year who will be there with me 30 years from now. I used to work in the mountains as a pro ski patroller--you can downhill ski all on your own. You can't with waterskiing, and that completely changes the dynamic, for the better. Here's to another year of unknown's, but a year where water skiers know they'll connect with a sport that always makes their lives better, regardless of how well you ski on an individual day.

@Cougfan I had a course in Manzanita Bay (Bainbridge Island) for years back when I skied tournaments. There was also a course in Oyster Bay, and they even ran tournaments one a year. There were also courses at times in Eagle Harbor, and I think there is still one down on Fox Island in south sound. As others have mentioned, it's great to train on and really forces you to keep weight forward to decelerate in the transition. I think the differences are much more extreme when skiing at 36 mph on salt, going to 36 on fresh water versus slower speeds. The other bummer here in the Pacific Northwest is all the debris....not to mention the sporadic massive blooms of moon jelly's that can make you feel like your skiing over the top of water that's got the texture of a golf ball! I still ski salt, but try and avoid taking my good ski. Unless you take off the fin block and bindings and soak them for a good long time, you will get galvanic corrosion damage. If you ever want to come out and ski the salt in Puget Sound, let me know and we'll hook you up!

We got our third set of the year in today-it was quite balmy compared to some days with air 46, water 46. With a 3mm wetsuit, a stop to pour hot water over the hands, feet and down the suit is key! Fortunately, the boat crew is awesome and keeps us motivated. With the lake so high due to all the rain, we get a ton of backwash off the bulkheads, so the skiing is a bit rugged. Still fun to be with friends though. For you Hilltop skiers, if you're ever in need of another person for a set this winter, I'll make the drive (and bring gas)! :) I just followed @Horton instructions, and added the Micro-just to my Syndicate hardshell yesterday...great to have the flexibility, but I did over do it on the adjustments, and went too far forward! We should get another good set in tomorrow. Stay warm all.

First set of 2021! Air 41, Water 45. Still got the 4-year old stoked to be in the boat. Dropped a degree of wing angle and ran a few 28's and a 32. Great day on the water!

Ski as much as possible, but do whatever I can to keep my 4 year-old stoked to be in the boat--driving, filming, skiing, whatever he wants to keep him interested!

I have a '91 Supra that I've had since it was my promo boat. Ran it in the salt water on and off for ~20 years with no freshwater cooling. With one top-end rebuild, it lasted for more than 20 years before finally rotting through from the inside out (we flushed it without fail every day). Considered re-build, but we found a '04 ZR6 on craigslist for 5K. At that point, the engine was 9 years old with 50 hours on it (came from a wrecked boat). We had to completely re-do the entire fuel delivery system, so I figure the entire thing cost me about $7k doing it ourselves. Worth every penny. Tons of power, way more fuel efficient, and runs the stargazer system with the z-box as well as a 2014 ZO Mastercraft I ski behind... Definitely recommend casting a wide net for engines out of wrecked boats, even if they're 5 + years old! Of course, if your boat's got a 1" shaft, do be careful with all the extra torque the new engines put out....that's another story.

Still shredding (or trying) on Kitsap Lake, WA. As my 4 year-old said when I was complaining about cold hands; 'Dad, it's easier to rip it, than grip it!'. We've been out a few times, Saturday was the coldest with lake at 46, air at 32....Pretty morning though, as long as you look past the poor line-management in the turn!

@Dockoelboto Thanks for the invite, I'd love to ski there sometime and always look forward to meeting more people in the ski community. You're welcome up here too if you want! I'll send you another message with my contact info. Take care all and have a good December.

@Rednucleus Kitsap Lake is right outside of Bremerton. Public lake with some backwash when the water is high, but the course is decent and the skiing crowd on the lake is great. I get out to Stella blue once or twice a year, and down to Maytown as often as I can thanks to some welcoming friends. If your over this way, let me know!

Still skiing buoys, at least a few sets a week, at Kitsap Lake, WA. Coldest yet has been air/water = 37/48. Looking forward to at least another month of making turns!