Adam Caldwell

@UWskier -I've had the same experience when skiing on softer ropes. Need to get on a throttle setting that is much more aggressive to be able to get moving off the ball and be able to have the speed to get off edge early enough. Anyone playing around with "+ settings" on softer ropes at all?

@scoke - You and Chris Rock have a lot in common.

@mlusa That is GREAT to hear!

I was planning to wait till I was actually 41 years old to run it in 2023. I guess Ill just go ahead and do it this year instead. Who else wants to get a nice bottle of Scotch Whiskey from scoke?

@twhisper - for shortline skiing what rope are you finding to be the best so far?

@Horton - That's awesome. Its very hard to realize how much you might be settling into the tail of the ski or getting compressed/squatted until you commit to trying something 100% in the other direction and experience the difference.

@aupatking - Yeah there's definitely a black art with fins. The "logic" behind tuning fins can change based on the type of fin. For example, what might make sense for an adjustment to a standard 5 hole fin might not work at all on the CG fin, or whisper fin and vice-versa. In short, different fins can require some slightly different movements to achieve a desired outcome. Guys who have a 5hole fin figured out, might feel a bit lost tuning a CG fin as there are some different dynamics at play. Things get even a little more complex when we start adding in different bindings which input torque against both the ski and the fin from various heights and positions. Higher & stiffer rear bindings really can make things confusing at times if your talking about fin setup with a someone who is more experienced with a stiff front boot & kicker. Fin setup is not simple, and there is never a "right' move despite how many people think they have all the answers. Even for the most experienced guys in the world there's still a huge amount of trial and error. Make an adjustment in one direction - if its not immediately noticeably better, head the other way. The other challenge can be tuning a ski for your hardest pass. Sometimes what makes your hardest pass perform better might make your earlier passes feel like a school bus turning. That just means you need to hit the earlier passes a little harder with some more energy and get back to the shorter lines where you were looking for a change - and conversely don't be fooled if your opener feels AMAZING, but then your 3 buoys short at the top end. Then consider your ZO setting...Fins can be tuned to work better for C*, but not work well with A*. and vice versa. This sport is confusing, full of complex variables and it takes a solid support team to get things figured out. Never be afraid to ask someone for help. If what your told doesn't "work" for you, just be thankful, keep an open mind, learn what you can from the experiment, and then maybe make an adjustment in the opposite direction of what you tried before to see what happens.

Ahhh. Gotcha

@bko, what is your binding system?

While many will disagree, in my personal opinion, fin settings are far more important for a novice level skier from 15-32off and slower speeds then any higher level skier.

Inconsistent skiing can come directly from poor setup. That’s why it’s important not to wait to ask for help. You would be amazed what an experienced eye can see. Couple tweaks can go a long way to improving consistency

I know I've seen people lose 6-12 buoys on a 'new ski' trying to run 'stock' numbers.....and continue with it for years. Personally I am terrified of that happening to one of our customers and we work hard to prevent that. The hardest part seems to be that people HATE to send video if they think they dont 'look good'...but thats exactly what we need to see to be able to get them dialed in!

Jim was the man! Grateful to share a few beers and get to ski with him. He is certainly missed in the community. @RazorRoss3 Benching 505 is mindblowing!

How much value do skiers put into setup support versus just purchasing of a new ski?

@swbca - I am a huge fan of free-skiing or spinning if the goal is conditioning. Typically though, I drop at the end of every pass. If I want to simulate shitty conditions, I'll drop very briefly and not give water time to settle. I like to have a moment to digest each pass and just access what went good and what I can work on, as well as check in with the driver to see what they felt. Hard to be settled and focused spinning passes. I can do it, have done it, but its NEVER anything like coming into a pass after a deep water start (even a brief one). Plus, at this point in my journey, I do as much as possible to mitigate injury. with spining passes, getting tired, lazy with your moves, oxygen deprivation to the brain, rolley conditions and a driver barely able to hold a good path in the rollers isn't a recipe for success at 38/39/41.

Hit a lifetime milestone of 10 consecutive 39s@36mph in a 14pass set. I stopped because I didnt want to ruin the streak. Time to shorten the rope. More impressive is the drivers focus behind the wheel for the entire set. I owe him a couple beers!

Gate shots for the the longer rope lengths have a slightly different objective than shorter rope lengths. The difference is in what needs to happen as we leave CL into the preturn. The shorter the line length, the more down course speed you need at the right hand gate ball to enter into the swing without premature separation from the handle. You can get away with a "wide & late gate" up to about 28off. Beyond 28off, that style of gate it starts to fall apart. The swing dynamics needed off the second wake into 1 ball start to change every time the rope gets shorter...each subsequent shortening requires more down-course speed at the right hand gate ball. Trying to sustain excessive ski angle past the right hand gate ball only slows down-course speed and disrupts the swing to into on ball. Study the gate. It is hands down the most important aspect of this sport and it can really help the progression into shorter line lengths. Just remember you are never going to stop the boat during the pull or the swing. So might as well figure out how to move with it!

From observing and studying Jamie Bs one handed gate.... he had a completely different objective behind it then what I see a lot of the other skiers (pros included) try to accomplish with it.

@bko the c85 is more boot sensitive then fin sensitive!

@ghutch - yes it is tough. My recommendation is to really dig into "how" you are pulling/loading/leveraging the ski and ask yourself how that is going to pan out as your cross centerline and the handle moves into he upswing. Is there something you can do to your connection/position to prevent you from having the issue your describing? There is no magic movement or tip. It really comes down to how your perceive the situation in your mind versus what is really happening on the water. For example, I used to believe I needed a super wide gate, pushed way late, turn in from 90deg and hold that angle through the gate in order to make 1 ball. All my movements/actions/decisions went into that logic. I can tell you right now that none of that is necessary, nor does it result in any kind of desirable outcome especially as the rope gets shorter. For me, the physical 'technique' didn't change until my understanding evolved. As my effort and intent on the water changed to support an improved and deeper understanding, then the buoy count started to and continues to climb. Its crazy to say, but I seem to learn more and more every year. Don't ever think you have it "figured out" and keep challenging yourself to ask better questions to reshape your perception of what slalom really is.

@bko Your not totally wrong. The magic of ski setup is finding the balance between the ski doing the right things for you such that its an aid to your ability to move on top of it and against the rope correctly. But, as any Pro level skier will tell you, the more you learn to move your body over the ski properly, the less the fin setting is much of a factor. If there are weaknesses in the position of your body over the ski, and or with your movements wrt the centripetal force in the rope, then fin and ski setup alone has the potential to give you a 6 buoy PB or take 12buoys off your average.

Completely necessary tools to have in the tool box to handle all situations on any given day. Not an impossible skill to learn. Just takes practice.

@twhisper Good chance I'll be on the west coast this summer for a few weeks. Would love to make that happen.

@twisper, I'd trade my onside for your offside any day of the week! lol. I've been working on it all winter as offside is my greatest weakness, and I have a lot left to figure out/learn to be able to see the end of 41 at 36. I think for many of us, we "Master" how to turn our one ball, then 'deal' with what happens at 2. Seems that our confidence of making that 1 ball turn is 10 fold of what the 2 ball turn is, regardless of which foot forward. And it shows up in our skiing.