ScarletArrow

One of my kids favorite memories is our trip to Idaho for Nationals - they talk about it all the time. We went early and climbed a nearby mountain (Trinity mountain since it's the same name as my company). We were in Denver for a long layover on the way home and I taught them how to "people watch" in a public setting. We would look down the plaza to the floors beneath us and make up stories about the people wandering around. Laughed and laughed. Regionals (Nationals) may only be one round, but a trip with Dad is a memory of a lifetime.

Just sharing my own personal experience... When my kids starting learning to ski ~10 years ago, I had a conversation to @Bruce_Butterfield and applied his advice as consistently as possible. I went LL and very slow (under 10mph). I did use the mini-course; however, once we go to ~12mph (which happens quickly) we slowed the boat down to ~9mph and went to the main course. I combined this with "a PB in every set" strategy. For instance... One day - 2 missed deepwater starts = PB; next day - 1 missed deepwater start = PB One day - 6 buoys at 10mph = PB; Next day - 3 buoys at 10.1mph = PB One day - 2 buoys full course at 9.6mph; Next day - 3 buoys at 9.5mph = PB Sometimes I had to get creative, but pretty much every single time we went skiing we would go home and tell mom about a new PB (and get ice cream). I didn't put my kids on a slalom ski until they could run the full course consistently at LL 13mph. I didn't implement slalom on trick until later b/c of the difficulty. I'm sure other factors were involved, but the result for me is that slalom skiing is probably the favorite sport for all 3 of my kids. So thanks to @Bruce_Butterfield and take his advice!

Definitely not using west coast style

@RAWSki thats a great idea. Where is the boat in Ohio? I’m in Akron. If this gets some legs I might be up for a little road trip myself. In this Coronavirus world, we need to spread some love.

@Chad_Scott I guess that it was I was trying to say (looks like we were responding simultaneously). If attendance (and revenue) bottoms out - yikes! Allowing practice scores is a just a means to an end (participation) in my view. I don't think that it would be the end of tournaments, because it's only experimental - i.e., if it doesn't increase interest, then you can scrap it.

If the goal is to maximize participants in Regionals and Nationals, then everything should be on the table. If that's not the goal, then no - don't change anything. If the suspension of tournament sanctions are extended into June what will the effect be on Regionals and Nationals? I would think Tournament Directors could expect a 50% reduction in participation from last year. If that's true, and I'm acknowledging that it's only a hypothesis, then I think any decision we can make that would remove a barrier to entry should be made. At the very least, I think strong consideration should be given to removing qualification requirements. I think the industry partners and sponsors have determined they want Nationals to be focused on quantity of skiers vs. quality. If you remove the qualification requirement, then the poll question is less critical because then it's only used for seeding purposes. However, it may be a good idea to do it anyway - re: low cost experimentation. There are always more ideas than what we can reasonably implement. And many need to go through the necessary vetting process before being implemented. But the hypothesis's behind the poll question are: Will this increase interest? Will this increase membership? Will this bring in more skiers? We can never really know the definitive answers to these questions unless we experiment. If not this year with all of the crazy circumstances - when? Businesses all across the U.S. are being forced to adapt in crazy ways to survive. Why shouldn't we do the same? If ever there was a year to throw some measure of caution out the window, this would seem to be it. I just don't see the downside one a one-year and experimental basis. Objections appear to be philosophical in nature - i.e. the purity of the score or the accuracy of the ranking. Those are legit, but if no one shows up - do either of those matter? Doesn't it mostly get resolved on gameday anyway? Just my .02

In my suggested format, only one fall is permitted after the normal score is attained.

The year that @SkiKolb got his Linsfranc injury, he always told the story of his injury, "I was skiing 39off up the line when I fell at 2 ball at 35off." Wait... you were skiing 39off, and you fell at 35? Now every time someone blows a pass or misses an opener and we have to later explain what happened we begin the story with, "I was skiing 39off up the line and I fell at [insert buoy and line length]. It's quite comical if I miss my opener at 15off. In fairness to @SkiKolb I don't think anyone really knows what the actual line length was - the story has just taken on a life of its own. And you know the saying, "never let the facts get in the way of a good story".

@Chad_Scott technically speaking, until CC changed their program last year, are not the boats "privately owned"? When I had a short stint on the CC promo program, I bought the boat with my own $$ and had the title. The only difference is that I got a specified amount of credits from CC that I could apply toward my next purchase. Wouldn't it be better to let me charge my own fee for use in a tournament? Local tournament - $250 for the day plus free entry. Regional tournament $250 / day plus free entry plus gas for towing. Etc.

I've been advocating this for years. The Buckeye Buoy Tour implemented my suggested format last year at one of their stops. My logic is this... If I pay to run in a half-marathon, I get to run the entire 13.1 miles no matter how poor my performance. Even in a sport as ruthless and demanding as gymnastics, if you fall off the beam, you are allowed to get back on and finish. Why can't this be the case in waterskiing? Fall and you're out. Miss a buoy and you're finished? Where's the fun in that? Spare me the high horse of "just give everyone a trophy". I think the design of the competition itself is fundamentally flawed. It's like telling a bowler that if he doesn't knock all the pins down in a certain frame, he's not allowed to continue on. The format I suggest went like this... You run your normal "up the line" pass. Let's say you get into your 3rd pass with a score of 3 at 32off. This will be your official ASWA score. You now get 3 more passes (or 1 fall) to improve your score (or just have fun). You can start anywhere at any speed; but if you score 3.25 at 32off or higher, that would be your handicapped score for BBT purposes. The one downside to this format is that it takes much longer for each skier; so you need to cap the number of entrants in a tournament.

While I think this is a great move, I would like to see the speeds changed so that B1-28mph, B2-30mph, B3-32mph, B4-34mph, B5-36mph. I know it was probably considered and discussed; and can already be somewhat accomplished through ZBS; and I understand it would have brought about a different set of problems with past records. I just think it makes sense because elite level juniors could always ski in a higher division if they wanted a higher max speed or more competition, but for the average skier in a tournament this feels like (subjectively) the right speed.

We have a hunting cabin 3.5 hours away that sits in the heart of hillbilly country just outside of Gallipolis, Ohio. To get to our property you have to drive a mile on a dirt road through the woods with no neighbors and the road dead ends at our cabin. We have electric and satellite dish for internet. We use a motion security camera that sends us a video. We have several cameras and have posted signs that the property is under video surveillance. https://blinkforhome.com/ We frequently get trucks that drive up and turn around that appear to be curious hillbillies. We live too far away to take immediate action if an intruder were to break in (one day we had a truck drive past our cabin to the top of field). But it does keep us informed of what is happening (the cows from the next property over are frequent visitors). In my opinion, even game cameras that email you pictures like CuddyLinks are going to be too finicky and not all that helpful for security. Hope this helps.

Jar Jar Binks was Gungan. Gungans lived underwater. I’m sure they were excellent water skiers; much more so than the Kaminoans in Episode II whose waterworld planet Kaminoa seemed to be in a perpetual state of storms and rough water. But they probably do have the best body type of all the SW characters to excel at slalom skiing. Speaking of Waterworld, how do we feel about Kevin Costner?

There will be one at Bellalago next year for you test drive.

Certain shops may specialize in specific gear or brands and I will order from them - but otherwise I get everything I can from Perfski.

The first rule of Hollywood is "always leave them wanting them more". @Horton seems to have accomplished that. Maybe episode #27 will be like episode V of Star Wars, or maybe like the Matrix Reloaded. More content (longer) isn't always better content.

Even if you must buy an OB, keep your 196.

@Drago thanks. You’re so inspirational

My story is the same as so many others. I was initially excited about Nationals being at Okaheelee and having all 3 of my kids qualify in 3-event, but when I realized Regionals was in KS I just couldn’t bring myself to make the incredibly painful 17 hour drive and pay the added cost. So the cascading effect is no nationals, no regionals, no states and no buckeye buoy tour. There was no point. I think we skied about the same amount, maybe slightly less during the week, but more on the weekends; and saved a heck of a lot of money in the process with less stress and more fun. I even paused for a moment during the weekend of our state championships when skiing at our home lake. I got to ski probably triple the number of passes than I would at the tournament and I thought to myself, this is where I want to be - in the boat with my kids and not in the judges tower.

Have to admit, I fell for the title of thread. I thought to myself, “Oh dear, Horton’s not going to like this one. Must be a noobie.”

@adkh2oskier that looks EXACTLY like my old ‘09. Best boat I ever had. Wish I never sold it.

Everything Bruce has ever said about teaching kids how to ski is right. I’ve followed his prescription almost exactly (I put them on a 62” even at slow speeds) and all of my kids love skiing, love tournaments and are now better than dear old dad. Keep in mind our definition of success is usually different than our kids. We count buoys. They count friends. Make sure she is having fun with other kids - probably at jr. development or a grassroots - and the rest will fall into place.

Just go Wiley front and RTP on a used slalom ski. Simple, proven, effective.

Just an update... The crack went around ~75% of the circumference and was in part of the threads. Bought some epoxy at a local ACE Hardware. Painted the crack on the strainer with the epoxy using a thin piece of cardboard as a brush. Flipped it upside (open end) down and set a heavy object on it to keep the crack closed. Let it cure over night - back in business! Drove the boat with no problems. Emergency replacement part from www.skidim.com (who should be an advertiser here with so many DIY'ers) arrived today.

I now have backups for my backups. Hate to just throw away ropes that are still functional but not tournament or training worthy.