ScarletArrow

@John Brooks We do not do it that way. If a skiers average entering Rd1 is 74 buoys (2@22off). If their actual Rd1 score is 75 buoys then their handicapped score is 101.35% and their new average entering Rd2 would be 75 buoys. If their actual Rd1 score is 73 buoys then their handicapped score is 98.65% and their average remains 74 buoys going into subsequent rounds. The limit someone can increase their score is 102%. So if a kid comes along with a 20 buoy average and runs 35 buoys (175%) in Rd1, their handicapped score would be 102% and their new average the next round would be 35 buoys.

Love the "gate denial" concept... Watched a couple videos of myself from a few years ago and I could not believe how narrow I was on my gate. I agree that speed change in a major variable. I think this gets lost on those who are skiing max speed all the time. 4 Things I've done to help breakthrough the 15off wall.. I dropped my 30mph pass in practice and started doubling up on 32 and 34mph. I bought a progressor rope from In-Tow and and started running "18off". I run some 18 and 22off at both 32 and 34mph. I bought the Ski-Doc and started using the wakeye app to video myself - holy cow - why didn't I get this years ago!? As an aside... My son skied 28, 30, 32, 34/15, 34/22 this year. After Regionals we dropped 15 off and went 28, 30, 32, 34/22.

The BBT method has been time tested for nearly 10 years - in approximately 50 tournaments during that span. Every category of skier you can imagine - from 39off... stuck at 15off... and kids - have all won events and the tour itself. It rewards consistency and slow progress. Key components include: Your top 3 scores from AWSA determine your average (100 buoys) and your score is a percentage of your average (98 buoys = 98%). Scores are capped at 102% to prevent fast rising kids from blowing out their average. Once you exceed your average for that tournament (100.01%) - that score becomes your new average for successive rounds. There is no offset for 38off and above - it's never been suggested or needed. It's about as straightforward and easy to understand as you can get. We enter the official score into WTSIM and the handicapped score into a separate spreadsheet.

My son is a cubing nut, so I actually knew the 43 quintillion number... I picked that as my (wrong) answer, I mean what could possibly be higher than that!? As an aside but still numbers related, I just introduced him to Chuck Norris jokes - and his favorite by far is that "Chuck Norris counted to infinity, twice." Which leads me to a question I've never thought of - how would Chuck Norris solve a 3x3 cube? Don't @ me bro - this whole thread is off-topic! B)

You can find Yeargin's op-ed article with a quick google search.

@MS I think it depends on the how high a level the HS sport they are competing in. I think the biggest issue is time and recovery - my daughter's body just can't handle 3-event practice plus cross-country; and there's not enough hours in the day to fit it all in.

My kids are in the HS sports time crunch as well. My daughter, who loves 3-event skiing and the big tournaments, but also loves running cross-country and track for her school. School starts for her the 2nd week of August, while official XC practice starts the week prior. My solution is that Juniors Nationals should be a separate event held weekend immediately following Regionals. Having Nationals over a full week during the beginning of the month has always felt odd to me and now that my kids are older and in 3-event, it basically means that I have to take a full week of vacation after taking quite a bit already in the month of July to travel to other tournaments. It's the main reason I didn't travel to Nationals this year. Why is there is an unnecessary weekend gap following States and Regionals? Hold Junior Nationals over the following weekend to allow parents to manage travel schedules, costs, and school sports. Then you can hold M2/W2 (or whatever starting point) anytime you want.

Looks my old 2011, traded it in to Silver Spray Sports. IMO you are way, way too narrow on your pullout for the gates. Your rope is barely past the grey seadek when it should be closer to the windshield.

@BlueSki WBP is only 2.5 hours further than Maize from NE Ohio... what's the difference in driving for you?

If ZO radically alters the feel behind different boats thereby affecting a skiers performance, isn't this a reason to allow slalom skiers to choose their own boat brand to ski behind at a tournament? Isn't this the same logic used by trick skiers?

Boat path is a little left, clearly that's what did you in. /s

Can you wear the 3.0 shell w/o the heel cup and carbon shield on the toe bar? I just want to replace my release mechanism (500) and my shell (white cuff) with the 840 and 3.0, and still use my old plate without the heel cup and shield.

I ended up delaying my purchase until early summer - mistake! No one had what I wanted in stock. I did find this distributor who had what I needed in stock and was able to get it to me next day for our Regional tournament. https://www.freeflightgear.com/

I've heard of jumpers chipping a tooth from falling during a jump and have taken to wearing a mouth guard. Is this common? I don't know of anyone in our tournaments who uses one.

I've got a brand new pair of jump skis for my kids... Do you go with tip & tail covers, or the full length ski socks?

Buying gear for jump is an adventure... I see there are handles that are specifically marketed for jump. Is there anything unique about these compared to slalom handles?

That video is so old @SkiKolb is at 15off!

Bump... My 2012 SN 200 has this same issue. I know of other (newer) 200's with the exact same problem. Another symptom is that the small light next to the starter button (there are two - the one on the right) will blink. I will try the 30 second wait next time out. I've heard ideas that the ZO unit does this because it isn't receiving enough voltage... but why on some and not others.

Our lake is a man-made. The boat ramp is a little short and uneven. During August and September, the dry season in Ohio, the water level gets low and you have to put your trailer in so deep that it drops off the concrete at the end of the ramp. How would you go about extending the ramp? What kind of engineering would be involved to get an additional 5 - 10 feet at the end of the ramp that's under water?

It's an older video... but still relevant.

I'll admit there are far larger issues with skiing today... it's mostly a curiosity. Turning this into which slalom wakes are good or the same is off-topic. The only people who say "all wakes are the same" are at their max speed and/or 28off. They have forgotten the struggle is real at 28mph 15off, especially before the 196, 200 and current Prostar came about. The trick skiers who were able to pull of this rule heist were either smarter than the rest of us or just divas who complained enough to get their own way (or both). Any performance reason that a trick skier use to defend the rule would apply to slalom skiers - it's just a matter of degree. I've seen plenty of skiers - kids and adults alike - get tied up in knots about getting the "wrong" boat draw at tournament. If I pay 100k train behind a new CC, but I have to ski another boat at tournament - it's not the end of the world, but it still stinks. I just think it would be cool if slalom skiers had the same luxury as trick skiers.

I don't trick at all except to play around and let my kids laugh at me. My daughter is pretty good (nationals) and my son is progressing well (regionals). I'm not saying trick skiers shouldn't get to choose - I'm just saying it's seems inconsistent to allow trick and not slalom (and jump). As for wake variations... Any below max speed and 15off crowd (which is most skiers) will tell you there is a substantial difference (especially w/ 197 and Bu). I hear plenty of higher ranked skiers complain when they don't get their preferred boat at a tournament. Granted it less about wakes and more about engine & ZO combinations, but the principle is the same - we all want to compete what we practice behind.

With the new rules being published about the new CC (mostly geared toward trick skiers) and the boat draw announced for Nationals it reminded me of a question I've had for a while - why not just let slalom skiers choose their preferred boat - likely the one they practice behind the most? Isn't this the rationale for trick skiers? Running orders could easily be accommodated by sorting by boat then by age division. True, a M3 skier might get a different set of conditions if CC were run in the morning and Bu were in the afternoon, but that is the case already. In the very first BigDawg, before it was sponsored by CC, skiers were allowed to choose which boat they wanted to ski behind in the H2H format.

I really enjoy running, skiing and lifting... in that order. Every year I try to do all 3 for as along as possible, then my wife laughs at me when I start going to bed at 8:30 from being so tired. I've learned that I can only do 2 out of 3 in any one season. For me, if I ski 2 sets on a Tuesday night and pull my kids it's hard to get up at 5am to workout the next morning. Rest and nutrition are important, especially if you're over 40. I wish my PT would let me go lighter / easier, but he's not very sympathetic.

Thanks everyone!