mopowpow

90s in Iowa the last few days and lasting through the weekend, but very windy! Possible record high tomorrow. The boat is in the garage and is already winterized, we had to pull it last week, we only had 1 inch of clearance left on the Shorestation lift.

@6balls, that sounds like my high school vacations on 10 Mile Lake in Minnesota. My sister & husband had a mid-late 60s Correct Craft Mustang. I was taught how to slalom by a guy called Swaney, I think his name was John Swanberg or something like that.

@cragginshred, the PT clinic in our gym gets a lot of X fit patients, they then try to pass them on to a trainer when done with PT, so they can learn proper technique. I've also heard from several sources that most people over 30 shouldn't do X fit.

@6balls, you wouldn't recognize Clear Lake today. Most of the old cabins have been torn down and replaced with large houses. There are still a few cabins on the south shore at PM park and Baptist camp, but not many are rented anymore. They were doing a great job of improving the water quality about the time we sold our place.

I'm a personal trainer and lift 4-5 days a week during the off season, with some running or cycling thrown in about 3-4 day a week. When I start skiing I can't keep up with the weights, my body needs time to recover. I will usually create a total body workout that hits chest, 1 leg exercises, and core. I do this 1-2 days a week on my days off from skiing. I still try to get in 3-4 days of running or cycling, I can usually combine them with ski days, since I usually ski earlier in the day. If I do anything more strenuous than walking my dog prior to skiing, it really effects my skiing.

Tell Steve & Kelly "Hi" from Terri. We need to get down there to see them sometime... Problem is the only time it's cool enough to take our husky to Florida is during snow ski season!

Miss our days on Clear Lake, lots of fun with good friends. The best sunset cruises and dawn patrol slalom at farmer's beach (before the wake barges show up). When I first started going to Clear Lake over 35 years ago, there was a slalom course tucked in next to the reeds at farmer's beach. I also remember cows would be in the water cooling off, we would try to spray them with our skis.

Nice! From one of the "girls" on the forum. What do you think @Mrs_MS?

Look for an older Sport or Air Nautique. A friend had a 1998 Sport with ballast tanks, i think the Air came with a factory tower. Pretty good boat for both slalom and wakeboarding. We had a 1993 Sport, but it didn't have built in ballast. The 1998 had a softer wake for slalom and was decent for wakeboarding. The 1993 was a little firmer for slalom, but had a great kick for wakeboarding. 1993-1997 is the older hull, new one from 1998-??

I went from a D3 Z7 to a Radar Vapor Graphite this season. I'm 57 and skiing 28-32 mph and really like it. It's softer flexing and more forgiving than the Lithium.

I'm with @jhughes, when it gets cold, I hit the gym more frequently. I now ski late May through early September. I used to go early May through late September/early October, in central Iowa. Now I haven't worn my drysuit for 6 years, and my new Camaro full suit has been worn once. Is it age? I just can't loosen up enough to ski when the water is too cold.

Happy feet!

We had a 1993 Sport Nautique on Clear Lake, Iowa which can get pretty rough from wind and boats. It was a very solid boat and handled the rough water pretty well as long as you know what you are doing. When we bought it we also demoed a SNOB and a MC205, the Sport handled the rough water much better than the other two. I am assuming you can find one in your price range, we sold ours 5 years ago for $12,000.

Kennedy Hansen is awesome and is my idol! I just remember how fearless she was when she was a little girl. I remember when Hansen's were living in Iowa and they skied in our state tournament, Kelly found out a few weeks later that she was pregnant with Kenna. It was a big "Oh crap! I jumped while pregnant!" So she's been "skiing" since before she was born.

The 67" would be OK for now, skiing slower speeds and free skiing. But if you start skiing in the course and speeding up, it might be a bit long. I used a wider HO ski when learning the course, but when I got up to 30-32mph, it was a little too much. I ended up with several 66" skis after that. I am female, 5' 8" and around 150. I do wish Radar made the Senate/Lyric in a 66", I would probably be on it instead of a Vapor.

I agree, probably should see a doctor about it. @quinne, what kind of bindings are on your ski? They might not have enough support. I have 2 bad ankles, 1 has been sprained multiple times, and the other broken. I have a tough time doing anything on the water with a binding that has little or no support. Adjustable bindings on combos or trick skis are an absolute NO for me.

@MattP, yep totally off subject... Seeing the article above made me think about it.

I don't mean to high jack this thread, but what is going on with Waterski magazine? It is August and I have received 1 issue this year for spring 2017. They even sent me a renewal notice, for what?

I pulled the wing off my ski several years ago. I was surprised at how well my ski carried out to the ball. I could get an earlier edge change and not work as hard. I'm in my mid 50s and ski 28-32 mph 15 off.

Great post!

What @ejj said... Also make sure your weight is on your front foot when starting. Years ago some friends had an HO Radius (I think), it was a wider ski, supposedly easier to get up and to ski on. Most of the men had trouble with it, they were used to starting by leaning back and pushing with their back foot, all this did with the wider ski is create more drag.

I always drop at each end, even if I go down mid-course, I get up and set down at the end. The only time I spin is if i crash at 1 ball, then I spin the island as punishment.

When my husband is in a pissy mood, it show in his driving skills...

Give a mulligan, or give each skier 4-6 starts to do what they want. Some people might not be able to run the course on their first try, but do on their second. What about the poor skier that blows their gate on the first pass? What a waste of the day and money! I used to ski tournaments, but quit about 5 years ago. I was injured and needed 2 of my opening pass to get warmed up. Tournaments need to be lightened up, allow people to actually ski more than a few passes. In our area we have a bunch of 'senior' skiers that won't allow anything to change, we keep hoping they finally move south to a retirement ghetto. I now just enjoy going out and running smooth passes. Some days I just run my opening pass 6 times. No stress, no bad crashes, no getting mad because I didn't hit my average or PB.

That would be an interesting trip to the boat ramp.