Marco

What @Razorskier1 says. The more space you create in front of the ball, the more everything slows down.

Proof that I'm really committed to skiing? My long term plan is to permanently exchange these views from my front yard... For this view of my back yard.

@mrtouye Thanks, we missed you guys this year. Hope to see you next year!

Thanks @Andre @jetpilotg4 We usually ski from the last week in April until the middle of October, depending on when low temps get below freezing. I wore rubber for the time yesterday, but the water wasn't too bad. The lake in Basalt is Kodiak, and it has membership slots and can be hard to get a ski ride on unless you know someone, or ski in their 1 yearly tournament. The lake near Gypsum is Sweetwater Ranch, and was built by Mike Young. It is a private lake with memberships. If you are out this way, drop me a line and I would be happy to pull you. We are a 5 minute drive from the Montrose airport, so it would be a quick and easy trip if you flew in.

I skied on one last weekend. I found it to ski very similar to the 6.0 that I am currently on. Fast across course and quick at the buoy, and not twitchy at all. I only did one set in cold water, so can't give much other input.

@John_Brooks Thanks! When we first built it, I had nightmares of not being able to grow anything out in the adobes, and it would just be a barren mud hole 10 years down the road. Luckily for us, that was not the case @Edbrazil Absolutely! We installed the anchors and sub buoys before we filled the lake. It was a piece of cake on dry ground. The adobe bottom sucked in the anchors, and it hasn't moved at all over the years.

And this is now: If anyone else has before and after pics of their lake project, I'd love to see them...

I just came across some pictures from 2002 when we were building our lake. This is then:

Camaro 2mm Blacktech wetsuit. No need for the confines of a drysuit, down to 50 degree water anyway.

This year injuries have kept me off the water quite a bit, so I only skied about half of my usual amount. This year I'll end at around 80 sets, where usually I'm at 150 plus. 80 sets is pretty weak for living right in front of 2 ball.

If in between, go smaller. They need to fit tight.

What is behind my Reflex? A scarred up shin. 16 stitches over the last 2 years. Now I ski with a soccer shin guard under a neo sleeve. But seriously, I have a D3 Leverage rubber binding for my rear boot. I use a custom molded orthodic as a foot bed, and it gives me really good connection to the ski. Tried skiing with a RTP years ago, but couldn't make it work.

I guess I'm the lucky one. My wife loves to ski, and is a great driver. My daughter, who hated skiing as a teenager, is now ranked in the top 10 in her division.

Good idea @Stevie Boy

Our lake only has 4 houses on it so there are not a lot of people around, and often times the only person in the boat is the driver. We have been talking about getting air horns for each boat in case someone gets seriously hurt and the driver needs help. We have had at least 2 serious injuries where one person was not enough to deal with the injured skier in the water. We were lucky that we had people on shore at the time of those injuries.

@brettmainer You hit it on the head. Support your local dealer and they might choose to support you as well. At our tournament, we set up banners and feather flags with Malibu, Tommy's and HO logos, and set up a booth to sell HO gear from Tommy's. We even raffled off a HO V Type R. Our tournament had a Regional's like feel. An additional benefit is there was lots of Tommy's chatter on facebook, adding to the exposure Tommy's and Malibu are getting.

As @Razorskier1 suggested, getting the dealers involved in participating is not out of the question. Tommy's Slalom Shop in Denver teamed with Malibu to provide a promo, and a local Open skier volunteered to do all the footwork. He has not only pulled the Malibu all over Colorado every weekend (including a 5 hour trip over the Rockies to pull our tournament in Montrose), but has also organized and pulled a mid week recreational series that is handicapped, and includes a head to head final, including cash prizes. Tommy's has committed to take the boat back and sell it at the end of the year, and has committed to a boat for next year. Without the help from Tommy's, Malibu, and Bryan Reinke, tournament skiing in Western Colorado would have been a thing of the past.

@Wish You can get an exception from skiing in Regionals for various situations. You need to contact your EVP and provide any required documentation, and if accepted, you can still ski Nationals after missing Regionals. I got an exemption because I got injured just before Regionals and couldn't ski, but I ended up not going to Nationals anyway because by the time I could ski again, I wasn't back in form. Here is the verbiage from the rule book: Excuses: A skier who is unable to compete in a Regional Tournament may be excused from the Regional Tournament provision of Rule 4.02.A for the following reasons: 1. AWSA Representatives: An individual, officially selected by the AWSA to represent the Association at an international competition on the same dates as his Regional Tournament, may be excused. This may be extended to include not only athletes but judges, scorers, drivers, delegates, and other officials. In the case of minors, this may also be extended to include parents or legal guardians of same. 2. Other Excuses: The EVP may excuse a skier from this requirement if the skier provides proof, at least 48 hours prior to the start of the Regional Tournament, that he is confined to a full-facility hospital; is on extended military service; is on jury duty; is involved in an immediate family tragedy; or has suffered an injury or illness that precludes him from participating. The proof provided to the EVP must be sufficient to allow the EVP to make a fair and objective determination regarding the skier's ability to ski at the Regional Tournament. If the skier does not provide sufficient documentation (e.g., hospital admittance form, jury duty notice, etc.) within the stated time frame, the skier must appear before the EVP at the Regional Tournament, prior to the skier's scheduled event, at which time the EVP will make a determination as to the skier's ability to ski in the tournament. The EVP may excuse a skier for reasons other than those listed above, and with less than 48 hours notice, under extraordinary circumstances. Any skier misrepresenting his situation to the EVP shall be precluded from skiing in the National Tournament for the current year

Stay down through the wakes. Your shoulders are coming up at the wake and is putting you on a flat ski out to the ball. Staying down will keep your ski on edge and help maintain your outbound direction. All in all, nice smooth skiing!

@MrJones not sure what the disagree was for, I was just congratulating the W1 skiers. Sorry to hear that you are not able to get home after a long week away. I hope your house is OK. Great job getting on the podium in MM!

@LeonL that is great. Congrats to her on her podium finish. The seeding was almost identical to the finish, within 1 or 2 placements. My daughter moved up 1 spot. Clutch skiing by all the girls in W1. They all seemed to ski at or close to their average. Thats pretty cool given the pressure of Nationals.

As predicted, the OW go 1-2 in W1. My daughter finished 6th, just off the podium. Arrrrgh. At least she beat one of the open women!

My daughter is 7th seed in W1 today. The top 3 seeds in W1 all have their open rating. That will most likely affect the look of the podium at the end of the day. Funny how your perspective changes when you are closely invested in the results. I have a much clearer opinion of skiing down from your level at Nationals now.

Such a pity. All our skiers are completely skied out Sunday afternoon, but the lake is ready for more.

Practice PB was 4 @ 38 at age 52. Tournament PB was 2.5 @ 38 at 53. A year removed from back surgery at 56, and now I suck and haven't run a 35 yet this year. I think my PB's are in the rear view mirror.