Chef23

That is an awesome video. Amazing home much tricks have changed.

I have been using them for years and like them a lot. I use them primarily to protect my hands from blisters but I don’t have any issues with them and have never gotten stuck on the handle. I have skied them with the dowel in and out without noticing a big difference.

That was always one of the best things about skiing with my son. We had lots of great conversations about what he was doing, how it was going and we could compare notes about how we were doing and what we were working on. It is just another example of what a great family sport water skiing is.

I have not had one but have witnessed couple. The ones I saw were on velcro not a mechanical release like a Reflex.

I have been skiing on a Radar Katana for the last few years at 30 and 32 mph running a ton of 22 and 28 off passes and the ski is awesome for that. The ski turns hard and carries speed well plus it is easy to get out of the water on. I have been very impressed with how the ski performs for the level it is targeted for. I am about 200 pounds and have been skiing on the 67” ski.

The Carbitex boot is stiffer than the old Vapor. There are some plastic shims on the outside of the liners. You could start by taking those out. After that I agree with @Deanoski and you need to give them a few more sets. I had a bit of trouble adjusting to my Carbitex boot also but after 6-8 sets it went away.

They make backpacks that snowboards strap to that would probably work.

@BlueSki your 11 year old rips and looks like he deserves his own Denali.

Did you try skidim.com? They have all kinds of stuff for inboards.

Done as well. I love watching the stuff he puts together.

Because of back issues I have been skiing at 30 mph the last few years on a Radar Katana. I have skied into 35 off on that ski and run tons of 22 and 28 offs on it. I have also recently run some 32 mph passes on it as my back feels a little better. I weight about 205 and ski on the 67”.

 

I think the Union would work great. The Katana frankly turns great, is easy to ski on and is a lot of fun. I have to imagine that the Union would be even better.

 

Skiing is about having fun. It doesn’t matter what is under your feet if it performs well and you have fun on it.

@Garn whether it is safer is a matter of much debate. As is whether it drives better performance. The best skier in the world skis on rubber.

 

It is very different than what you are skiing on and it may drive improvement for you. I have switched back and forth a couple of times and am back on a Radar Carbitex but I skied about the same (deep 35 off at the time) on a Radar Strada and a Reflex. They are comfortable and durable but they also take some maintenance that may not be required on your current bindings. You also get pretty much the same fit every time you put them on. Moving to hardshells definitely takes some getting used to.

When I was probably 10 we bought a Western Wood slalom from Carl out of the back of the Water Skier. It was beautiful wood and was the first ski I had with any type of tunnel. This would have been 76 probably. It was really cool to have his ski even then.

My son has been tricking on a Reflex for more than 10 years and hasn’t had an issue with banging his back shin. He is only about a 2,000 point tricker but has taken plenty of falls.

That is so awesome. I love to see her excitement for the new ski and skiing in general.

I have a trick where the rear binding was mounted with dual lock so you could flip it around. Until flipping and ski line tricks start that is plenty to hold the rear toe in place.

 

Is D3 still making the 45”Xt? I have a 45” Xt that I bought at least 10 years ago. Mine is a rubber edge which supposedly isn’t as good but I am not flipping and it seems fine for the basic wake tricks.

 

If you are really going to ride it and practice go hard shell.

 

Follow Bruce’s advice for your son. When my son was about 130 pounds we got him a 43” D3 hardedge and he is still using it now at 190 pounds and 8 years later. Using the same Reflex also we have just changed boot shells as he has grown.

And some tape on one of the handles.

If there was a process followed on site and it caught the error I think that is great. If someone called in watching the video I think that is a slippery slope. I think the judging should stay on site and not be subject to super slo mo replay that might not be applied to every skier.

 

If your ski is say more than 5 years old I think there is a big difference. If you bought a new ski last year I don’t think there are massive gains buying this year.

The F1 was a high drag ski. The Omni will be much better than the F1. I would go as high up the food chain as you can. The Carbon is definitely better than the standard.

I have had a handle break in the past and replace them every other year right now because I don’t ski that much. That said if my handle looks worn or frayed at all (and that handle clearly was) I replace it immediately. I have had one handle break that didn’t show any sign of wear and it wasn’t fun. It is definitely worth the small investment to replace your rope and handle once a year.

There are a ton of seasonal rentals in FL. I know @rayn rented the last few years in the West Palm area. Ft. Myers has Eden Ski Lake. Getting as far south as W. Palm/Ft Myers is warm enough to ski most of the year without a full suit.

 

Orlando has way more sites and Lapoint’s is a sweet set up but it is cooler. Still super skiable all year particularly for those of us in the north.

Awesome. What size did you decide to go with?

That looks like a blast. Usually I go to my desk and start working. I generally ski weekday mornings.