Chef23

Jack Travers told me that to help me at 35. I have no idea how to help you though it wasn't that hard to do at 35.

For me it is just comfort. I can ski a 12 but prefer a 13. I think part or it can depend on how broad your shoulders are.

It does seem like a bit of a contradiction. For Horton who can run into 39 it certainly isn't the right ski. For most of us mortals it likely could be a very good ski. I know the community here is filled with very good skiers but I bet less than 10% regularly run 35 off never mind 38. For most people the class of the Omni and Senate would be very good course skis.

I haven’t skied it but A. I would argue even the Carbon Omni would be a good course ski through 32 off at 34 mph. The Syndicate would be good for most through 35 and maybe deeper.

I have seen very few Class C events where they check handles. It would still make sense to get it to be the right length. Shame on the dock starter that disallowed the handle. A kid using an easy up isn't going to be setting any records they are just starting their skiing journey and they are nervous enough without taking away their handle.

Absolutely. We see kids with easy up handles in class C tournaments. Try to find an event that has grass roots in addition to class c and get him involved.

The Response LXI was from 03-06 I think then redone in 07 before the first TXI in 12. I don't know about the 99 196 but I do know that my 02 Response LX has better slow speed wakes than an 08 or 09 196. It doesn't track as well as the 196 but the slow speed wakes (and 34 mph wake) is smaller and softer. I do ski a fair amount at 30 mph 22 off behind a 16 ProStar and it has a great wake. I haven't tried 28 mph but have seen it back there and it looks pretty good. I don't have any experience behind the new TXI.

Jacincta’s pass looked worse than Freddy’s. If I pull out and my ski is bouncing around that much I call it a day. Of course I am not that good either.

Seems like you should have the green light to buy a new ski particularly since it was your wife's fault.

Where are they?

Freeride would be good so would the Radar Katana or Butterknife. Both would be easy to get up on and fun to ski on.

I do love the mid ride at 32 mph I could see the wide ride being a good ski. Particularly for a bigger guy.

@Golfguy a full set of PXGs including wedges could run well north of 5K. If I got to demo it and it was both easier on my body and let me run 2-4 more buoys consistently I would pay the freight for the new Goode. Right now easier on my body is important.

@BraceMaker that is a good point on many smaller lakes and lakes with a jump. Our courses are on a more sizable body of water and all we would needs would be the longer arms on each side of the gates and 6 extra turn balls.

Didn’t we have a thread on this recently. You wouldn’t need any more length to put buoys on each side of the boat gates then the skier could pick which side to start from. Frankly I am surprised Lucky Lowe doesn’t have a course like that.

Someone just did a 2 ski flip which I haven’t seen in a long time.

I got this thought from @lpskier driving the 200 and it works in the Prostar as well. Put your right foot all the way on the right side of the footwell and feel like you are running over the right hand boat guide with your foot. It really helped me get the boat in the right place when first coming from a 91” boat to a 95” boat.

I can't believe how early school starts some places. Up here it doesn't start until late July. I probably would have pulled my kid out of school to go to Nationals definitely before he was in high school I would have pulled him out. In high school it gets a little trickier particularly if they play a fall sport but I probably would still let him miss the first couple of days not much happens yet.

In the low teens you can pick up an early 2000 vintage Malibu Response say between 2000-2003 (I think the RLX came out in 04 and they are more money). Those boats have great wakes for beginners almost as soft as the new boats. Most inboards from the 2000-09 time period that have been well maintained will continue to run strong. You definitely don't want a wakeboard boat. For where you are as a skier a direct drive ski boat with PP will be great. Until two years ago I trained behind a few different PP boats and competed in tournaments behind ZO and made it work fine.

I am not going to be at Nationals but this is a cool invitation.

@Horton that helps and is actually what I have been working on. I am trying to be as tall as I can on the ski coming into the turn. I am only skiing 30 mph these days but I am trying to work on some real strong fundamentals including staying really tall. I haven't thought about my chin but I like that. In watching some recent video of good skiers lately Terry Winter, Nate, Will etc. regardless of their position behind the boat they are really long coming into and out of the turn. I have been trying to emulate that and the ski seems to turn much better and I am in better position when the boat picks me up.

@Horton do you have a thought that helps with that? On my onside I tend to drop my inside shoulder. Lately I have been trying to keep the zipper on my vest pointed down course or even outbound in the preturn and it seems to help.

I store my ski in an outside shed where it definitely gets warm. I zip open my ski bag to let the boots dry out but I have been doing this with skis for 30 years with no apparent problems.

I have Stargazer on a 02 Response LX and it is set up pretty well. I need to be careful getting up to speed if I over shoot it too far it takes some time to settle down. I have been skiing behind my buddies Prostar but I had it tuned to getting good and pretty consistent times. The key to getting Stargazer set up is getting PP running very well in classic mode. I have a document around here somewhere regarding tuning PP that I can try to post. I stole it from someone else but it worked well.

Length is just a number. Different skis measure differently and they certainly will feel differently. Some 66 inch skis will have more support. The S2 you talked about skied kind of large it was a fairly wide ski with lots of lift. I am not surprised you would go from a 66.5” S2 to a 67” GTR. You should always ski it and go with a length that feels good.