Thomas Wayne

My, how times change. I still remember when I took heat for posting a photo of the world's tallest building [in Canada]: http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/ThomasWayne_2006/Worldstallestbuilding.jpg TW

Actually, Will is shredding a '62 Strat. I think that's JB on paddle... TW

"More angle off (directly)Â the ball would cause you to have an earlier edge change sending you directly at the ball wouldn't it?" Sure... if directly off the ball is where you stop turning and start pulling. http://www.pbtcenter.com/PBTC/Chets_thoughts/Entries/2010/4/29_Spray_to_Spray.html TW

I think I may have just found the original photo: http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/ThomasWayne_2006/Goodephotorepaired.jpg TW

"...the result was counter intuitive. I moved my fin FORWARD to achievemore space/width. My assumption is that with the blade further forward(shorter lever) the ski is less out in front and is prevented fromrolling over as fast." Another possibility is that this result fits in with perfectly your Ski-as-Lever hypothesis. If the fin is back then the tail should have more leverage, thereby reducing the maximum amount of angle achieved at the finish of the turn. Move the fin farther forward - all other things being equal - and the front of the ski should have greater [potential] leverage, allowing the ski to gain more angle before hook-up. More angle out of the turn ought to equal more width & space... yes? TW

Parrish is what... 6' 4", 6' 5"? That Goode ski he apparently rode to victory must be HUGE! TW

Everyone - everyone - wants to buy a better turn. TW

It's not nearly as good as the original version (IMO), but it does contain most of the basic info: http://www.schnitzskis.com/skitips/fintuning.html TW

Steve Schnitzer pretty much wrote the book on fin tuning, and his original checklist - since modified (for the worse, IMO) - included caveats about addressing proper binding placement and correct body position. It should go without saying that once a ski is set up correctly (i.e., to factory numbers), establishing a consistent technique and style should either precede or closely accompany any additional tuning. If you're "all over the place" on your ski (as I often am) there may be no amount of tuning advice that can do much good. That said,if you can get your hands on a copy of Schnitz's original tuning list - which at my lake is actually referred to out loud as "The Bible" - you will have the very best guideline I've seen in 20+ years of ski tinkering. TW

I would be a little leery of running any gasoline lines underground. You undoubtedly have a number of state and federal agencies that would be more than happy to fine your asses off and require environmental impact studies if they were to somehow find out. Fuel delivery hose is fairly expensive, but I'd be inclined to run it in one continuous length, and house it inside a tough flexible plastic tubing - which is how I ran electricity to our lakeside power drop.  A fuel line placed above ground is undeniably temporary, making it [most likely] exempt from government oversight - unless you suffer a major spill/leak, and are foolish enough to tell anyone... TW

Interestingly, Patrice Martin suffered a rather public arm-through-handle fall (slalom) immediately prior to retiring. TW

Additionally, the following information was [ reportedly] written by Kris LaPoint in the late 70's" "Where you place the wing on the fin makes a big difference–no, make that a huge difference. Even on the same ski, you may position it differently than another skier would place it. It takes plenty of trial and error to find the optimum location, but it’s worth the effort. Here are some general guidelines for adjusting your wing position: "Moving the west wing toward the rear (putting the trailing edge of the wing about 0.5 in. From the rear of the fin blade) pushes the ski out in front of you in the turn and makes the ski finish the arc more quickly. This is especially good if your ski tends to finish behind you at the end of the turn. "Moving the wing forward, to about middle of the fin blade makes the ski stay in the turn longer and helps keep it underneath you while finishing the turn. "Moving the wing up the blade, toward the bottom of the ski, lets the ski roll up on edge easier in the pre-turn and may slow the ski slightly more than a lower placement. "Lowering the wing placement provides more stability. The ski feels more locked in and is also harder to roll up on edge during the preturn. "Wing angle is a totally separate issue. If you are using a wing, it has got to have some downward angle. The minimum is about 5 degrees and the maximum about 12 degrees. Common knowledge says the more angle, the better the ski slows down and the more drag the ski encounters while traveling across wakes. I don’t disagree with this, but wing angle plays another important role–it also affects how the ski turns. More wing angle promotes rounded constant-radius turns, while less angle yields a turn that’s slower to start with but very hard to finish. Most skiers like the characteristics of more angle on their off-side turns, and less angle on their on-side turns. "Like a lot of things, with fine tuning your ski you must find the best compromise. Spend a lot of time trying new locations and angles you think might not work. You may be surprised how much difference it will make." [emphasis added] TW

A few decades ago I was at a tournament on a small private lake in western Oregon, and Terry Goodman opted to start his run at the longest line and slowest speed - which, in those days, was a full 75-foot rope at 30 mph. He ran back-to-back passes through 36 mph (4 passes), and then they stopped & shortened the rope. He finished somewhere in -35', and if I remember correctly, won his group. Everyone was duly impressed - except Terry's dad, who was kinda pissed... TW

One tip I would offer that has worked very well for me - make durable plastic signs to zip-tie onto the outside of your ski bag noting your final destination(s). For example, on my last trip south I had three connecting flights, but my bag had a 4" x 16" white plastic sign attached reading: "final dest: FLL" (Fort Lauderdale). A week later, on the return trip I was stopping in Seattle for a while, so that sign read: "final dest: SEA" and later, for the last flight home the sign was: "final dest:ANC". A big unbreakable sign with just your final destination's airport code seems awfully hard to miss, and I've never had my ski bag delayed, lost, or sent to the wrong airport. TW

Deano, I'm unaware of any skiing in Ketchikan, but it's a short hop to Anchorage, and if you're here for 6 weeks you should at least come up for a weekend or two. We've got a slew of public lakes with courses, and my own lake is totally private with two courses (though we're currently in the process of dredging out one of them). TW

If you adjust the depth by rotating the fin from the most forward point (where the fin enters the slot), moving only the back half of the fin, the change in length will be negligible - perhaps even so small as to not change at all. Only if you change depth by raising or lowering the entire fin will the length also change. TW

If you're left foot forward that ski might have one hell of an off-side. TW

As long as a piece of equipment - ANY piece - meets AWSA specs (or is not forbidden by AWSA rules) I don't see why it wouldn't be perfectly fair and legal to use in a tournament. Certainly the MasterLine Pro-Lock gloves give a grip advantage, and no one has a problem with those. The Goode Powervest is available to all skiers on an open market, which means if you believe it's an advantage to use one then you are as welcome to do so as anyone else. If it were denied you (or any other competitor) and only available to Jeff Milford (or whoever) then that might be a different story. Mind you, I've never tried a Goode Powervest, and have no idea if it lives up to its advertised benefits or not, but I don't think you can consider it unfair, since anyone is free to use one. TW

Eric, Just left you a message. I'm pretty sure I have a solution for your problem. Call me on my cell phone at your convenience and I'll walk you through. TW

"I am not banging on CP or Goode by the way. Unless you saw him inperson last weekend you can't believe how good he looks on that ski." I'm afraid I have to disagree. I only saw him on video, and I can believe how good he looked - especially at -41'(!) TW

"This is supposed to be fun and help pay for my skiing and all it does is piss me off." Just remember it's better to be pissed off than pissed on - unless you enjoy that sort of thing... and then it costs extra (Um... I've been told). TW

Bruce55, I've got two words for you: intermediate loop. TW

"At least he did not get sucked in to the Goode world and switch toPowershells. Im sure Dave is dying to get him on them too so he can saythey hold both mens and woman's slalom world records." Yeah, but isn't that understandable? I mean, if you were the manufacturer and someone using your product held (or just set) a world record, wouldn't you want to capitalize on that fact? I know I would, even if all I manufactured was his socks!  TW

If it's a Senate-C it's plenty long enough in my opinion. I skied that ski through -32' at 215+ lbs, but have friends in your buddy's weigh range who ski slower and loved the 67". If it's the regular Senate I can't comment, since I've never tried that one. TW

Kings Lake Alaska, north course, late evening - taken from our front porch.http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/ThomasWayne_2006/June122010.jpg