Rpc29

@MattP would probably be a good ski tester. Not many are more dedicated to the sport and he could give the 36 mph perspective on skis.

I spend the 4th of July at Black Butte and I'm going back for Labor Day. Really nice lake with great people.

@TEL USA Waterski only webcasts ShowSki events. I wish this post was satire.

Are there any permanent courses set up near Spokane?

I put version 9 in my 1995 Prostar 190, my experience is that it's more forgiving to inexperienced drivers who over throttle or pulling slow speed skiers around turn islands. (Turn islands used to be the nemesis before the upgrade) As far as times it's been spot on for me, no surging or bad times anywhere. Great upgrade and well worth the couple bucks they are asking for.

You should be able to reach out to Tevin Gilbert or Terry Winter. I think both offer coaching by the set and I've had great experiences with both!

I have this boat with a 5.7 LT-1 and it's crazy fast. Can't imagine that hull with a 6.0, would be super fun for the driver!

Call Waterskis.com one of the guys there said he had an extra set about a month ago.

Edit

Maybe I'm mistaken but I think the point of the whole states vs. regionals requirements for nationals can be summed up in a couple of bullets: 1. By removing the regionals requirements and switching it to a states requirement, there should be a larger number of skiers who can logistically attend states. This is due to decreased travel (for not all states but most, again the goal here is incremental improvement) and usually states is run over a weekend (no PTO required). 2. With a theoretical larger number of people now potentially being qualified, potentially having more PTO, and also potentially having slightly larger amounts of dollars in their bank accounts, a cross country trip to nationals may be more realistic and appealing for them. 3. There is no perfect answer, but given the trends in attendance its 100% worth having conversations.

@LLUSA I have skied regionals before. (Jack Travers in Florida) And I've skied at your site a few times in college. Phenomenal place with well run tournaments and unreal conditions. My thought is that with declining attendance we focus on a single event "nationals" and build it into the powerhouse it once was where enough people are wanting to ski and attend that it requires having the additional qualifier of regionals. It's not a perfect idea but the general premise is to focus our limited resources as a sport into one area with the goal of eventually expanding back out again into regional qualifiers.

Regionals needs to die, why as an organization are we trying to hold several mediocre events (which is what we currently do) when we should be focusing on holding one great one.

I appreciate all of the help everyone!

@MattP and I have talked about a BYOBinding tournament where everyone skis on a wooden ski. (sorry if you use tape) Organizer rounds up a few wooden skis in different sizes and everyone swaps out bindings. Some logistics would be involved to avoid huge delays in binding switches but could be fun.

I tried SkiDIM, I will give Rambo a call.

Does anyone have any sources for some of the hard to find hoses for the LT-1 motors from the early 90's? I checked over on teamtalk and there are a few threads but the only source I found was $110 per hose. I'm looking for hose #5 in this diagram.

@skier2788 it's not about using a single lake to drive membership. It's more about the idea as a whole. Should our governing organization be proactive in helping our clubs drive membership in some meaningful capacity if a new club is formed? I mean what would the downside be?

Hypothetically, would something like a new club opening up like this be a great opportunity for AWSA/USAWaterski to do an email marketing/ call campaign to former members to try to drive membership for this club? Sounds like low hanging fruit to add membership.

@DW I didn't ask. But I'd assume they have something

Just talked to PP, upgrade is $150 for one and $250 if you have 2 boats that need it.

Any details on the upgrade?

My hope is always that more skiers = more places that get turned into ski sites.

My hope is always that more skiers = more places that get turned into ski sites.

@RazorRoss3 my bad, I put cheap and forgot accessible. But you are right. It's part of the issue.

@MattP the sport I always talk about that has the explosive growth model figured out is Crossfit. For a couple of reasons: 1. It's cheap ish. $150 a month, we can't compete there but if you think about it, when I was skiing at @OB1 's lake in Atlanta for $1800 for a 8 month season that isn't that far off. 2. Family aspect. People at Crossfit gyms are like family and it's very inviting. Waterskiing is very hit or miss with this, certain lakes welcome guests with open arms while other are very protective of their site. This needs to change. People don't skip their Crossfit workouts/competitions because it's hanging out with their friends and competitions together. NCWSA has this figured out, AWSA does not. 3. Video production. Everyone needs to go take a look at the Crossfit YouTube page. Tutorials, athlete profiles/stories, competition recaps (we can't even get scores posted most of the time) We have some really awesome and interesting people in this sport, it's time to get them on camera and using them to drive more membership.