jimbrake

@tru-jack - Marcel Hirscher would've been the GOAT if he would've kept skiing. He would've caught and passed Stenmark. Mikaela probably will as well.

@The_MS - agree. And the longer-distance your vision is (down-course, across-course, out in front of the boat, whatever), the easier it is to balance and react vs. short-distance vision (looking at the buoy for too long and as you get too close). I used to explain this to my students when I was teaching skiing by saying if I throw a snow ball at you from 10 feet away, you'll have difficulty seeing, processing, reacting, but if I throw one at you from 100 feet, you'll have no problem seeing, processing, and dodging it. Look down the hill, look two gates ahead (ski racing), see the buoy but look well beyond to a bigger picture.

@twhisper - vision is critical for me. I also don't understand how anyone tilts their head over along the same axis as their lean, but I know some great skiers do it and it works for them, especially on their offside. Me, not so much. I have to have my head vertical and my vision down course at apex until the ski is back under the line.

@JBB - that kid is arcing! He is also very well-kitted out. @jpattigr - damn. Thanks for making me feel s----y about my skiing.

@lhoover - yeah, no

@ToddF - I know bro. That's why I posted a pic of him (and not Bubka although Bubka's form will never be outdated).

@adkh2oskier - that is an awesome pic of Ted. He was absolutely the man for several years. Wish he could get it back. @Jetsetr - ??? well, yeah, most definitely being a firefighter is a hell of a hard job. I guess being most any first-responder or military personnel in harms way is putting way more on the line than any form of athletics. I only posted the pics of athletes for consideration within the realm of athletics. I wouldn't hold an athlete in higher esteem than I would you for what you do.

I'll see your Anna Fenninger (Veith now) and raise you a Mikaela Shiffrin.

Yeah. He made it.

@"Keith Menard" and @APB - you guys just made "the list".

@ski6jones - agree. I don't want to be the average guy standing in the start house at the top of the Hahnenkamm downhill, though. I wouldn't survive the first turn.

For @Than_Bogan

Or this guy

I just came across this awesome shot of french alpine slalom star Clement Noel from the Madonna di Campiglio slalom night before last. His form is just so perfect in this shot. I love shots of any elite, world class athlete doing their thing. I just had to share. Thought I'd start an off topic thread.

You're not bending your knees enough. Jk - nice skiing for this time of year and the ski looks great.

@Drago - Yep, canting is good, right? I wish I didn't have to worry about things like canting and water flow over the binding, but unfortunately for some reason, I'm overly sensitive to the stance my binding puts me in over the ski and how it moves through the water when the ski is on edge. I've tried hardshells a few times and they have been just so far from being a good setup for me because of the lack of canting, water catching buckles, etc, that I keep going back to rubber. Heck, I have to cant my rubber D3 Leverage front binding to make it work. I'm thinking about trying this Reflex to see if I can adjust it into a workable stance.

2018/19 update....Squaw.

@bishop8950 - one of the best attributes of the old Sacramento Water Ski Club site on Lake Winchester is the huge length of open water beyond the slalom course. Lucky Lowe and Jennifer Leachman (pre-LaPoint) did a week-long clinic there in 1993. Lucky had us spend a huge amount of that time free skiing to develop.....wait for it......swing and rhythm and connection. Yeah, 1993. The slalom course at Winchester is one of the tougher places to ski because of persistent cross winds, but that looonnng stretch of open water is perfect for close-proximity free-skiing. And trick.

@lpskier - you forgot to include me in your list of knowledgeable skiers. That really hurt. JK - I agree with what Bruce wrote - you're are probably just comfortable with those familiar settings. Good starting point, but there's probably also value in moving from there to get the ski to do something better at your toughest pass.

@Wish - I haven't read the thread, so fill me in. We're supposed to post videos of our backsides? OK. I'll pick the best one and....

Besides skiing (water and snow) am in the pool or open water year 'round. On the bike some (but way less than I'd like), squats and dead lifts and some other miscellaneous body weight stuff at home, and way more stretching now than I ever have prior to this year. I can't fit it all in the way I'd like, though, with this ding dang job. Retiring end of 2020 and then ramping everything up.

This is such an apples to oranges question. If you consider the actual physical activity only, the two sports/activities are so different. Downhill skiing has so much more variation because of the freedom to pick your mountain, conditions, slope, line (unless racing and even then some), and your playing field (resort groomers, resort off piste, sidecountry, backcountry, snow cat, heli, racing, bumps, free ride, park). You can vary your speed, turn shape, intensity, duration without stopping. It's so much work on my quads and low back. Water skiing is an event sport - weather conditions vary, lake shape and water vary, but the course is the course whether slalom or jump and trick is defined by points and time. Slalom is so much work on my shoulders and back. I've been asked this question for 50 years because I've been doing both for longer than that. I can never answer very well because I love them both. I love the difference in seasons and weather. I love cold, stormy, blowing, powder or wind-buff days on snow and I love sunny, hot, windless days on the water. I also love hot, slushy-bumps spring days, rock hard, hasn't-snowed-in-3-weeks days, and everything in between on snow. I love Squaw Valley like it's home. I also love the challenge of windy, head-tail days at the lake and our crew of members at Bell Acqua. If I had a gun to my head, I don't know, I might get shot.