jimbrake

Had my right (rear) knee done Feb 7, 2018 - Dr. Stephen Howell, Sacramento, CA. I was 59 at the time. Surfed at 6 weeks (which is not a big deal - no connection to board, not in big surf) and was back in the slalom course by the third week of April. Best thing ever. My doc was specifically very anti-therapy for the first 4 weeks. He had me walking, flexing, extending, icing and elevated the rest of the time. At 4 weeks I started riding a stationary bike, mainly for flexion, and body weight squats, light weights, calf work, etc. Improvement was very fast after the 4-week mark. I've been through so much therapy from so many knee injuries, I kind of have the program down. I went to a therapist sometime between weeks 4 and 6 and showed them what I was already doing and they said "OK, come back if you want, but you got it." I had the replacement done more for snow skiing than water. Started back on snow in November 2018 and last season was my best in a long time. I'm 61 now and can never stop rehabing.

@Such_a_brett - where is the jump going?

@thager - guy in the pic is too small to have been Art. Art was a BIG dude.

"Departcher from Traditional" is the name of my new thrash metal/bluegrass fusion band.

@lpskier - I prefer your turning a noun into a verb over turning a verb into a noun and then having to add an unnecessary verb to make the sentence work. All day I read things like "performed an excavation" and then I edit to "excavated". This is so awesome - our first writing thread. Great. Now I've turned BOS into the same thing as my work. F'ing fantastic.

@Luzz - agree. That is what my two sons have done - to the detriment of their skiing unfortunately, but at great benefit to their education. My oldest is at UC Santa Barbara where, when he arrived, the water ski team was on a forced "hiatus" because of a previous incident (which I know zero about). My son arrived hoping to rekindle the team with some help, but that's a tall order - no boat, no site, no help, and an engineering curriculum to deal with. Didn't happen, but UCSB is a great school and he's coming out with a BS in ME and already has employment lined up. My youngest chose CalPoly San Luis Obispo, which does have a ski team and some support, but the ski site is an hour+ away and there is no jump. They have a great time though and have been able to go to Collegiate Nats in Div 2. CalPoly SLO is an awesome school, too, and he will come out with a civil engineering BS and plenty of options. Another ski friend's son just got into UC Berkeley, which has no team, but there is a nearby site (Aquatic Park). "Cal" is world-renowned and he will end up with a valuable experience and degree, but getting a team going there would also be very difficult when you're bombed with school work and have little suppport. It's for sure a bummer to not have the college ski experience or not have it to the level that the top schools have it, but the opportunity to get a great education is top priority.

@Horton - dass what I was talkin' about.

@Horton - what about the trick lake? Is that next?

@Stevie Boy - you are correct, sir. I loved the Stiletto, but broke two out of three of them. Ski historians correct me if I'm wrong, but I have always heard that the KD 7000 was splashed from the Stiletto and it was the first ski to have the very slight hour glass outline in the tail.

Oh dang. That's going to take a lot of JB Weld, clamping, sanding/shaping and then I wouldn't trust it. I think I'd find out what Radar says.

That was the first ski I had with an adjustable fin. Of course I assumed it was fine where it was when I bought it at the 1990 Nats at Bell Acqua. It was not. Tail completely hopped out of the water on my first 28 at one ball. I looked at the fin and thought "yeah, I guess that's pretty shallow". It looked like it had a fin depth of about 2.00. I just deepened it to what looked OK (probably 2.50). It was fine after that. No idea on length or DFT. First ski I ran 35 on. I bought Schnitz's adjustable fin block and instructions after that.

@bsmith - sorry. I was kidding. That's what I do. Yes, I have a problem.

Always carry the load in your toeside arm going into your offside and heelside going into your onside.

I'm selling one on SIA. I liked it, but have been switching back and forth with "other" fins and decided to let the WF go. Good deal.

Collegiate Western Regionals this weekend at Tate Lake, WA - it really will be about 42 degrees. And raining. And blowing. Poor kids.

@Chef23 - I've been watching Ryan since he was a little kid. He developed that tall, forward stance coming into the ball very early on in his skiing and it was clear that it was a great part of his skiing. I was talking with him about it once and he told me that Jason Seels had been telling him to get as tall as he could all the time, but especially coming into the ball. Sound familiar?

Looks like she's just trying to keep load on the line thru the edge change and stay level into and thru the turn. As a LFF, the turn at zero and how I get over and stay over my feet to establish that first acceleration is most of the ballgame. Love the pics @Horton. Thanks for posting.

Go drive over to Fiesta Island, stop on the beach nearest their dock in the cove, and yell out to anyone there if you can get a ride like I did in 1985 when I arrived to go to school at SDSU.

Dang! Those are good. Wonder what ramp height and speed. 140 feet is good for a kid that age regardless.

The bummer/good thing about World Cup ski racing is that they will cancel a speed event if the conditions are not deemed safe and try to reschedule or cancel altogether. Bummer that some of the best races at the best venues get a) shortened to a lower start b) rescheduled to another hill later or c) cancelled and don't happen that year. It's good for the competitors though. Water skiing has none of those options.

Nice @Than_Bogan. Your hips are starting to rotate up. You are really improving.

And this is where they buy all their tooling:

I think we should discuss use of the word "comersitive". Is it a real word?, you ask. It is now.

My understanding is that they are still running a stay and ski op there. Couple of the Vaio boys were coaching there this summer.

Maybe if her shoulders were more level. I'M KIDDING! JUST KIDDING!