AdamCord

@jipster43 Caldwell tried to get in last minute but they were already filled up. He's skiing the best of his life so I'm peer pressuring him into going to some other events. 😁

Wow Horton you look great on that ski! Also I think the bald look is a bold one

I agree with @BlueSki

3 hours ago, Horton said:

What would I give to just see one in person?

@Horton I’m not convinced they exist

I used this yesterday and it worked great! Totally worth the $10. Everyone with an iphone should download it.

There are a bunch of examples here
 

https://youtube.com/@BallOfSpray?si=m-MfYf_yWUfLajRe

Austin Abel with his best score in a decade on the C95 🤫

@swbca I haven't read this whole thread so I apologize if this has been covered - 

There is more material than you think before you hit the core, certainly enough to change the ski and make it act completely different. And if you're like me and you sand into the core sometimes, just soak it with epoxy and keep going.  Ignore anyone who tells you not to modify your ski. Take it from someone who has been modifying skis for a long time...everyone thinks you're crazy when you do it, that's just part of the deal. 

I'll give one warning: almost every ski I've ever modified the bevels on has ended up trash. This is because if I make a change and it's better, I'll inevitably keep sanding to try and make it better-er...until I go to far and it starts to really suck. That's just part of the process though, enjoy!

Pretty sure Joel hit 1 ball. His dismount was very impressive

@HortonI know you've always wanted this, go ahead and send your resume here:

https://www.teamworkonline.com/olympic-jobs/usngbjobs/usa-water-ski/executive-director-2053845

That ski is sliding sideways, as is evident by the spray. It's entirely possible to hit it and have your front foot still go outside of it... as @jjackkrashsaid you need to see the next frame to determine if it's a buoy or not.

Along with the announcers the webcast in general was really good. TWBC has really raised the bar and it’s good to see that other non-TWBC webcasts putting together high quality webcasts. My hat’s off to Kevin Kelm and the webcast team in Cali.

@Jaypro We have small teams of ski testers at both Trophy Lakes and Hilltop Lake that we have been abusing over the past few months. Skill sets range from 32mph 22off to 34mph 39off. We've asked those guys to stay tight lipped about what they are experiencing. Skis start shipping to customers in 2 weeks....

I’d pay for that.

Caldwell making 39@36 look like an opener...

@MattP

from memory so may not be correct, best scores today:

OM

Asher 3@41

Caldwell 1.5@41

Bartalsky 3@39

OW

Bull 1@41

Mills 3@39

MM

Me 3.5@41

Miller 1.5@41

Two more rounds tomorrow 

Ok so what were the results? The internet does not appear to know this event took place...

Thank you guys...the endeavor over the last year to create this ski has been much more ambitious and fraught with potential risk/failure than anything we've done in the past. One of these days we'll have to tell the story on a podcast or something. Let's just say that those memes that show the path to success as a winding road instead of a straight line are spot on! 

This ski is different....it's too early to say whether it's going to be industry changing or not, but so far the success it's causing is hard to ignore. FYI I'm not skiing any more than normal, and am still working full time and raising my kids up here in Seattle. We don't plan to go into detail about exactly what this ski is. I will say that it is WIDE. Other than that we are keeping it under wraps because it took a ton of work to fine tune all the other aspects of the ski. 

@Taperflex We are going to start producing them in small quantities next month. @adamhcaldwell hand builds each one at our shop in Charleston, so quantities will be limited to start. The plan is to keep building skis over the winter so that in the spring we have an inventory built up before summer. Then we should be able to start to keep up with demand.

@DW no crashes but @adamhcaldwell did show me up by running it back to back 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cu5v-E9uBXl/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

2nd set on a PRODUCTION c95....41@34...😃

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cu3CxkjJ-Qd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

It won't be run without a step change improvement in skis. The tech we have developed thus far isn't getting us there, but that doesn't mean a ski that can get someone through 43 can't be made...

Hi @RobHazelwood no worries, I always appreciate a good slalom technique discussion...

I'm not sure if this is just a difference in perception/feel or poor communication on my part, but when I watch you ski I see you doing exactly what I described. You get into your glide and I don't see you moving into the turn until your speed has dropped below the speed of the boat.

I learned how to ski (well) later in life, so I have had to really think through the mechanics of how a skier swings in relation to the boat. I was lucky enough to spend a number of those years skiing with and learning from Mapple. One thing he always reiterated to me was that he didn't need a ton of width on his gate, he just needed a tight line. For the past 10 years or so I've been experimenting with gates along with Caldwell (me a righty, him a lefty), and while there are differences, one thing is for certain...if you're too free from the boat when you turn in, you're going to take a path through the wakes that separates you from the handle too soon at best, or the worst is you'll turn without a tight line, fall to the tail, and be completely out of position cutting to the wakes.

I would agree that you CAN turn in right as your speed matches the boat, but timing that at every site, with every boat, with every wind condition is really tricky. You need a margin for error. The safer bet is to give yourself a window where you're moving slower than the boat, but haven't dropped back all the way to the whitewash to use as a turn in point. 

I would also say that getting a ton of ski angle before you load the rope is the wrong approach. We want to load the rope by moving toward the wakes with the upper body, then let the ski build angle as it accelerates your mass to center. Again to my eyes this is what I see you doing, but it could be the difference of perception we both have.

Lefty Caldwell for reference:

With @adamhcaldwell's help I've been dialing in my gate a lot this spring. To his point above, the boat HAS to be moving away from you before you even think about turning in. What I've found is that so long as I wait for this to happen, I actually have a very large margin of error for when I can turn in as long as I get my body moving ahead of my feet. If you sit back and jam your feet/ski between your body and the boat then you're screwed from the start. But if you wait until the boat is leaving you, and therefore the line is getting tighter, and you can move your body before your feet, then you have a wide margin of error to make sure you land just inside the right hand gate ball. 

As far as pullout timing, it's going to depend on your ski setup, pullout body position and intensity, wind, etc. The trick is pulling out early enough that you are consistently slower than the boat when it's time to turn in.

Step 1 in any coaching I do is tell people to STAND UP. It’s amazing how many other problems go away when you do just this.

I was talking to Caldwell and he actually had what I thought was a really elegant solution to this. Anyone who falls into that excluded category, in this case a 35+ skier who has skied a pro event in the last couple years, can ski but are at a 1 pass disadvantage.

That way in the head to head if the normal starting line length is 32off, then the person who falls into the excluded category has to start at 35off. Then the skiers compete head to head like normal, straight up the line. If the normal MM skier runs 3@39, then the "pro" has to run 3.25@41 or better to win the round, and so on.

That way it's handicapped without it getting complicated, anyone still has a chance to win the event, AND the spectators at nationals will get the chance to see some really good skiing (CP skiing at 34mph, anyone??).