Steven

There was a place we skied in Kalispell Mt. called "The Slough" , by the end of the season we had to harvest lily pads around the turn balls and in the course. It got real bad! The only places without lily pads was in the skier and boat path. In those areas the roots (???) were just under the surface. So when you fell, you were immersed in lily pad. It was a great place to ski though!

That's a good idea! has he ever had anyone hook a buoy and end up bending one of the aluminum tubes? It's hard to believe that anyone could break sch 80 6" dia PVC, but they do it once a year! Maybe you're wakeboarders aren't as hard core as ours.ÂÂ

We have a floating course at our site. We use the same bungee method as TW has illustrated above (works great!). Our site has a lot of wakeboard traffic passing thru and also boarding there when there aren't any skiers to claim the site. To eliminate pvc breakage on the arms, they put 6" sch 80 pipe sections (kind of expensive, but durable and no flex), although they get broken periodically. On one private site i've skied, they use 2" pvc that has been placed vertically into a concrete block, then surveyed into place prior to filling the lake. Then they made up some 10-12"x 1.5" brass weights that slide up and down in the pvc tubes. So if a rope hooks a buoy, the brass weight comes out of the pvc pipe. Then all you have to do is find the location of the pipe and drop the weight back into the pipe and you're back in business! At another private site, we made up concrete anchors using stainless eyebolts, surveyed prior to filling the lake, then used a section of 1/8" stainless wire rope, added a 2" chunk of the hard foam cylinder boat guides as a sub buoy (placed below prop level), then attached a drop line with a brass hook and a sliding tent rope adjuster so the buoy level can easily be adjusted according to water level. This system worked real well also!

Is there any chance of putting in a settling pond prior to entering the lake?

I don't know if you have any muskrats around, but muskrats like cat tails. If you get a muskrat burrowing in to your berm in the area where the cat tails are, all of the sudden you have a huge leak on your hands and a lot of repair work! Then you have to get rid of the muskrats. Your best bet would be to get a mini excavator and run down the shorelines and break out the walls of grass/growth and then follow up periodically with grass killer so clay doesn't get the stability of the roots from the grass. As long as there are no roots you will have the erosion effect and a nice shoreline. Then if needed you can add rock/10" minus (preferably river rock, kind to your tootsies) as this will stay in place and interlock nicely! The reason that I specify a mini excavator is that they are cheap to rent and light! An excavator allows you to point the tracks parallel with the shoreline there for minimizing impact on your berms(no back and forth turning motions). Also, it allows you to stay away from the edge of the lake so you won't get stuck and create a bigger mess! If you rent one, get the largest mini with the largest bucket and maybe one with a thumb. The thumb will allow you to pick up an I beam. This will give you the widest effective pushing area and do a cleaner job. Doesn't the owner of Iron Hood own one?

GLOVES!!!

The thing that blows me away about the whole tip rise thing is that Chris got thru the -41 sooner in the first video than the second. I realize that there are alot of factors to consider when comparing one set to another, but it (almost) seems that the extra speed that he got from the earlier fin set up could have assisted him in completion of the pass.(Just guessing here) I could have "never" completed my hardest pass with that amount of tip rise (1st vid) I guess that's what seperates the men from the boys! bmiller3536, you're right with you're comment about ski evaluation and Chris Rossi, we need to get one under our feet so we can make a fair assessment of the product. But, Radar skis (in my opinion) seem to be "very" user friendly! I think all a person can do is listen to the comments of the people that have tried them. So far it seems that the consensus has been that this could be one to try! Watching video of Richard Doane, it looks like the tip stays down well for him!

In Chris' first vid, I was amazed that he skied as deep as he did with so much tip rise! I was watching it on you tube and the video stalled in the turn on one of his off side turns. There was so much tip out of the water that I couldn't believe that he could get it down and off in the right direction to continue the pass. From that perspective, it looked as if he was losing a bunch of ground every time that the tip rose. That's a true testiment to his keen sense of awareness on the ski. He's an amazing athlete!  Bruce55, I don't know if you've been to the Pro Ski Coach, but as Shane was saying, he does comment on fin set up. You might go and read those threads about the ski. /vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-cool.gif

Is this written in stone? Or is this still a pipe dream....... If so, Stargazer here I come!!!

never tried it, but you sure would get the quick response!

For the record though, I DO like quiche!

YOU'RE RIGHT! You shouldn't have to listen to stoopid stinky co-workers on your b-day! Well......maybe there's one that you might want to listen too! ;)

Pilates.....strengthens your core and increases flexibility without getting all Hulked out. Another benefit to it is that you don't need a bunch of equipment and don't need to have a gym membership. It also promotes weight loss. I dropped major poundage when I initially started the program! It's down and dirty and doesn't require a huge time commitment.

Wow that's quite a jump in size! The 66 Strada must have alot more surface area. I saw the passes that posted. You're looking real smooth on it. I like how you're turning all the way back to the wake and not getting rushed and getting back on the handle too soon. Is that your norm or has the Strada given you a little more confidence to relax?

Richard,  Are the 39's a new thing for you since you've gotten on the Strada? MS, You're right! Radar & Britney Rock! But have you had a chance to try the Strada?

Funny!!!

I wish I could love on Britney! Federline may be a Douche Bag, but I don't think he has to worry about working anymore!

Sweet Bike! Are you a Bike builder or was it built for you?

We have problems with frigerators, branches, beer bottles, old tires still on the rims, dead bodies (just kidding about the bodies, they usually get them out right away) after the rain storm. It's truly a slice of paradise! (as long as it doesn't rain)

Thats too funny! I guess? When you're a "Super Star"

His onsides were almost too much!

if you're going to own a helicopter, that's the one to own! That little thing has the load capacity of an air crane! bad a$$!!!

1600 HP? THAT SOUNDS LIKE FUN!!!

If you get an industrial strength version, it works very well! I've been on FM Quatro's since '05 and that is what holds down the heel of the front foot and toe of the back foot down, along with pre load from the barrel pin unit from behind. You'd be amazed at the holding power of a 4" wide piece of velcro! It's very hard to get the boot to seperate from the ski by hand. I've used a 3M product number SJ 3577 or SJ 3576 and have had no pre-releases and it's very durable! Or you could just order a chunk from FM.

Mtn. Biking and and shredding Mammoths slopes!