T-fromTO

@Horton It is on 34th Street between Spruce and Dixie Hwy. There actually is a guest cabin in the back and a big 2 car garage! @Roger My name is Teresa. I may be able to attend the meeting if it is in the evening. @skihart I don't have a boat. I ski at a club up here in Canada and ski with friends at Okeheelee when I'm there. I know most of you guys on here own boats but I have no interest in storing, towing, maintaining a boat. I prefer to just pay my way at a club or give money to ski partners. I know it sounds cheap but keep in mind it needs at least $100,000 in renos but it's got great potential and I'm really excited about the project. I won't be able to spend the whole winter in West Palm because I still have a life in Toronto and I am not ready to retire (I'm 46). But once it is finished I plan to rent it out short term when I am not using it.

Not sure if anyone will find this interesting. But I feel like announcing to the world that I just bought a house in Florida. I live in Toronto and have been plotting ways to spend more time in warmer climates. I was able to convince my husband (a non-skier) that buying in Florida right now is a good real estate investment (which it is). We bought a fixer upper in the historic Old Northwood neighborhood of West Palm Beach. We paid $130,000 and it needs extensive renovations. I'm psyched for this project and for getting to spend more time in Florida. I'm planning to join the Ski Club of the Palm Beaches and get some regular ski partners. http://static.cl1.vanilladev.com/ballofspray.vanillaforums.com/uploads/FileUpload/aa/602524cde44a0c8e38b8fef5232c40.jpg

This place came to my attention from one of the front page articles but no one seems to mention anything about it on here. I'm just wondering what the deal is with this. site/club. I get the idea that maybe it's not a site for serious skiers, that it's more for recreational skiers. Am I right in that assumption? Or maybe there's something not great about the lake or the site itself. Any info would be appreciated. The reason I ask is that I have just bought a vacation home in West Palm Beach (it is closing Jan. 31st). I have people to ski with at Okeheelee but this Palm Beach Water Sports place is closer. Also, sometimes it's nice to just show up at a club and ski without having to make all kinds of phone calls and arrangements with ski partners.

I subscribe. I find it's great on style but weak on substance. There are always tons of amazing pictures but almost no in depth information, just little snippets of text to go with the pictures.

@danbirch Just curious, did you just walk up to the main docks at Okee, introduce yourselves and ask someone for a pull or did you already know people there?

Myself and all the other people in northern climates can't answer that poll accurately. It's 7 days a week in summer for me and 0 days a week in winter.

@danbirch I agree that buying a pull makes more sense BUT the reason I suggested "chip in for gas" in this specific case is because the club prohibits ski rides for hire. The members cannot be caught accepting money for ski rides, as it violates the rules of the club. I'm not sure if you are talking about Okeheelee but if you showed up there asking to "buy a pull" you would be shunned by everyone. I'm not defending these guys, they sound like jerks, but there is no buying and selling at these kinds of sites. Best not to use those terms if you hope to actually ski there.

@Klondike Better to phrase it "willing to chip in for gas" as opposed to "buy a pull". Not that it would have made a difference in this case from the sound of it.

I thought of buoy count, but a lot of people don't know what theirs is and the poll should be as inclusive as possible. (I actually don't know what my buoy count is but I could probably figure it out if I had to.) The "39 and beyond" is good enough I think, there are only a handful of guys on here that are in that category anyway. The poll is just interesting information, not a rating.

A lot of users here assume that the members are all running 38 off. How about a poll asking what your personal practice best is? It would give a better perspective on where the average Joe is at. Newbies and lurkers should be encouraged to put a vote in. It could go something like this: Free skiing only Learning the course at 15off (any speed) Into 15 off (max speed) Into 22 off Into 28 off Into 32 off Into 35 off Into 38 off Into 39 1/2 off and beyond

Scott Chipman-I'm not a real high end skier, but went from averaging 1 or 2 balls at 22 off at 34 to 2 at 28 (P.B. from today, thank you very much!) I did not demo any other skis. Being from Canada it is not so easy to send skis back and forth. I figured that if the Nano was doing good things for so many people that is was worth a try. Jim Brake- It is a fast ski but not fast in an out-of-control-I'm-going-to crash way. More like a "I'm going really fast but I don't even know it and Hey I'm here at the ball already" kind of way.

I bought a Nano Twist based on hype from this site. I am up a full pass in the month and a half since I got it. My coach, (better known as the guy who runs our ski club), says I would not be able to ski the way I am now on my old Monza. I have no problem throwing $$$ around when I "run out of talent".

Laz, Don't say you are a bad skier. You have a lot of natural ability and have progressed very quickly in the amount of time you have been course skiing. To put things in perspective, we were at the same level 2 years ago and I am still slogging away at 22 off. T.

I agree with Ral. Lessons are what we get when we go to ski school once or twice a year or attend a clinic. Coaching is what Whitney gets from Matt Rini when she skis there every day for months on end. As for "training", I guess we can all call our skiing "training" if we want to. But that term is probably a little intense for what the majority of us do.

Just got my favorite email of the year from the owner of my ski club in actual southern Canada saying the ice came off this week. The courses are going in this weekend and the club will be open for the 14th when the new club boat is ready.

I think they're cool but a little too out there, with the hints of bondage, for the average consumer. I don't think the ads will help sell many skis to Americans.

Scott, why do you strongly recommend the mid ride over the regular?

It seems like there are 2 types of ski clubs being discussed here. One type where there is a club boat and another type where the members bring their own boat. I don't think these two types can be lumped together and run the same way. The club boat variety can sustain 30 members because there are not boat loads of families showing up. Members typically come alone for a set or two before work, at lunch or after work. As for the time slot thing, I don't see how on earth that could work. People would be late, no shows, wanting to switch etc. You'd spend more time trying to figure out the time slots than skiing! And what about the weather? Say you book a time slot and a lightening storm comes up just then, you don't get to ski that day. Weather conditions are hugely important in this sport and I don't see how one could work time slots around that.

I am a member of a club with about 30 members and I rarely have to to wait for more than 3 skiers for my turn. Most often I just show up and go with no wait at all. I think you will be fine with the 20 members. kfennel is right about the members who pay then hardly ski. One thing that bugs me when the club is busy is the time wasted between skiers. A guy might ski only 7 minutes, get back to the dock, but it takes 15 minutes until the next skier is out on the water. Why is that? This is totally avoidable, just need someone on the dock to "enforce". Â

I hate winter like everybody else but at least I can get some work done. I work 60 hours a week in winter and go down to about 35 hours a week in summer. If I could ski year round I'd probably be broke.

This is the most entertaining non-skiing thread I've ever read. Keep up the good work! By the way, why do "chicks" have to be either beautiful or ugly? How about dating a 7 or 8 as opposed to a 10?