Chris Rossi

Way to go Ed! That’s a huge accomplishment

The senate skis with the attack angle of a Vapor but with slightly more buoyancy (due to increased surface area). This gives it more stability and forgiveness especially for those who typically fall in between sizes of Vapor at 34mph and will also be a fantastic choice for those who have max speeds less than 34 mph. This ski can run crazy good 39s@34mph (ask @skidawg) and can also be that ski that takes a guy thru his first 28 or 32off.

Congrats!

@bigskieridaho thanks for choosing Radar! Keep up the great skiing!

Hey guys, just wanted to chime in on the new ski. Color options are electric blue and volt yellow. The 19 vapor keeps the same shape and rocker profile of the 2018 that proved to be so successful in its ability to create and maintain speed into and out of turns, keeps its buttery, intuitive edge to edge transfers and over all flowy feel, and it’s rock solid tip to tail balance. New for 2019 is textreme infused with inegra carbon construction. This combination gives the ski a more balanced, connected feel through the turn which results in a more intuitive feeling ski that finishes tighter radius turns that keep the skier riding a more upcourse line. Could not be more stoked about the results of this ski. For the downlow on the ski, come visit @brooks, my self, and our other pro skiers at the Radar booth at Nationals or stay tuned to @radarskis social networks for more info in the coming weeks.

@Texas6 this is a great question. I would say he is ready for a 66. At his height/weight, the 66 will give him a better platform to learn on. The jump to a 67 at his speed/line length will likely be too severe. The larger a ski gets relative to the skiers height/weight, the more difficult the ski will be to turn at his hardest passes. It can't hurt to try the 67 but wait until after regionals/nationals if those are in your plans.

Thanks for all the great reviews guys and glad you are liking the 18 Pro Build! Its posts like this that help make the countless hours of R&D worth while! Thanks for choosing Radar! @Mikesgood PM me if you are still having trouble.

Sounds like somethings off. Report back with your settings and post some video if possible. Im sure we can get you dialed in. Congrats on losing those 25lbs! Thats a big accomplishment!

The versatility in set up on this ski is something that really stands out to me. I have run my boots as far forward as 30 3/8 and as far back as 29 3/4 with great results everywhere. I recommend trying different boot locations first to find your preferred location and then dialing in the fin to accommodate boot location.

Done. Happy to help fight cancer. Lost my father to prostate cancer way too young.

@Stevie Boy If you are only able to do it in a strong headwind, chances are that you're staying on your "pulling edge" too far past center in general. The moment the handle passes center line (right behind the boat), it changes direction and starts swinging in toward the next buoy. If we get on the "turning edge" of the ski at that point and hold on (like the pictures @adamhcaldwell posted above), we can ride a tight rope out to the buoy line where we don't give up the energy we created from turn to center line. When skiers complain about their form behind the boat and getting separated from the handle through the edge change, this is the byproduct of staying on the pulling edge past the center line. The skier and handle paths are going in different directions after center line, thus a drastic increase in rope load felt by the skier. The result of this is getting yanked to the inside of the handle path which causes a loss of rope tension. Once tension is lost, the skier has no choice but to glide on the path they are given and hope to make a good enough turn to find the tight rope at the finish of the turn. You can still make a good turn from this path, but it requires a hard skid at the finish of the turn to bend the arc of the ski to match the ideal line. This hard skid gives up speed right where we want to be accelerating, not to mention it takes a lot of skill from the skier to accomplish this without falling!

Sorry if I get too technical here but..... Start wide on the gate glide with a rope that is not slack Turn so that I end up in a strong leveraging position (from as wide as possible) Lean with the goal that my most leveraged lean comes at the first wake Change edge right behind the boat Hold on to the energy I created out to the buoy line (Ride the line) Reach Repeat I think of being on a swing set. The better I can connect the dots, the tighter the rope stays, the higher on the swing I can go with that tight rope. This provides the most potential to generate speed from wide which is the name of the game (IMO). * While skiing, I've found I can only think of a few one word concepts. For example: 1) "Wide"- This is basically a constant and reminds me to start wide on every pass 2) "1st Wake" - This reminds me where my max leverage comes 3) "Hold On" - Don't want to give up all the energy I just created * Then to make things more interesting, on the majority of my best completed passes, all I remember thinking was "wide". Its like a dream you wake up after but can't remember the details but you know you were dreaming.

"Pulling harder will make me earlier to the next buoy". This mentality starts from the very first time skiers try the course (cause its wicked hard) and continues all the way to the pros. My mental vision of this concept is that the skier believes that if they pull/lean/leverage against the boat like superman/superwoman, they can somehow pull the boat backwards, creating more time/space coming into the next buoy. While this may have been true prior to speed control driven boats, now all that comes of this are extremely high loads on the body entering the wakes with subsequent loss of position (hips back, body forward, crush), and loss of direction off the second wake. This sends the skier inside of the optimal line out to the buoy which makes the skier feel fast and lacking space to make a good turn. This poor turn entry then leads to a hard turn attempt and the feeling that this process needs to be repeated in order to catch up on the following buoy.

Thanks for the kind words @Horton and others. I always love this time of year. I love time away from waterskiing as it clears my head and allows my body to recover. Now the brain is firing and all we need here in Utah are some warm days to melt the ice! Bring on the 2018 season!

@SkiJay I love your book and appreciate the common terminology that you have given our community. Im fine with smear being the go to term for simplicity standpoint. When I write things, they are straight out of my head and how I think of things.

It's discussions like this that really help us all work through foreign concepts and to iron out the kinks. A pure carved turn would be described as the tip of the ski and tail of the ski slicing through the same piece of water throughout the turn (nice work @Drago). This is the most efficient turn and one that leads to taking maximum speed into and out of turns. The reality though is that we are quite often not on the ideal line and require adjustments to our line to successfully complete the course. I will go out on a limb and bet that Ted Ligeti (snow ski racer) can carve almost perfect turns down a groomed run without gates but once you place the constraints of the race course on that same groomed run, his pure carved turns would leave him running outside of the course. The same thing happens in waterskiing. When we are skiing on or near the ideal line, the carved turn is amazing and is the goal. Lets look at ways to survive when not on the ideal line... A smeared turn is one in which the tail of the ski is sliding or rotating outward faster than the rotation of the tip of the ski. To me, optimal placement of Smear comes as the skier approaches the buoy line and still has two hands on the handle. In my world, this is the only place the term Smear applies to my skiing. My ultimate goal is to have the ski set for cross course projection as close to the apex of the turn as possible so that I can maximize my acceleration potential. If I can connect to the boat as close to apex as possible (outside hand back on the handle and tight rope to the boat), I can elongate my acceleration zone by accelerating from a wider point on the boat (Think connecting to the a swing from higher up near 90 degrees). Acceleration ends at the centerline behind the boat, so the only way to gain potential is from the start of the zone. A skid turn is one in which little to no rotation of the ski has happened in the preturn (ski tip is still pointing outward) so that at the apex of the turn, the skier must forcefully drive the tail of the ski through the turn to create an acceptable attack angle to the next buoy. This action drives the tail deep into the water, relieving the tip (removing ski surface area in contact with the water), so that the tail of the ski will slide through to the appropriate attack angle. The problem with this technique is that the skier is taking an extreme amount of speed into the apex of the turn and then using skidding to slow down and rotate the ski at the most vulnerable moment in the course. Where do the majority of slalom crashes occur? At the finish of the turn before the skier is connected to the boat. While we all utilize skid as a survival technique, this is not ideal. While writing this, two main differences of Smear and Skid stood out to me. The two main differences are 1) where they happen and 2) that Smear is done with two hands on the handle while Skid is done with only one hand. So one move (Smear) is accomplished in a safe zone of the preturn where falls rarely occur and is accomplished while both hands are connected to the handle and thus the boat. The other move (Skid) is attempted while the skier is fully extended and exposed to falling in the most common crash zone while only connected to the boat by one hand. These are just some morning thoughts while having coffee.

Couldn't be more thrilled to have Corey flying the Radar flag. He is a great ambassador of our sport and a ripping skier!

Wow @skidawg way to set the tournament bar on the new ski! Keep it rolling!

Thanks @eddie_roberts_jr for the kind words. The entire team at Radar is top notch and gives me the tools and resources to be able to do what I do. I could not be more excited for the release of this entirely new designed Vapor to you Ballers and the rest of the skiing world. This new Vapor blends the angle and edge hold Radar is known for with a new found effortless turn style that lets the ski ride level through the turn and finishes into a ton of angle. Very little load is transmitted to the body and the ski is super efficient running through the water. I've never had to think less while skiing which, I think we can all agree, is the name of the game. More info and pics dropping soon through RadarSkis social Media. Check out my instagram feed for more videos @rossiski

@Beastmode with the new design of the 2017 Vice glove, my gloves are lasting considerably longer. We changed the cut of the top of the glove and changed the material there which functions better than the older glove. The fit is so good, we were able to eliminate the over the top of the hand velcro strap without losing the holding power of the glove. We made countless versions of the glove to improve hand entry and redesigned the wrist strap to be even more functional. I have been using the 2017 vice glove for over a year (testing and perfecting) and I think you will be pleased with the fit/comfort/function/durability of the new update. Below is a link to the information page with pictures. https://www.radarskis.com/portfolio_page/vice/

Ivan is very impressive in all aspects of waterskiing. He is a perfectionist about his skiing and that shows in his efficient technique and results in tournaments. He is also a great coach who has the ability to connect with skiers to achieve success in their skiing. I have had the pleasure of getting to know him off the water as well and he is a great human being.

This book should be in possession of all ballers regardless of ability level.

@Mitzysman the 2017 glove is completely new cut that is much easier to put on and is way less bulky. @Deep11 the change in design has also increased the gloves longetivity. @

@A_B that year glove the straps were really long. They have been and will remain shorter moving forward. The new fit of the 2017 is the most comfortable, functional Vice glove yet and will be a big seller.

@A_B what diameter handle are you using? I usually wear a medium glove and have fairly big hands. Due to the nature of this glove, sizing up will still work well and fit comfortable. The 2017 Vice glove has been updated and is an amazing fit and function glove.