Laz

We sure were. He skied really well. We were also with the husband and wife team of Chuck (Eagle Sports) and Michelle (barefootcentral.com). Really, a great week. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Dear ballers, This is a video of . The voice you hear is Jim Kilsdonk from Waterski Costa Rica. Already I can see many issues.First, my gate is 'el crapola'. I have very little angle. I don't counter into the gate and have a way to go before attempting a one-handed gate. Second, i'm too compressed, especially after I cross the wake. I'm not getting my hips and legs forward. Third, not much countering. I really have to concentrate to make this happen. I find that all waterski theory disappears in a puff of smoke as soon as I ski past the 55m gates. Any other suggestions?

My wife and I just returned from a week at Waterski Costa Rica. We had an absolutely amazing week! The trip is hosted by Jim Kilsdonk who is really the star of the show. He is a patient and insightful teacher. The lake is stunning with great conditions, even when a bit windy. Breakfast and lunch are home cooked meals on the lake. Every afternoon had us out on various excursions such as zip lining, hiking around a volcano, hot springs and horse back riding. I would highly recommend this site for a winter water ski break. I have a video of me doing '28 off for only the second time ever. Reviewing it now shows just how much I still have to learn. I will post it and ask the BOS experts for feedback. Laz

Light hearted complaint...sigh...

It's winter here and we have a fresh 5 inches of fresh snow to look at this morning. Winter is for watching ski videos and as I recall, Youtube was originally designed for slalom ski videos (the cat thing only came later). I thought the first 3 GoPro videos were interesting, but it hardly helps me analyze technique, scrutinize body position, study back arm pressure and investigate gate theory. I'm just saying.

Used various Connelly bindings and complained for 3 years. Now 1/2 a season of double Stradas and am finally happy. 'Feel' safe, very comfortable and easy to get on and off.

I think it's very clever what CC has done. Right now their boat is impractical for most people because of the limits of current commercial batteries. However, they have now demonstrated that you can build a great ski boat powered by a battery. There are a million companies out there working on the future battery. As this technology improves, CC will be first in line to benefit.

This is very cool. This boat is certainly not ready for prime time, but moving forward, the gas powered boat is only going to get less desirable as environmental pressure and gas prices worsen. Electrical boats will only get more desirable as battery tech improves. Even if you had to buy a new battery every 7 years for $10 000, these boats will age much better. They have way fewer moving parts. Replacing the batter every 7 years is a lot cheaper than buying a new boat. We are so used to running gasoline boats that we don't realize how much of a hassle they are. The are very expensive to maintain and winterize. They are dirty and noisy. We need these massive engines to get good torque. Now imagine electric: quiet, clean, huge amount of torque, very little maintenance. If battery technology continues to improve at the current rate, I would hope that this kind of boat would be the norm in 10 years.

Yeah Moomba: Huge savings, AWSA tow boat.  This picture is (of my dad and Outback) is a year old. We've given up on the wakeboards since then. http://lh6.ggpht.com/_rOg5OTHUbvw/TTIREmnFmNI/AAAAAAAAAd8/4MZ1GfjQkr8/IMG_3342.JPG

Sounds like you are describing a Moomba Outback. Price is just over $30k. It is well built, simple and does not come with any bling. I just spent a week skiing behind a SN 200 and then spent some time in a Moomba and SN200 at the boat show. The Nautique is almost double the price even though the Moomba price includes the trailer. I ski into 28' off, so I still have a lot to learn before I can blame the wake for any missed buoys. Now the 200 was one beautiful boat and is certainly very shiny. But for me, my hacker ski buddies and my money (I work for a living) I cannot justify the extra $30 000 spent on the Nautique. That money can sure buy a lot of gas, skis and trips to Florida. P.S. I the closed bow Response LX is still available, just not advertised.

Long live BOS.

School Name: Summerski Country: Canada, eh State: Ontario Contact: Paul Roberts, www.summerski.ca  School Name: Bush's Sports Centre Country: Canada State: Ontario Contact: www.bushsportscenter.com

Okay, I'm going to try and get ready a few weeks before. That and Advil! Thanks all responders.

Hello oh great minds of slalom... In March, the wife and I are going to Water Ski Costa Rica. I'm a little concerned about having useless arms after the first day of skiing. I skied two sets at McGinnis and then was away for a week, returning to ski 4 more days. After the first day, I had trouble moving my arms for three days. But when I returned a week later my arms (and the rest of me) was fine. It seems that after recovering from the first day of skiing, I'm pretty much good to go. However, I will not have skied for 2 1/2 months prior to the first of 6 consecutive days in Costa Rica. Any suggestions to avoid three days of muscle shock? I tried pulling on a rope tied to a tree before the start of last season, but that didn't help. What about a rowing machine? Thanks.

Lakeaustinskier, MAD11: Thanks, as soon as I have my conference sorted out, I will contact you. Laz

That's great. I'll try and set something up when I confirm my conference. Thanks

Using the ski sites google earth file, I found a few placed nearish to San Antonio, but they all seem private. How do I go about getting some ski time? Of course, I will pay my way.

Hi. I'll might be at a conference in San Antonio late March. I'm looking for a reason to bring my ski. The Google can't seem to find me anything close by. Any suggestions? Laz

I'm 40, married with three kids, living in Toronto. My biggest asset is having a wife, kids and parents who are all into slalom. That seems to be the biggest factor in getting out to the lake. Two days ago, I took my father to our local ski club where he is very close to getting the course at 28mph. Then yesterday, he turned 65. Not bad at all. And to think, he learned to get up on one ski last year. Next year my wife and I are going to Waterski Costa Rica. It will be the first time we travel without the kids in 10 years. Egad. When I was about 10, my dad bought a leaky 14 ft, 70 hp outboard and taught the kids to ski. We continued to ski and upgrade the boats. Then medical school, residency and small kids nearly got me out of skiing and into sailing. Yes, horrible, but true. Then, funny story. Four years ago we were camping with the kids not too far away from the McClintock lake in Cambridge. I remembered having a few lessons there about 25 years ago. So, for a lark, I met my dad there and we both had lessons. It was the first time I had ever skied through a slalom course. I got 5 balls at about 28mph and was transformed. I tell my non skiing friends to imagine a golfer who spends his whole life hitting balls on the driving range without ever knowing about a golf course. Then one day he is shown Pebble Beach. I felt like a junkie after his first hit. Everything snowballed from there. The next year we bought a Moomba Outback. (Which, by the way, is a great boat for those just getting into slalom. The $20 000 you save can be put towards lessons). Then we got an EZ-Slalom course. Finally, this year, my wife increased my allowance so I could join SummerSki, a private club just north of Toronto.  Now I've progressed to an official PB of 3 at 28' off, 34mph although I got through 28 off once with a strong head wind. I'm working on handle control and back arm pressure. My main hurdle to improving is having my "swing thought" disappear as soon as I go through the entrance gates. This summer I took a half day off each week, met up with 5 friends and a pontoon boat. Then we would install the slalom course, get the BBQ going on the pontoon and ski and eat till dark. That was a blast. Laz Klein

Does ZO know where you are in the course? PPSG expects at least one magnet so it knows exactly when the boat goes through the gates. My understanding is that this allows it to gas the engine in anticipation of the pull which, I would imagine, would lead to a more consistent speed. On the other hand, ZO can't know exactly where you are because GPS absolute positioning is not nearly as accurate as relative position. So it must just be responding to the boat slowing down.  Is this correct?

My favourite videos to study are by Terry Winter.... search for mrtwhisper.

I just put Strada bindings on my Connelly F1. They really are very comfortable bindings, and way better than the Enzos I had on before. I went Strada over Vector because of Davemac's comment about cold water....(Canada in October). However, I tried out the Vectors and they felt very similar. Horton: I'm thinking of the Connelly V for my wife (just starting to get 3 or 4 buoys on the course at 28mph). Is it too much ski? Currently she's on a Connelly HP. When will the V be available?

Thanks, ED. That's very helpful. Â First a little plug: We've setup our EZ-Slalom course about 12 times this summer and have got it down to about 20-25 minutes. It continues to work perfectly. When you say, "don't overshoot your baseline rpm on pullup", is this meant for the driver? I.e., don't push the throttle down to hard and too fast? Thanks!

I'm using Perfect Pass Stargazer and have just set up an EZ-Slalom course with a bit of a short setup. PP is taking me through the gates quite hot (57 instead of 55k) and slowing down after two ball. I have done the GPS calibration. Is there a way to adjust the RPM set points after calibration has been done? Thanks.