Laz

My: $0.02. I want WS in the Olympics so I get less confusion and less resistance when I put a slalom course in the far corner of a public lake. The effect of the driver on skiing is minuscule compared to the complete fixing of boxing and *gag* synchronized swimming. The number of people who have ever tried skiing (like I first did when I was 12) is way higher than many of the sports in the Olympics (such as Judo, which I used to compete in nationally and is in the Olympics). WS in the Olympics would shift the whole sport. More would try it for the first time, more would try a slalom course, more would join a club, more would compete and more would buy expensive skis and boats.

I often tell the casual skier who does not understand the finer points of slalom that free skiing is like going to the driving range. It's fun, but after a while you really want to try it out on a golf course.

Thanks. I will contact you when I know my details.

I may have to go to Calgary for two days in mid Sept and will likely have some free time. Any suggestions for a ski site? I emailed Predator Bay but have not heard back. Does anyone know a contact there that might get me in for a set or two? Thanks. Laz

I really like the delayed high quality highlights. Most of us can't sit by the computer on the weekend (hopefully out skiing).

@jfw432 This is my wife's problem exactly. She can almost get wide enough. Her position is decent but she just won't "hard cut".

My wife and my ski buddy's wife: radar lyric.

You can get a Moomba Outback and an Outback V for the price of the MastercCraft 214 or 214V

@killer Them thar's fightin' words. We have the same coach and I'm not sure all this shadowing at short line is so good all the time. I, like you, am trying to make 28' off a routine pass. I can shadow the buoys at 35' off and look like a pro. Then I can run the course at 22' off and look terrible. I think shadowing is okay for working on specific things, but it sure can lead to a false sense of security. It's a challenge to go from shadowing at 32' off to running a good 15' off and maintaining all that great position you had while shadowing. For now, I'll do a little shadowing to warm up, but spend most of my time trying to run buoys.

@killer My latest issue is that I can run most 22's with horrible gates and a lousy approach to 1 ball. I guess the longer line makes that possible. With 28, it's all about the gate and 1 ball (for me, anyway). At the club from 2-5 tomorrow.

@killer Me too!!! But I still want to be able to run up the rope, starting at 15' off.

What I learned in the course this week: a good gate is crucial. This year I decided to completely rebuild my technique (I say this every year). It's been going well shadowing the balls, but fails apart by 2 ball every time I try to run 28' off. This week I spent all my time working on a progressive turn in at the gates with max pull right behind the boat leading to an earlier edge change. This made all the difference and has let me run 28' 4 times. Slow progress, but at least it's progress.

@crashman I doubt anyone who is even entertaining short-line skiing would get that tower. I think it looks terrible. For me, it's either the old tower or no tower.

@unksskis That's interesting. Are you paying for the 205? When we looked for our first DD ski boat ever, there was a $20 000 difference between a brand new Outback and a one year old Nautique 206. I sure enjoyed spending that $20 grand on trips to Costa Rica and Florida.

I wonder what percentage of skiers who buy a Moomba, or any other dedicated ski boat actually ski at anything shorter than 28' off. I bet it's < 10%. In cottage country north of Toronto, there are plenty of ski boats that have never been through a slalom course.

That's the new Moomba tower. It is definitely not for short line skiers. You can still get the old tower, or better yet, no tower.

Jackpot!

Congrats on making your full pass. My first full pass was 4 years ago. It was the most expensive 20 seconds of my life: new ski, new boat, trips to Florida, Costa Rica, ski club membership....just to do the same thing again.

Put water in the buoys. There is lots of discussion here on the best way to do it.

Connelly V or do they still make the Concept?

@crashman For PPSG, you can get a little switch you can put on your dashboard instead of magnets. You just press the button as the driver goes past the gates and it will start timing the segments. We use this always for our portable course.

Agreed!

I still remember my first time!! Post a video.

15 minutes is pretty fast. Takes us about 20 and a extra couple of minutes to make sure it's tight and straight. You need a 4:1 ratio of anchor line length to depth. We wrap each arm separately to speed things up. Ed will get you everything you need.

Problem: wedding trip it Italy, no skiing (pain factor 9.5/10) Solution: Go to the wedding, smile, look dapper, hold the bags while shopping (and continue to smile), say things like "wow, that dress looks great on you, but try that red one as well" Then.... guys trip to Florida next winter. I have had some success in similar (desperate) situations.