lakeaustinskier

My ski partner has a daughter on the Alabama team. Great group of kids.

I have a Perfect Pull Slalom trainer that I'll give to anyone that wants to pay the shipping. PM me.

I'm completely against working out hard during ski season. I'm 51 and it doesn't work for me. During the season I only do whatever it takes to maintain flexibility and core strength in the lower back, hamstrings and psoas/spinal erectors. Then work out hard in the winter to put "armor" on to protect your body during ski season.

My numbers are stock except the bindings. I'm also at 28 7/8. I've heard a lot of people are running the fin at 10 (not the stock 9.5). Not for me but 10 works for some people.

I came off the E Series FM boots. Front boot switch took 4-5 sets to get comfortable while the rear R style took about 10 sets. KEY to making the switch was keeping my same liners (including the rear liner- Trent F suggested this). Having my rear liners come up above the R style shell seemed to ease the feel of making the switch.

I made the move from double FM boots earlier this year. I moved to a Syndicate "Reflex style" front boot and a R Style rear. I considered the Chop Top however I don't like the laces on the Chop Top. Too much variability with the laces (risk of over-tightening). Once I set the buckle tension on the R Style to my liking I took a silver paint marker and marked the buckle settings. Same buckle setting every set, every pass. Repeat-ability and reducing variables is very important for me.

I happened to be the dock starter for most of Mens 4 Slalom on Wednesday. As someone who missed the cutoff for Men 4 I've never met a nicer group of guys. Yes, Chad Scott skied. Yes, he won. I never heard a single negative comment from any skier on the dock about Chad skiing Men 4. Is there a clear gap in talent in some age groups? Yes. But who cares? The best skier should be allowed to compete (and maybe win). This isn't 3rd grade soccer where everyone gets a trophy.

The Concept was a very popular ski back in its day. Unfortunately- not now. I have a Concept screwed into a ski bench on my deck. Pick yourself up a more current ski (used or new) and you'll have a lot more fun. Ski-it-again is a great source.

Great article. From firsthand experience drowning victims are rarely able to cry for help due to inhaling water into their airway. Last week my family and I went river rafting in Jamaica. While going through some rapids my wife fell out of the raft and before anyone could respond she started to panic and sink below the turbulent surface. Almost no sound - just a panicked look on her face. Luckily someone was able to grab her arm and bring her close to the raft. She told me told me later that she tried to scream for help but when she took a breath to produce a sound she only inhaled more water. She's okay but still a scary moment.

@Wish I've also experimented with rotating the handle into the turns. If you look at Regina she also seems to rotate the handle (mostly 1,3,5). Personally I believe the physical act of rotating the handle does absolutely nothing - but yet - when I rotate the handle it somehow reminds my brain to maintain my hips going into the ball (and not hunch over). @AdamCord is this what you mean? I hope I haven't opened up a rabbit hole here - just curious.

I got some coaching from Nate several years ago and what struck me was his overall personal confidence and the simplicity of his skiing. Nothing fancy - just be in the right place at the right time with the right body position. Very casual confidence. Right after I skied the organizer of the clinic told him the next participant was running late. Did he want to ski? He was ready and in the water about 2 minutes later. No long prep time etc. just ready to go. Ran right up the line to mid 41 (didn't run it that time). His 39 looked like most people's 28.

Minimize the stress on the footbed by not taking the physical binding off and clicking the binding into the footbed each time you use it (instead step into the binding with the liner). Great product. IMO it takes the Reflex idea and refines it.

I'm very proud to say that my goal has always been "to ski like a girl". Smooth and powerful with minimal body movement. So quiet. Maybe I'm misguided but as a 34 mph guy I believe watching the women (especially Regina) is much more beneficial to me than the pro men. I'm constantly watching Kelvin's 1/4 speed Regina video.

In my opinion she gets it done with incredible technique and fitness. That kettlebell story is all core strength. Several years ago I skied in a charity event where hacks (me) and pros (Regina) skied in the same tournament. Both of us happened to be stretching out on the dock at the same time and all I could notice was how incredibly strong she was in her core. I'm not talking about just standard muscle definition. I'm talking about her entire torso (front, back, sides). One large torso muscle.

If I'm in a slump sometimes trying something new will make me reassess my skiing. I'm more aware of my body position, timing etc. Helps me reset my mind. If the new ski works after several sets then I have a new girlfriend - if not, then someone else can date her. The key is making is making a fast decision to dump the ski and not lose much money.

In my opinion the Elite was the best looking ski ever made.

Its not just the handle. Glove fit and whether you use liners are considerations. I personally hate liners. Too much padding for me. The best advice I ever received to prevent sore hands was to use tighter/smaller gloves. When the gloves are new and DRY it should be almost impossible to get them on but when wet I can wiggle my hands in. After a few sets the new gloves loosen up for a perfect tight fit.

I've ridden my HO hardshell for 6 sets now and here's some feedback. I'm coming off multiple years on the the FM EVO series. While I like the boot flexibility of the FMs the uncertainty of the FM system bothered me a bit. Time to try something new. Marc and Bailey Austin set me up with a new HO binding (thanks to Bailey and Marc!). The key for me switching to the HO was using my old FM liner. Nothing wrong with the HO liner - I've just found that at least for me sometimes changing a liner makes more of a difference than switching the actual binding. I really like the ability to put my foot into the HO binding and adjust the buckles at the same tension and comfort level - every - single - time. Reducing variability with my skiing is a big deal for me. Six sets in my only problem is a small crack in the front footbed interface up by the toe area. At first I was honestly not sure how much this small crack affected the safety of the release mechanism. After some analysis I suspect it doesn't affect the release very much if at all, however, I'm going to replace the front interface. I've heard that this is a something that HO has had a problem with - but they've corrected the problem (the Austins are getting me a new one interface - whoo hoo!). For a rear I'm using a Reflex R style rear. I was a bit worried coming off the FM rear (since it had more material around my ankle) but after a couple of sets I stopped noticing the difference. So far the HO is really working well for me.

Thumbs up for the G10 plate. I have a Goode XT and the rear inserts are super wide and don't fit any other plate pattern. I've had @teammalibu build me several G10 plates and they've really worked out well. Mike does a great job.

Like I said - worst fall in my life. Big eye peeler. Next day I had a red eye and bruised ribs. Catching a tip is the worst.

Back when I was much younger and much more stupid a friend and I took two very attractive girls out on a public lake. Massive rollers and boat traffic but darn it I was going to ski and make big spray. Right after the driver pulled me up I realized I needed to shove one foot deeper into a rubber binding so I jumped up on the ski and tried ram my foot deeper. Unfortunately when I came down I completely buried the tip (like this guy) and took the hardest fall I've ever taken in my life. At full speed right behind the boat in the hard white water. As the driver came around to pick me up the girls said "yeah it looks like we need to take you home and we'll just go out solo with your friend". And thats what happened.

Most people don't realize that deadlifts aren't just for your legs. Lots of core.

Buy some organizational stuff from Gladiator Garage (a Whirlpool company - do a search for it). I like their slate wall panels and rubber coated hooks. Very nice for storing skis and gear.

@epnault Back when I was an open-water skier I was also afraid of the wake. Once I started to run a slalom course my fear of the wake magically disappeared. Instead of focusing on the wake I was focusing on making the turn around the buoys. This isn't an excuse for poor body position or stack - just my experience when I was starting out. Good luck!

I try to think of it as leaning early but loading later. And I still screw it up. When the 200 first came out I went to a clinic where Andy was coaching and also promoting the new 200. I was fine until I got in the water, looked at Andy in the boat and thought "Andy freakin' Mapple is watching me". I promptly misgrabbed the handle and muffed the pull-up :)