lpskier

@water_skier1 The best thing to do is experiment with and without, and with at various wing angles. To do the experiment, you need to borrow or invest in a decent set of wing angle gauges.

@Blofeld My ski partner Terence Fogarty is. I’m on a Denali.

@Horton Okay. I deserve those three. But I never said anything about her spread either. I said that she could try turning in a spot later to help keep the rope tighter on her 2/4 side.

@horton I used Chelsea Mills and Regina as examples. I don’t know what Brooke (Baldwin’s?) spread between heels is.

We have two tournament sites in NY that draw lots of kids. What do they have in common? A rope swing. There’s a tremendous club in CT at Avon. They have a beach and lots of games and things for kids to do when they aren’t skiing. I think practically every kid has a one wheel to ride, plus bikes, dogs, etc Kids will have fun if there is something to keep them entertained when they are not skiing. So my suggestion is to ask other parents in your area where their kids like to go to ski. It’s got to be pretty boring to be 10 with nothing to do but wait 3 hours for your next turn to ski. Tell us where you live and I’m sure someone on BOS will have a suggestion.

Here’s a question: of the skiers who have run 41 at 55k or 58k, what drivers did they do it behind? As a matter of reference, both the current OM and OW records were behind Chad. Jeff Gilbert pulled Corey Vaughn (LaPoint Ski Park), and he has pulled Nate and Freddie through a gazilion of them. He (or Tommy Harrington) drove Jeff Rodgers and Adam Caldwell at 55k at Little Mountain I’m guessing Dana Reed drove Jeff Rodgers in 97(?) at Trophy the first time it was run in a tournament at 58k (or any speed, for that matter. Regina has set several records (maybe most of her slalom records) behind Chad. I’m sure Gordon West may have driven one or two. Who knows who drove what 41’s?

If you are on two skis, try doing a sitting dock start. No drag through the water and thus no grip issue To answer your initial question, the single best exercise for water skiing, including grip, is dead lifting. If all you have are dumbbells, work up to 60 # bent over rows. That will strengthen your grip and your core. if all of that is further than you want to go, search “grip strength trainer”on Amazon get one, throw it in the car and use it while you drive to and from work

@Dano anything in the 11. 5 to 12” spacing zone is probably fine for 90% of all skiers. I’ve listened to @horton’s argument about a closer stave making for a better platform from which to improve stance, and I won’t quarrel with it. There are multiple means of removing the epidermis from a feline.

@The_MS I trace the origin of the cancel culture back to Seinfeld. “No soup for you!”

@vtmecheng Well, that’s why I still ski in Fogmans, long after most people have retired theirs.

I also hear you can adjust the bindings… The versa tails attach aft of the fin clamp. The Versa-fin does not change that fact. The tail selection is less fin set up sensitive than you would think. My ski partner has skied on a variety of custom and non custom tails, all on his standard Connelly numbers. Some tails are different than others but none are dramatically different in terms of performance, from what I see from the boat and scoresheets.

If you want a front rubber boot like a TFactor and you want to virtually eliminate the chance of a fall like the one you hurt yourself on, your choice is a double high wrap rubber boot set up, either double TFactors or a front TFactor and a rear Wylie ( personally I’d go with Wylies front and back). Your other option is something that will allow the front boot to release, like a Reflex, HO Syndicate Hardshell or MOB. Don’t be afraid to try hardshells.

“Versa-Tail.” A lot ( but not all) of the better Connolly skiers ski on one-off three d printed tails.

The gate mechanics look pretty solid, but she comes out of two with loose line, which indicates that the mechanics alone aren’t getting the job done. It could be that her timing is a bit off and though it appears she is turning in on time in in rhythm with the boat, I’d suggest she try pulling out just a spot later.

I’ve said it before. Chelsea Mills and Regina both have size 6 feet and ski with an 11 7/8 spread.

At LaPoint Ski Park, a totally off the street guest pays $50 a set. A guest of a member pays $3.20 a minute, which usually is $35 a set. You can also join as an out of town member ($1000 annually last I knew) and pay $1.60 a minute. Sets are usually six passes, but if we aren’t busy, have at it. Minutes are based on a device that only measures time when the motor is running. So with the boat shut off at the ends, you aren’t paying for your rest time. It’s actually a very good system. In December and January, we aren’t very busy, so it’s a good time to ski.

I literally gave away an EZ slalom mainline last week. A young skier lost his course in the recent NE floods. I had an extra. Here you go.

Are you on a double XMax binding or an XMax front with a kicker? If the later, I suspect that you hurt yourself when you fell with your back foot out and your front foot in. If this the case, it doesn’t matter what binding you select, you can still have the same injury because it’s what’s happening to your back foot (out of the binding) as opposed to the front foot (in the binding) that is the problem. The solution is to have a binding combo that will virtually always end a fall with both feet in or both feet out. Ski in the smallest binding you can tolerate. I’m a 10. I ski in an 8 hardshell.

My ski partner here in NY has one. It just arrived on Wednesday. Serial #1. He’s been on a prototype for a year. It is basicly a wider DV8. He uses an unconventional tail that is 3” long and 2.5” wide at the trailing end.

I can’t even get scores, other than what May be live trick scores.

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

@scoke no wimping out involved. I’m in the hospital.

I was coming but suddenly I’m really sick. I’m driving from NY and if I can’t leave tomorrow there is no point going.

No TWBC. Way too expensive to do four lakes.

@Drago. Nope. Denali. And it has a spectacular fin clamp. Just goes to show, you have to pay attention to your gear. I probably hadn’t checked my set up since March. FYI, slump fixed.