skiboyny

I was stuck more seasons than I care to admit at 15 and 22 off. I could run 28 off hit and miss for the last 3 seasons but I more less hacked through it and it never felt like a pass that I owned. For me the breakthrough was a combination of several things. Getting wide on the boat which many have mentioned. Not losing that width. At 28 off I basically let the boat pull me through the gates, (very progressively) holding good body position, giving one quick tug right in the middle of the wake. Less seemed to be more for me. At the turn I had to really concentrate on extending for a long time and letting the ski rotate around me, regardless where I was at the ball. This gave me a tight line with no slack. Your video shows you bringing the handle in before the ski has turned rather than skiing around to it. After going around 1 with a nice tight line it was really business as usual. I never missed 28 off this season and using these methods ran a full 32 off on my second try ever!(at a reduced speed) I am absolutely thrilled with my progress this season. I only ever tried 32 off about a half dozen tries first time this year and ran it twice. I'm sure If I can start off close to where I left off I'll be able to bring 32 up to speed next year. A coach I had years ago told me "one day it will just click" It took about 10 years for that to happen! I'm glad it finally did. Hope this might help you...

I'm thinking of trying a A3 Iv'e been skiing a A1 66.5 and have really enjoyed it. Wondering what the current ski is like. I see sizing charts all over the board on this ski some show 66 as 120-190 others show 66 120-160 I'm between 165-170 skiing 34mph so which is best? 66 or 67?

I personally think that the skis that ride deeper in the water do a bit better in adverse conditions

You seem in the habit of keeping your front leg straight. That would fix the attitude of the ski.

I live up north have a short season and only ski 3 times per week max! It' s gone on for all the time I've been skiing the course about 15 years now. I manage to improve every year despite my ageing and limited skiing, but it's very SLOW!! Only at 28off and that's on my "better" days! I enjoy it immensely and will continue as long as my old body will let me. My life time goal is to run clean passes at 32 off. Just a small fraction of what most on this site can do. My best is but one ball with just a couple of tries ever. Running a great pass at any speed any line length is all the motivation I need to keep banging away!

It's strength to weight ratio. You have the potential to be stronger at 200 lbs. You need to look at your body fat. If your 200 lbs at 10% body fat you would be very strong and you would need that kind of strength to compete with a 150lb guy who's body fat is 10 %. It's not so much loosing weight it's more gaining strength. (muscle) Using this recipe we are all on even ground. And of course I could be all wrong!

I've been searching for a USCGA vest that's maybe not as heavy as most with no luck. I can find comfortable O'Neil Revenge. Nice vest but at least 10 to 15 lbs dry. Gotta be something lighter. Hope your thread turns up some different ideas. You can search for a thread I made a week or two ago. There are some suggestions there that may help.

Just got the ONeil Revenge. I don't think I'm going to use it. I'm tempted but It's really HEAVY. In all fairness when I put it on It's very comfortable. No restrictions all concealed Lumbar support. I guess I just thought by now they might have some different foams that would be lighter. If I were to gain 10 or 15 lbs of fat, (non functional weight) I think my skiing would go down a bit.

lb which Bare vest?

Thanks I just ordered the Oneil Revenge vest. Everything is tucked in. I can return it locally if I feel it's to bulky. As for hitting the buckles, It was on an older Oneil and I'm not sure if it was actually the buckles or the attachment points as rawly mentioned. I'll let everyone know how the Revenge pans out.

Thanks for the input everyone keep it coming. To add to my dilemma, I can't have any buckles that protrude I seem to scrape the hell out of my arms if they do. Anyone have any experience with O'Neils revenge, HOs Access.

54 years old. I work out faithfully all winter and struggle during the summer about how to combine it with skiing. I only am able to ski 2 or 3 times a week. I try to workout on off days and get 24 hours between skiing and working out. The skiing is conditions driven so it could be any day any time. Very hard to maintain any kind of schedule. I might get 1 to 3 workouts in a week. In one way it helps but I believe it also lends itself to increased injury's (pulled muscles and the like) One thing is for sure It's easy enough to regain all my strength once skiing is over. You have to cut yourself slack during season after all we sort of train for an event it's time to let the event happen. Believe it or not maintaining a good diet is much more important. Now if only I could talk my stubborn self in to listening to that......

Looking for a vest that floats and maybe provide a measure of safety. Used to the light weight non USCG approved. Are there any out there that are lightweight and flexible?

Where did you find the A2 to shine as compared to your A1?

How about a sub buoy? Or some flotation on the arm perhaps a noodle? The trick is finding enough flotation without it being too much.

Garn, Love to hear additional impressions on the S-2 vs. A-1. I have been skiing the A-1 for a couple of seasons now the S-2 has my eye. I really like A-1 and I think it has complemented my skiing. But it really wears my ass out!

We use flat rocks off the shore. The rocks seem to work better than anything else we have tried. Been doing it for years. We do it when we pull the course out in the fall.

That's a slippery slope your treading. Keeping the peace is paramount on public water I've found. The few places that allow a ski course do so only as a public service, "fun for all boaters". It's beyond me why these folks run buoys over. Why would you run anything over that is sitting in the water? My fear is that if you go to the city and ask to make rules concerning the course, it becomes a problem and getting rid of it is the easier answer.

Ed have you skied the A-1? If so can you compare the A-1 to the S-2? I'm on an A-1 and really like it but it does seem to take a bigger amount of effort then others I've ridden. (34mph skier)

Bring advil take 3 right after skiing and 3 more every 6 hours for the rest of the week. Personal bests are not in the plan!

Anchors wouldn't be an option for this site. It is a mad made flooded river that gets wide and goes to a spill way to make power. The trees in this particular spot were never even removed. Just flooded. I think about sixty foot deep at the one end of the course.

Ed ez-slalom?

It stays at least 4ft. deep all the way untill the water is less than that. The weight on the gates is much less than you might think. Draw it put the water on the top cable below it and the bottom of the lake stays deep most of the way than tapers to shore. We hook the boat a bit to the left after coming out the end gates so we don't follow the straight path for the whole 800'. I know I'm probably not explaining it real well but it does work.

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm thinking this is a better way to go.  thanimal wrote: >P.S. I'm confused how you can anchor the course to the shore. Wouldn't that result in the cable being right on top of the water? Or is there some 6'+ deep spot near the shore that you anchor it to? In any case, adding the 55m balls on cables seems like it should work -- just causes your "shore" anchor line to be shorter.< The line stays pretty far down (at least as low as the grid) untill it hits the shore line which gets shallow fairly abrubtly. So if there is enough water to run a boat there is not a problem. If someone managed to get a boat in at the point where you could see the cable they would have far bigger problems. Thanks for your links!

Thanks for the replys everyone. I don't mean to be dense but here are a couple of more questions. On one end the water depth is only about 8 ft so what you suggest is very doable. The other end water is very deep which is why we run 800' of stainless to a pin on the shore. I'm not sure this is an option for us. Also what would you do for the winter months short of dragging the blocks out? Is there a way not to re invent the wheel each and every season?