Nando

This is very sad- he was a very unassuming guy, just very nice. He was a college friend of a guy I knew fairly well (Russ Clifford, the 6'8", one-thumbed, slalom skier from N.Dak. who coached at Rollins College for some time [last I heard of Russ, he was living in GB]). I got to ski with them once at John's site and all I remember is that except for the boat and skier paths, it was all lily pads so there was never a ripple. John ran -38 at least twice that day, and back then, that was quite a feat, so I was feeling pretty good that they took along this hanger-on. I remember standing next to John at the CC booth at the Nationals in maybe '82 where they were showing a tape of that year's Masters. He had missed the far end gate at -32 or -35 and the announcers were speculating how this could have happened when he was so far ahead. I turned to him said, "did you?", and he just nodded and said, "I did". He had gone for number seven at the Masters... He did set that world record on the infamous Taperflex Apex (see the dead ski companies thread), a scary ski with no front end- ski it right and it was magic; get a little forward and it would just stop...

Don't forget the $29.95 fee for the USAWS boat driver's training. I can't think of another activity where it costs to volunteer as an official. My sister is a figure skating judge and they pay her expenses, plus a stipend. Back when I was a hockey ref, I did it for the fun, but did get paid. As a tournament official, I think I got a couple of free entries. I want to get back into tournaments, but will volunteer in other ways. I used to be a regular judge and driver and a technical coordinator, but those have lapsed...

So here's a question for Ed (or anyone else): What's the farthest anyone ever went on wood jumpers? If I'm not mistaken, Mike Suyderhoud went 165' on Western Wood planks with formica bottoms sometime around 1970.

Old HO bindings had the front raised about 3/8" higher than the rear. I used sheet nylon to raise my rear binding to match the front. Weight was negligible, it was tough enough to resist crushing, and using longer stainless steel screws worked just fine. I have a friend who broke his femur and lost 2" from one leg. He simply uses a 2 X 6 cut to fit the ski and it seems to work fine (even on jump skis [yes, he broke it jumping and still jumps]).

At the first Nationals I ever attended (back when it was only MC and CC in the towboat game) I went into the exhibitors' tent and Ralph and Ken Meloon were siting in one of their boats wearing Mastercraft shirts. Rob Shirley was nearby in his exhibit wearing a Ski Nautique shirt and these guys were chatting back and forth. Someone came by and asked Ralph about the shirts and all he said was, "Well, the Good Book says to love your enemies..." That's a tough business to keep going for 88 years...

Although I've used EB's "finger trap" method, our tried and true method is to have a counterweight above the magnet or subfloat and simply run it through a loop or clip and it works similarly to a pulley system. We've used this with anchored courses and with permanent cable courses. We use smooth clips attached to 18" of bungee and have never had a problem with lines getting frayed. Works great for a maximum of about 4' of fluctuation- anything more would require the magnets to be too deep. We used to skip the bungee and just use a string so that, if snagged, the ball would come off without damaging anything but the string.

Makes me want to be a billionaire...

Before switching to a double boot many years ago I added the Maherajah Heel Holder to a couple of my skis. I had a few of these things and used them for a coouple of years and thought they were great. I think MSJ's system or the Reflex R style look great. Here's an old Maha ad i found- check out those prices!

In the late '80s I skied a few times with a guy who had a course with individual anchors with pulleys or loops and all the lines were attached to a single point (a large teflon-coated steel loop that he stole from some industrial application that was anchored to the bottom), then routed to his boathouse where he had a garage door opener which pulled everything down about 4' and raised the whole course with the touch of a button. There were a few similar courses in MN then. I remember that it involved LOTS of rope and had to be carefully adjusted, but it can be done. The stress on the individual ropes is low, because they're only pulling down one ball and even with all the buoys, the total pull isn't much. I suspect that there's even more work with this setup than with a Wallysinker or Accusink, but... Some other old farts must have more information...

thager, G. Lindy stuck me with that one- no one else has ever called me that, so I figured it gave me some anonymity. Hope to have enough time for real practice next year as youngest kid can now drive himself places and is working on becoming a decent slalom driver, also ski partners are healthy and getting back into it- one after a string of nasty injuries, another after losing his way.

Yes, Tom, you got me. I was hoping to come out of retirement this weekend but pulled a bicep a few weeks ago. It was progressing ok, had one good session back on the water then Sunday got some slack on a downwind 32 and popped it again, so my season might be done.

I think they changed the yellow "O'Brien" logo in front of the bindings fron an older script typeface to this one in '70 or '71. I know I'm an old fart 'cause I'm the same age as thager. And, no, Tom, I'm not Jim Rose as you guessed a few weeks ago (getting warmer, though) and not PC, who is a WAY better skier (especialy in tricks, no, really in every way)- did ski with PC a lot for a few years, though.

That's a pre-1972, 'cause my first real slalom was a '72 and it had an "O'Brien" logo on the fin cap, with the fin screwed up through the bottom and yellow overlays on the bindings. Looks like the rear binding is from an O'Brien EP, back before EP went solo and all fiberglass. My guess is it's a '69-'71. Good God, the fact that I even have an opinion on this is proof that I'm OLD!

Forgot to mention in my earlier post- free skiing is really fun! (Not that the course isn't, but...)

The driving range analogy is a good one- I never venture into the course until I've worked my way into shape free skiing and there are a lot of things you can work on free skiing without the constraints of a course. However, it's extremely easy for a small amount of free skiing to really mess up course timing and it's awfully easy to get in the habit of skiing very narrow while free skiing. Free skiing is a tool that many serious course skiers ignore, and it can be a big help, especially if you have an extended off-season and need to work your way into shape. No question though, at least in my small mind, the only real objective measure of skiers is performance in the course.

Depends on a lot of factors, but when my wife said my ski was awfully old, I knew it was time...

Night events are fun, but how many guys can actually practice under those conditions? For that reason, it seems like a couple of night events make the series more interesting, but I'd prefer to see the finals in the daytime to get the best performances. Given the performances these guys throw out there, they handle the darkness pretty well, but it seems like the best performances come in the best conditions...

Nardini or Farkas?? Come on Tom- I graduated from there; they just kind of attended the place, so you've got the right place, but wrong guess. I did run into Tommy Nardini not too long ago- he's a lot of pounds removed from the famous Nardin Flying Circus days. My ski partner ran into Sox last summer- he's back from Dallas and in MN, but hasn't skied in years. One key difference between me and those two is that I have enough brain cells left to remember you... My lake was too low to get a boat in the last three years and has been no wake this year due to construction nearit where the wakes would disturb the erosion control materials- next year I can ski at home again!

Ok, since I've never checked in on this thread, I guess it's time. I'm another MN skier. Was a longtime lurker who started occasionally posting a while ago. I've been away from tournaments for almost 5 years due to injuries (mine and my ski partners'), low water on 3 of the 4 lakes I regularly ski on (except for the biggest, busiest, public one), and new job, but have been getting after it lately despite getting a late start this year. Have become an M5 old fart now. Kind of a hack- have always had a big discrepancy between my practice and tournament PBs- tournament is 4@-35 and practice is 2.5@-39, but am working on getting back to consistent -35- was never consistent at -38, even in practice. Used to be a respectable overall skier, but never terrific in any event. Served 6 terms as president of the state association and 3 as VP, 2 as Regional Councilman, and was the second or third certified technical coordinator in the midwest region, but could walk past most of the MN ballers and they'd have no idea who I am- 5 years away is an eternity. In my mind I was one of the top drivers around in the pre-speed control era- the reality may be different. Rode the coattails of some of the top skiers around here for a long time (Including one ex-girlfriend who was ranked, if I remember right, as high as 10th in US and 18th in world while we dated), due to no merit on my part, but they let me hang around. Was in a meeting earlier today with a baller (spotted his name tag) but he bolted before I could accost him. Remember being introduced to JTH by the good Doctor Horton many years ago at some Nationals. Met thager in '77 or '78 when we went to rival colleges- maybe he can guess who...

Ski fever- for which there is no cure...

Anyone skiing with a Reflex R Type rear boot? It looks kind of appealing- a little more flexibility than a standard rear binding but much more secure than a strap. I've been on double boots for years and can't see going back to a toe strap, but this looks interesting. Going to try a hard shell system and I think it's either this or Jaeger's E boots. Tried some Stradas on and they felt pretty good, too. Advice?

Of course- guess I needed the full-head view...

Was that or was that not thager?

I found out that Coleman had a stock of them and bought their last 8 pairs of larges- got to agree with PBD and igkya- the workmanship was awful. I'm down to my last 2 pair and need to find some gloves I like- and it isn't Masterline curves- they just don't work for me- Radar and HO seem good (but pricey)- opinions?

Nevin PowerWrap gloves- I bought a half dozen at $8.00/pair, but have only one pair left...