akale15

@Than_Bogan, there is a another good pitch for USA Water Ski #lifeonthewater. Buoy counts are fun and probably what I enjoy most but so many people lack access to a course and private water. For most the real memories for are made on public waters. It was for me up until college when I started skiing the course. I was fortunate enough to have grandparents that had lakefront property and I spent every summer at up there until I had a drivers license and started a job. But even then I was less than an hours drive and I spent every possible weekend in the summer up there. It is where I learned to ski, drive a boat, made friends, and where I met and married my wife. This year however has been different and life has brought my wife and I to TN while she finishes school. For the first time in my 25 years I have had to figure out something else to do on the weekends this summer. Obviously this is just a temporary thing and hope to share what an impact skiing and the lake has been on my life with a friends and children of my own one day.

@mmosley899 Went skiing with some friends in Manchester, TN a few weeks back and noticed some skiers with the OB4 system which prompted the conversation and the connection that I was talking with your daughter, son and law, and grandson. Very nice people and another realization to how small the water skiing world actually is. I was excited to be able to check out the OB4 system first hand and needless to say, as expected, was impressed. I am anxious to save up and make the purchase of my own.

http://ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/10229/yes-thats-a-brand-new-quest Sorry @chris_logan I just looked at this again and couldn't figure out how I came across that link, then when I went back through this I realized clicked on it from your post here. Long day and way to many BallOfSpray tabs at the top of the screen. Guess that means I should get back to work!

IN, MI, OH, IL, FL, LA, TN @OB in 6 years of course skiing I have only skied on a total of 14 or 15 different courses so 49 in one year is extremely impressive.

@Horton that being the case, then absolutely have it the same weekend as a festival.

Little update on my thoughts based upon the thread the last few days.... CA would probably be top choice if I had no limitations, and could promise to always have water... UT would be a great option as well esp. seeing the views @scotchipman shared. AZ and TX would offer great year around skiing and very open job market (TX specifically) FL there really would be no question on finding a place to ski MN is def. for those that love cold, harsh, long, white winters, and just a few months of skiing Can't say I would ever move to the NE. And to be quite honest, with a few exceptions of course, I am not even sure if there really are any Central Time Zone states (sorry ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, AR, MO, IA). However, after getting the wife involved (since I guess she will be the one making the money and will be keeping my dreams alive of being a permanent ski bum) she has put the halt on the trip West (to far from family) and has insisted (non-negotiable) on living in the South where the options are either live on a lake with mountain views, or live near a lake in an ocean/beach community. So for now it seems that TN, NC, SC, GA, FL are currently in the mix. Personally I think I'm in favor of (east) TN but have faith I could be happy anywhere we (she) choose(s) as long as I'm still skiing!

keep it simple and see what size turnout you get, over time build up, unless of course you know you have the sponsors and they would be willing to take a risk to see a future potential gain after a few years of the event. just my $0.02

This is pretty awesome, agreed @mwetskier many of these actions sports are going to see speeds in excess of 25 mph and are going to want to shoot for longer than 20 min between charges but this is a huge start. And if they really sell for just $500 bucks, GoPro and the other remote controlled camera drones better be hitting the drawings boards. Guess we will wait till 2016!

@Craig beautiful looking site!

it is probably @Horton playing tricks

really appreciate the input so far and the defending of your home state @oldjeep ! as for MA @Than_Bogan, I left one lousy climate in IN and now have found myself in a lousy area with no boat or ski sight within an hours drive. but would have to agree about the job market, know a good number of people working out that way. my biggest complaint about indiana was if we were going to have winter, make it a winter. We hardly had enough snow to snowmobile, it was at least a weekend trip to MI to snow ski (which got expensive), and we would go a week of super cold then a week of pretty warm and you loose any progress for the lakes/ponds to freeze over. as for Utah @scotchipman, we have been very interested in the West but know nothing of the ski scene outside of CA of course. and good point @TallSkinnyGuy about living near the lake and willing to drive for some snow skiing. It is much more difficult to get in the car and drive an hour plus for a 20min ski session. I would have to say Texas has been on the radar so I was glad to hear the input @Bruce_Butterfield and @klindy

same thing here currently on chrome, had me confused too.

Originally from northeast IN my wife and I currently reside in middle TN why she finishes physicians assistant school. With right about a year till graduation we have been getting into some serious conversations on where to move to next and have constantly been changing our mind. I currently work as an electrical project manager for a MEP contractor and when shes finished she can pretty much get a job anywhere but me not so much, so me finding a job is one stipulation. If we are not on the water we are out hiking/camping, fishing/hunting, and of course beer tasting. We have been enjoying the TN landscape, much more than good'ole flat IN, so we are looking for an area that has a little more to offer than just great ski sites (ex. FL) although would like to be able to ski at least 9-10 months of the year. And lastly we want to avoid the BIG cities (pop. ~500,000+) but this one I am afraid we are going to have have to settle on to a point. So with that I throw this out there and thought I would reach out and ask you to weigh in on what makes where you live the best place to live, work, and ski. Or where you might move to if you could? Because at 25 with no kids I don't want to get caught someplace wishing I would have looked for something more...

Do ski buddies count as gear? With no boat or permanent ski site, I would have to say my fellow ballers that help keep me skiing would be my favorite. If not I would have to say either my vest or warm top, but would probably default to my warm top as I am grateful for it every season. Between chilly spring waters or cool fall air it helps me extend my season every year.

@Chef23 I asked my self that question for years! Wife and I just moved from northeast IN to middle TN. Was back in IN this week and saw about a 10-15 degree difference from TN and all the trees where just starting to bloom. Got back home last night to a forecast showing the next 10 days of 82 plus with all the trees already full of leaves and my grass needing to be cut for the 5th time this year.

Makes sense @mmosley899, guess I didn't realize they were that new. I haven't been looking at replacing my bindings for quite some time but as I did the old ski inspection preparing for this summer I am starting to get to the point where I am going to need to soon. Haven't read a negative review yet from the research I have been doing here recently. That means good business for you!

I am in a similar situation as @fox197 when it comes to choosing between a Reflex or OB4. I have been looking at changing from double high wrap HO animal bindings to a hard shells. Gathering from the conversations posted here it seems OB4 seems to be the preferred and potentially safest choice but agree with @Hipsup that the Reflex boot is very popular. Not getting to ski as much as I would like to right now the thought of loosing any time on the water due to an injury is the last thing anyone wants to do. Cost always is a big factor for me but it seem the investment with hard shell bindings is definitely money ahead between the actual construction of the boots and potential medical cost. They are obviously well liked too as I don't seem to find any used options out there. Guess I better start saving my pennies and give them a go next year.

ski-it-again.com always has a ton. For example: http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?endless=summer&topic=Search&category=Comp_Boat&postid=31390

Most of my gear falls into this category. If I were to update I would likely purchase a like new (2-3 year) ski and in the future I wouldn't look at anything newer then a used (4-7 years) boat.

Now of course we would all love to use and own the latest and greatest equipment but that is not always obtainable. So taking a look at your gear (boat, skis, wearables, accessories, ect...) what is your "newness" expectation and are you willing to pay for it? Now I understand you may be willing to pay for the new ski but not the new boat so make a judgement call and average it in your poll voting and explain with your response.

The cost of a new boat is astronomical these days and to think the ski boats are on the low end of these competitors market. Reading some comments in the new slalom organization discussions people were talking about the expense of the sport and how there has been such a large increase of interest in wakeboarding. @GAJ0004 mentioned he walked into a dealer and the sellers first push was to try and sell of wakeboarding boat. All in all we look a the cost of our sport, and yes I agree it is an expensive hobby/lifestyle, but the wakeboarding business has to be way more expensive yet it consumes the market. The price of a new wakeboard or surf boat is almost 2x the cost of a ski boat. Not to mention fuel cost is going to increase. It is hard for me to put this "cost" in perspective because I am just a few years out of school myself and still have a wife in grad school but the thought of owning a boat and finding a lake to use it on still seems so unreachable. I would venture there are a lot of people out there, myself included, that are having a hard enough time just finding a boat to ski behind, let alone finding someplace with course access. I think the interest is there but skiing doesn't offer the flexibility that wakebaording does. Now days anyone with 18' boat and within a short drive from a public lake can go wakeboarding. They don't have to go searching to find private lakes with a course and club dues. Public lakes are free advertising for the wakeboarding business. I think the biggest issue is the slalom skiing family has isolated themselves (and not necessarily by choice). If you haven't grown up around tournament sking your whole life it makes it hard to get started. My first exposure was when I went to college and I have done my best to stay involved but like I mentioned above it is hard enough sometimes just to find a local pull. Just a little food for thought...

What is the correct handle position for LFF and RFF skiers? I have been reading contradicting reports so I'm unsure which is correct? It seems there is an advantage and I would like to start this seasons free skiing off with some correct technique if in fact I am holding the handle incorrect.

Try and utilize other teams for resources. Don't be afraid to ask what other schools are doing, what events they hold, how they fund raise, keep relations with the alumni, promote the team on campus, ect. Have weekly meetings around the season and monthly meetings or get togethers during the off season, and elect office positions if you haven't done that all ready. Just staying organized and distribute the workload will help your busy college student issue. Talk to companies around campus, or have the team members talk to families about sponsoring some money. Someones mom or dad is bound to own a company and could donate even $100 here and there. It's a tax right off for them. Find an adviser on campus and get them involved in the student organization. With all the student organizations a university paid employee can be of a great assistance with the support between the school. Have the team members talk around with professors they like and find out if any have been involved as an adviser to a student organization. Promote, promote, promote on campus, all year around! Have monthly call-outs now until the end of the school year. Get people involved who are interested even if they have never been behind a boat before. Don't be afraid to teach them, after all we are here to have fun. The more members you can get the more money you raise and more networking you can do. During my college ski team days we had a whole group of kids who were a great part of the team and their first or second time behind a boat was a school. You don't have to have the "best" skiers on campus....that will come with time, promotion, and a lot of hard work. One thing we did is had boat on campus day. Not sure your situation but if the team has a boat or if someone can bring there boat to campus and hand out flyers with contact information and call out dates. As for coaching, your current team is your best resource. Help each other out and work to make each other better. If someone has a friend of family member that can come and give pointers that great too! We never had a "coach" during my time in school but all helped out and utilized our best skiers for resource. Video cameras help too, this allows for some self eval. Hope this information helps, if you have more questions feel free to PM me. Purdue Waterski Team Alumni

Usually just watch football, go hunting, drink beer, and eventually shoveling snow. Around late Feburary early March start trying riding my bike, weather depending. Hope to be in enough shape to get back on the ski early May. Atleast for now, that routine will probably change as I get older.

What team? Get ahold of someone from Purdue's team. We leased boats every year when I was there. A current officer should be able to help you out and give you some insight. BOILER UP! http://puskiteam.wix.com/purdue-waterski