Mortyski

I too have nothing to say....he wouldn't give my son or I the time of day in Calgary and I thought he was a pompous _ss

dun and I will lose 30.1 lbs if I win gotta beat AB some how

I do both. I enjoy snow skiing more since there is more variety...(powder, crud, groomers, DH,SG,GS,SL, steep, flats etc) and more freedom as you can do it by yourself if you have to or with a bunch of family and friends which is of course better. You can also snow ski all day long and water skiing two sets of 6 passes or so is all I can do on water. Having said that I have more respect for water skiing...you have to have an amazing combination of strength, technique and athletic ability. Water skiing is also more technical, I would say the fin and binding tuning is more important than wax...if you miss the wax you can still win but if your ski set up is really out you are in trouble What has been quite a treat is snow skiing in China....there are actually 3 credible ski hills within 3 hours of Beijing. I have been to almost 100 different areas around the world snow skiing so I can say the hills near Beijing are credible with some authority. You can't beat Utah on a snow day though. You guys at SLC have it made. (I'm from Calgary when I am not in Beijing) Despite my love for running gates...powder is still the best!

@ab. I pulled a pylon out of a boat once...it had my watch on it that my wife gave me....I was so shocked I let go of the rope so at the bottom of the lake is my pylon, watch, rope and handle...that was when I was younger...now I give pylons load tests each time I make a start, and not so much when I pull. I was probably 220 lbs at the time and pretty strong

Ni How @Ral...still in Beijing...get Wechat so I can talk to you....it's a free app and 300,000,000 Chinese people use it

ooops a few typos above but you get the message

@AB is correct. I bought a load cell (rope tension device), a GPS system (accurate to 20 data points per second within a 6 inch tolerance), a magnetic timer, Dartfish Video software, laptop and a few other things to capture / record: 1) the skier position in the course, 2) the rope load and 3) skier speed / acceleration. The data would be all versus the time with the plan to superimpose it on a Dartfish video...sort of like the vital statistics of the ski pass. This would be the ultimate data acquisition for ski schools and for ski design. This is equipment is at a ski manufacturer now...we cannot find anyone who can acquire the data from the devices and program the equipment to download into a computer...as strange as that sounds it has been difficult. So if you or any of your ski buddies is a programmer please get a hold of me or @AB...AB has my e-mail and Wechat ID I'm an engineering and my plan was to see what the pros did (how and when) vs what us mortals did by watching the data and looking at the video...we could also compare how everyone skied different passes....how different skis or set ups worked...all kinds of good stuff but despite the equipment being purchased it is just sitting not getting used since no one knows how to hook it up. The data and the video was going to be the ultimate resource on just what is happening on the pass, the playback could be in the boat or on short depending on the situation. I guess when you are an engineer that does not necessarily teach you to drive trains or program computers my best, Morty

Hide the women...you know what chicks think about big spray

thanks @schafer you are correct...2 sets yesterday and 2 sets today....as I mentioned I was communicating with wechat and misheard the number of sets for Rossi...I thought 4 was way too many but they started skiing early so I wasn't sure and I didn't know how many tie breakers he had to do I checked again with my son when he got home and I could talk to him and he corrected it to 4 sets in 2 days which on wechat sounds a lot like 4 sets today

thanks @E-T The problem is I can't get twitter...I'm sitting in China and it's blocked Thanks @JC McCAvit I didn't know how the women's slalom finished. Waterskiing is not front page news in Beijing

thanks...do you know what they all skied. I understand Chris Rossi had 4 sets today?????

I actually don't know who was first or second.... does anyone?

I heard from my son that Chris Rossi was third....this is unofficial but my son is at the event and was really stoked about Mr.Rossi It sounds like Chris has to take to the water multiple times today and skied more than anyone else (qualifying etc) and he ran all of his 39's. Rossi is one guy that makes 39 look easy. I talked to Chris myself through we chat and he was celebrating. Calgary has been good to him since his podium at the worlds there a couple of years ago.

Take it easy guys we just got electricity up there and some paved roads...what it the "internat" Just ask Rick Mercier one of the Canadian comedians "talking to Americans"

Hi @horton I normally live in Calgary but am in China at the moment. I've instructed my youngest son Ryan to seek you out and say hello to you from me...so if a blond young man says hello to you I asked him to. I suspect he will ask Sully or Rossi who you are since he knows them both. Enjoy Calgary John, Murray

The GPS system I bought acquires 20 data points a second within an error of 6 inches (actually more accurate than that since how much can the satellites move in 16.08 seconds). The GPS data will supposedly give us an accurate 3D path of a ski run. I also have a load cell to get rope tension data. Having said all of the above if this system works it will be easier to use than the GPS system and more accessible to everyone so I'm also waiting to see what it can actually do. I can see an application for snow ski racing as well as water skiing in a course I hope it works!

@horton. John have you ever tried the SFE at wide ride speeds with the oversized skis for the slower speed divisions. @ab always says my skis need mooring lights and their own slip at the dock they are so big (69 or 71 inch) The big skis don't turn fast and that is a frustration when you ski on them Seems to me if you could get the surface area support from a big ski that could turn on a dime there would be a big market ... Or at least a market for big people on big skis for the SFE Thanks Murray

Hi @mwetskier The tension measuring is the easy one to do and I have a tension device already purchased, but thanks for that suggestion. I also have a magnetic timer so that is done as well. The angle measuring is difficult which is why I opted for a GPS based system to get the absolute skier location and acceleration / speed / deceleration vs time vs tension in the rope as compared to the video. The plan was to actually have a screen chart of the skier location vs time, a chart of the speed vs time, rope tension vs time etc and have them superimposed on a Dartfish video which could have two skiers side by side so you could compare how "we" do it vs the pros. The data would feed across the graph as the skier moves through the course in relationship to the time in the course. You could then go back in the video at any time and see all the data to that point. The deal was of course to have a pro ski all the rope lengths at different speeds to get data sets. We could compare different pros on what they do vs the other pros, how a person changes things for the rope length and how a ski performs ie slow ski vs fast ski.

Hi @Skoot1123 I don't think an angle measuring device on the rope is easy to do. I looked for one and when I looked I could not find anything that would work so while the comment of just mount an angle device on the rope sounds easy enough I could not find anything to do that...so without the location of the handle (length of rope and angle) will acceleration mean as much? I"m working this system with a very large waterski company and once it is operational I want to put a system in the ski school of my favourite pro skier who also skis for that ski brand... so if there are any computer scientists or programmers out there reading this we have all of the equipment purchased we just need to tie the data acquisition to a computer and record / plot the data trends. my best Mortyski

Just to let everyone know I have been working on this for a while. I bought a GPS system that supposedly acquires 20 data points per second with a 6 inch tolerance. I also bought a tension measuring device load cell. I also have a magnetic timer to start the data transfer and Dartfish video analysis software. (Dartfish is the wizzy software coaches use for athletic motion analysis.) The plan is to measure the skier path, acceleration, deceleration, rope tension vs time in a slalom course and plot everything on a Dartfish video. Each skier will have their own fingerprint of when they pull, how hard they pull where and what acceleration / deceleration / speed they carry in the course as well as where they are in the course vs time. If you belonged to the Nichols Forum in the past you might of read about this system...we called it Lisa 2. The "evil" plan I had was to revolutionize ski instruction by getting scientific about what worked. From this data we could even do a better job of designing skis....and of course we could then define a slow ski and a fast ski I have been trying to get this going for a while. I'm an engineer but I cannot create the computer data acquisition program. If you have some interest in this development let me know. my best, Murray (Mortyski)

Hi Ed, We might be related, I'm on the Radar Theory as well. I'm sure KD made the Power Carve in a 69 inch version since I own one but for some reason, flex, inconsistent fin alignment or something it was nothing at all like the Kahuna Carv I loved. I actually took the Kahuna Carv out of the attic this summer and ran a few passes on it since I'm trying to convince my son's girlfriend to use a 65 in Power Carv until she gets a few more miles on skis. Watching me ski on it was proof it can really work as I was course skiing into short line with it. When I was fit and younger I actually ran some very short lines on a Kahuna Carv but those days are long gone now. Of all the skis I have ever been on the Kahuna Carv was probably my favourite. I just wore it out and could not replace it. I skied on the Kahuna (69 inch Power) Carv for years! So I'm hopin the Satori will be fun not just for jumping the wake but for actually skiing on it as well. We are a Radar family now and everyone but my one son who is still on an original Power Carv skis on Radar. my best, Murray

Hi Ed, I totally agree with you on the Icon Power Carv. I skied a Kahuna Carv for years and enjoyed life at 260+ lbs since there was really nothing else to support my weight in those days. I also ran some deep passes at 30 mph. I think KD got the shape and made the next version when Icon went out of business. For some reason the KD power carve wasn't the same as the Kahuna carve. We actually had almost everyone we skied with on a Power Carv...at least 10 skis in the neighbourhood. The Power Carv with the Slot fin was heaven at slower speeds! One of our sons still skis on it and won't give it up! I think the HO's, Radar's, even Goode's etc of today are missing the boat by not offering a high end carbon graphic Power Carv as that was a fantastic shape. They could target that wide ride division Int Ski Category and get all the market. I am also quite curious about the new Radar Satori. I snow ski a lot and it sounds like it could be a fun shape for a snow skier, so for sure we will have one at the lake next summer. my best, Murray

@jimbrake...thanks for the comment. I don't know how Nate did it (carry his speed across the wake so much better than anyone else) but watching him "live" from a slightly elevated place it was obvious the extra speed he was carrying. It's too bad the GPS / Load cell / Dartfish video system I was working on isn't functional I would love to hook him up and see the actual speed data. I still think it's a function of his ski length vs. weight, which complements with his great technique. I doubt he would accelerate as fast on a 65 inch ski which would be closer to the ski length he should be on for his weight. So I think because he is on a ski 2 inches longer than he should be he can accelerate and carry a lot of speed. The 67 inch ski isn’t so big for him that it floats away. It would be interesting if all the pros upped their ski size to see the effect. One thing for sure with the 67 inch ski the starts should be easy for him LOL

I watched him at the recent event in Calgary. His acceleration is noticeably quicker and his cross course speed is noticeably faster than anyone else…at least it sure seemed that way. I think part of his success is he is on a longer ski with less drag from the ski being sunk in the water. There might be a trade off of surface area drag but for sure he doesn’t sink very deep on that 67 inch ski for his weight. He’s not burly big and he is probably on the longest ski in the field with the exception of possibly Chris Parrish. He is certainly on the longest ski per pound of body weight. Are we missing something here that Nate hasn’t? The common wisdom is leaner, lighter = more balls…how about bigger ski that can turn for the weight = more balls as well. Watching him was a revelation on cross course speed. I have watched a lot of snow and water skiers in my life and I sure noticed something different about how Nate got across the course.

I don't have a man crush...Chris is young enough to almost be my son but I agree he is a fine fellow and we are cheering loudly for him from Calgary!