crashman

I've decided that my only hope in this hips up thing is to generate enough speed across the wake to get around the buoy and about half way back to the white wash before I take any load from the boat- when I do that magic seems to happen. Otherwise I get pulled forward before I'm decent position and the rest of my pass is shot. I definitely can't get my hips up by just trying to get my hips up except for in the glide and through the gate. As the gate goes so goes my pass.

it seems like by the numbers that tournament skiing is a very small portion of the sport overall and tournament growth/contraction isn't necessarily indicative of the sport's overall growth/contraction. My club is full of guys like me- very passionate about the sport, spend a crapload of money on boats and equipment, yet haven't skied in a formal tournament. It's probably like tennis or golf where you have a few people that are driven to the most competitive aspect of the sport and many who find it more fun to ski in less structured settings. Back to @rodltg2 original thoughts I think there's some truth to it but that's like the guy who just enjoys playing tennis after work with his wife- there's no incentive for him to join the county tournament and that's ok. He still enjoys the sport, spends his money on equipment, follows the pros, gets his exercise. He doesn't diminish the sport by not participating in a formal competition, but he also doesn't join USA tennis because it's not a wise use of resources. I agree with the comments above about the benefits of tournaments and I'd like to ski one someday, but I don't feel like less of a skier because on Saturday I'll choose instead to head out to my local club, socialize with club members there instead of at a tournament, pull my kids and wife up and down the lake a few times, and ski 25 passes or until my arms fall off. Giving all that up is a tough sell when summer days are limited.

@ShaneH has anyone ever told you that you speak the truth! For the last two weeks I've been focusing nearly exclusively on my stance during the glide. Front ankle bend with tall stance= water breaking about 6 inches closer to the front of the ski and the next thing I know it's like I'm shot out of a cannon through the gate with about half the effort I'm used to.

For me it seemed like a struggle- I don't find it easy to unlearn 25 years of bad habits. I tinkered with the course off and on for a season a handful of times behind a v drive and finally rounded #6 after getting more serious and skiing behind good ski boats.

Prime conditions last night at the MWC!

looks like the seller is open to feedback- new price 12k

Not trick related but maybe there's some stoke here- we're having a birthday party for my son and he says "I'm going to put the buoys in". Next thing I know he's making a slalom course out of the balloons and "running the course"

I haven't tried the freeride so I can't help you there but I can tell you that on the Satori my wife ventured onto the course for the first time ever and crushed the novice buoys at 21.5 mph. The satori has very low resistance so it's easy to ride- it's kind of fun to ski for 20 minutes without stopping. That's probably true of the freeride also.

I started skiing because the older kids and adults looked so cool doing it- there was a guy who would dock start while smoking- I thought skiing and smoking at the same time looked pretty neat.

Awesome- you've made a crazy amount of progress. Looks like I'm going to get dusted by you in the Hoosier Buoy Tour! It will be the Hoosier no shame 15 off throw down.

Ski doc is great for the price. Rugged product and great customer service too. Good point about using the iPhone.

Yikes- hope she's ok. I was out for a year with a one in one out ankle injury with a fall like that back in my open water days

@buski she's tried everything from a Senate to a Connelly fat boy ski. She tended to like the good old O'brien Masters the best until now. She says she likes the Satori better than the traditional fat boy because it's lighter and easier to turn. No video this outing- we'll take some next time. As for the spray it did not seem that impressive- kind of like a wakeboard spray. But for now I found a go fast lake to ski on tonight so it's back to the Vice.

alright well the ski club is still off limits for another week so we decided to take the party boat out to the slow lake and test out the satori. We took another family with us, packed a cooler for dinner and went out with 4 adults and 5 kids in total. Watched an awesome sunset and had a great time. The lake is a local water company reservoir with a 20 mph speed limit- it's full of old dudes in pontoons and nearly always glass and the water conditions tonight didn't disappoint. My wife was the first off the platform. We usually bend the rules and can get away with 24 mph but the ranger was watching so we stuck the PP at 20 mph and away we went. I think the engineers at Radar must have secretly talked with her because I think this ski was made just for her. You see, she's not addicted to speed and floating balls the way most of us are but she's never really developed a passion for wakeboarding either. After her ride she had the biggest smile and informed me I could sell her wakeboard on ebay. She's telling me she's never really enjoyed skiing the way she did tonight. Next I took a turn. It definitely performs as advertised, low resistance, easy to get up on. The get up feels a lot like getting up on a wakeboard- I can see where guys that are used to boarding will find a familiar feeling in the Satori. I started at 15 off. Man the wake at 20 mph 15 off behind a V-Drive is something! I played around with 22 off, 28 off, did a bunch of pull outs, jumped some, cut some. At one point I found myself looking back to see the spray (should I even admit that?) For me it will never replace the need to turn buoys at increasing speed, but it's a ton better than wakeboarding and I could see myself goofing around with it regularly. I think this ski could introduce skiing to many who are intimidated by the speed and strength required to learn on a traditional slalom ski. I think people used to wakeboarding will especially like it. Will it be like a gateway drug?

Just got mine delivered and I'm hoping to give it a ride this weekend- right now our club is still locked out of the ski lake but there's a public lake close to me that has a speed limit. So hopefully slow ski will be better than no ski.

Awesome this is as good of a reason as any to order another handle this year so that I can order a shirt too.

anybody else have zebra mussels in their lake? they are invasive around here and they were accidentally introduced into our lake a number of years back. They are a pain in the neck but man did they clear up the water.

I'm not sure how correct craft works with dealer territories but I told him he should contract to get a promo.

@shaneH @swc5150 my ski partner was looking to buy a SN200TE last year- couldn't budge the dealer south of 70 so he still owns his LXI

How much for the Gatormod? This sounds like something I need!

Pediatrician

This one Wisdom lake is an hour or so south of me. I'm not sure what the story is- last year I was thinking about buying a lot on it and now the entire development looks like it's for sale before it got off the ground. http://www.landwatch.com/Decatur-County-Indiana-House-for-sale/pid/258456957

For a straight in course how many feet are needed prior to the 55s to be a comfortable setup. Will 300ft work?

The weather has been the main issue, though when I tried to ski the other night the main gate into the club was locked- it seems we may be under an owners lockout so it's back to open water while we negotiate.

Awesome job- I bet it felt great to ski in trunks. I wouldn't have anything better to tell you than the coaches did but good on you for tossing up some video.