sunvalleylaw

Friday song showdown.

@ALPJr , not bad, but could be shortened to "Brostar II". ;) B)

I guess I believe this is not a ridiculous thread in that if one considers the thread title and the originally posed question, as against the desire to grow the sport, (I am defining the sport as slalom skiing, the focus here), high cost of entry is relevant. Along with access to good water, and a course, as @Horton pointed out in a podcast last year and elsewhere. I get what everyone is saying about margins, risk, etc. Hard nut to crack. As others have suggested, having the used market in line with what people can afford is key. Another road is retrofitting a pre-zero-off boat, if one can't afford a boat with zero-off on it. I couldn't right now at what they are costing. But it takes some amount of dedication to find a suitable boat for upgrade, find someone to do the work, and go through that process. As opposed to buying a used boat ready to go. Which I think speaks to @Ilivetoski 's point about the used market and barriers to entry into the sport of his demographic, young skiers coming out of school fired up to ski.

Yes. If it was available, and I had that kind of money. And also money to ask some good coach to come.

@Chef23 , if I do get a little discouraged, it is only fleeting. More like temporary disappointment that motivates me to keep going. Like I said before, on the snow or on the water, the course does not lie.

@Jody_Seal , are your September '17 estimates still about right? Pre-2006 Response?

So thread revival. I started this thread mid July last year, and I am posting a few days short of a year later. Turns out the humbling carries over year to year, though this year is less daunting, and I am better off than last year. Again, course time is the thing. I don't get enough. Had my first real course time last night, in a fairly stiff breeze pretty much head/tail wind. I have gotten some skiing done, but just free skiing other than my first warm up runs this year in May when I shadowed the balls at Gilbert Lake. Again this year, feeling like I have been skiing decently, and feeling ready to progress in the course. Then, I actually get in the course. Humbled. Again. ;) Made an opening pass part way through my set. But only one successful pass. Also, toward the end of the set, caught myself focusing too much on the ball and not enough on the process, and letting myself sink back out of that tall position @Horton was talking about in the other thread as I approached the ball. So obviously I need keep it that simple as he suggests and just get that done more consistently. At least I was able to be aware so I can work on it next time. Goal for this year: figure out how to get more course time without relying solely on the generosity of my buddy down at Black Butte. I of course help out and contribute, but still. No course in at the local public water this year, where there were two courses a couple years ago. Maybe I can find the guys that normally put in one of the courses and see if I can help them put one back in and maintain it. The reservoir looks to have enough water this year to keep the course sufficiently wet all season. Onward and upward!

Kinda like this. Love him, hug him, kiss him, and call him George. Joking aside, for me, I set up at stock recs, and go from there. So far, stock works well for me. I have always, or at least for a long, long time, been in the Kidder then D3 world. Each ski I have purchased has felt familiar and comfortable, but better each time. So, set up stock and start skiing is how I begin my relationship. And a little loving and kissing.

I was skiing behind a 1988 Seaswirl outboard with a 120 Johnson until the end of the season a couple seasons ago. When I stepped up to my current older Response LX. Following the path mentioned by @Horton and others here. Skiing at private lakes behind others' boats, I would LOVE to be in a position to step further up to a very recent year Mastercraft Prostar. I love the layout and design of the boat, how it pulls, the wakes at my top speed and especially impressed with the wakes at slower learning speeds. BUT, not sure if I will be able to justify that for my own boat. I may instead choose to stick with my Response and ultimately re-power it with Zero-Off installed, to try to get all my training and skiing time similar enough to private lake training and competition. Then continue to contribute to my friend's boat fuel or whatever else he needs so I have access to that experience. I understand the market, and the goal of the companies is to benefit the shareholders. I don't get why it seems to them that it is more profitable to price as they do now. But it has been going on long enough that it must be how the numbers work. The goal of opening up the sport to more of us is in the nature of the common good, not necessarily profit motive as determined by the market. Like having public parks and public access to water. Still, even if those are the numbers, it would be nice if some boats, even if more basic (I can use dials rather than touch screens, etc.) versions of the new boats were available at price points so the young entrants to the sport like @Live2ski , and guys like me that can't sink that much money into an item I use 4-5 months a year up in the mountains, could afford new, or at least newer. (I guess I am a new entrant to the sport in a sense, getting into comps in mid(ish)-life). So, I stand by my previous price opinion as "should." Price should be similar to MSRP of a strong enough, good enough truck to pull it. 35k.

I just wanted to pop in and say that I spent some more time over the last couple days watching the videos and looking at the information on Terry's site, and it gives very good information regarding the ski technique topics that are currently active here. (not that we shouldn't also discuss stuff here). I was thinking this morning that one video alone that he added this spring was worth the monthly fee, even if you stay only a month. Totally worth it. IMO.

$35K, maybe tops $40 for more decked out, and I suppose you could add more options. Good hull, good motor, decent seats and flooring, bow like the Mastercrafts, zero off. No sound at that price. Racks available as option. Seems to me if you can get a RAM 1500 starting at just below 28k MSRP, and a 2500 starting at just under 33k, you can put together a boat as described above for that. New 5.7L V8 1500 for 27.4k But, that is my subjective "should" only, and apparently the market says otherwise, and the companies make their shareholders more money pricing as they do.

The Falcon. Optional, add Millennial (snarkey) or Millenium (traditional) before Falcon. But I think it looks like a fast, strong Falcon. Native to Cali too.

I submit the following as a longer liner course skier who has been working on the same thing. I am not a coach and there are coaches here who have posted really good stuff. But I will share some of my focus. For me, straightening my legs more is necessary, and is a better cue than driving my knees. But how I do that is key. I can straighten my legs and still have most of my weight on my rear foot. So in addition to staying athletically erect in stance, I need to make sure my hips are more over my front foot. That happens for me not only by staying tall, but also by simply shifting my hips forward over that front foot. I suppose it would be ideal to be balanced and not totally focused on the front foot, but while I work on it, feeling weight planted more on the front foot helps in the correction. In practice runs, I can check in at various points in my run and feel where I feel weight on my feet, and attempt to adjust from there. Also, for me, standing up and straightening my legs cannot mean locked out. If I ski locked out, and do not keep some flexibility and touch in my ankles and knees, I tend to get bent at the waist. Not a good feeling for a guy that blew a disc L4/L5 in the past. In that, it feels to me like a nice tall athletic stance that is not completely static and rigid. Chest and shoulders up over hips, hips over feet, and for me, emphasis on the front foot. Getting in that stance in the glide, and any time I am coasting or gliding behind the boat before getting going helps. Now I want to make sure I am there in the top portion of the turn as I come out of the working section and approach the ball, and that I do not let my hips or center of mass fall back there. Again, I am not a coach, and I am just sharing what seems to be working for me.

@gregy I borrowed a pic of your boat from another thread, as it is a good comparison. Our boats are quite similar. I like where you placed your numbers. I just need to decide on color of the interior of the number, and the border. Again, white with bright blue border, or bright blue with white border. I think both would look nice. And I would order in the Malibu font.

ID Boat Number Reqs So according to this, they should be just under the rub rail. Color should contrast sharply, but no specific requirement as to actual color. The bright lighter blue (a Malibu blue like the lighter blue in the large malibu sticker) bordered with white should be ok. But I might consider white with vapor blue border. And @griff1008 , yeah, that was the plan. The Malibu font like the larger sticker. I could also select a "Response" font with the top corners of the numbers/letters cut off at a 45, but I don't like that as well.

Also, I will be ordering nicer numbers. Kinda thinking on the navy blue under the rub rail, with Vapor Blue outlined with white, in the Malibu font. From Domed Numbers.

I am finally going to replace the numbers on my boat. Here in Idaho, things don't get checked much so I was pretty lazy about that. So, prior owner had the numbers lower down, under the strip of color that is under the rub rail. I have seen others with numbers there, but also, numbers just under the rub rail. What say you guys?

OK, re-boot. Post your skiing and fun. All skiing is good, but extra points for family and friend skiing and introducing new people to the fun that skiing is. No self points awarded, but it was so fun that I have to share that I did have a great day with Muffy Davis and her husband Jeff Burley, their daughter Elle (10) and my daughter Anneka (15). Elle killed it on her first runs ever and is immediately an addict. My daughter Anneka had two firsts. After getting up a couple times last year on a slalom ski by dropping (she always wakeboarded before), she successfully deep water started a few times on a Connelly Crossfire oversized ski, and then shredded it, standing very well and naturally on the ski and getting outside both wakes turning easily back and forth. So happy about that! After she is sure she has the deep water start down, will try her on a nicer slalom. Also, Anneka pulled me for the first time under the guidance of Jeff, and did well in a fairly tight little bay we were skiing in, with turns similar in size to a slalom lake. Really excited about that too, as now I have a driver in training. Jeff skied, after not having skied in a few years, and is motivated to continue. I freeskied and felt good. A little bit Aussie water, but that's ok. Helps me keep my knees softer and not tempted to lock out. Decided to freeski at 28' off today to play with a little swing and work on hooking up the power triangle with good position on the ski. It was amazing to watch Muffy, who is a former paralympian and medalist in snow skiing and cycling, handle herself in the boat with no special accommodations, and ski turning and cutting hard, with no control of her body below the center of her sternum. Pretty amazing. Inspiring to the rest of us to get on with it and live. She really enjoyed it, and I think this will turn into a fairly regular family day for us. Sorry, no pics this time for me. I was having fun and left the phone in the truck. Next time. We were at Magic Reservoir south of Hailey and Sun Valley. Pretty windy for us at first, but it settled down and things got a lot nicer by evening time on these long nights we are having this time of year. Also, my Response LX is such, such an improvement over our old outboard in terms of not only wake and pull, but safety in and out of the boat, skiers on and off the step, etc. Though we got it done with the old outboard, it was a bit of a shite show by comparison. Happy skiing!

Sorry to hear about the disc. Best wishes for full and speedy recovery.

New journal entry. Fathers' Day weekend, 2018. Pretty viking weather this trip. Skiing was good though! We got our runs in between squalls, and before the inclement weather set in long run. Hopefully, warmer ski days are coming. PS, I am the guy in the goofy sun hat.

By all current measures and tests, I should be right foot forward. I kick right, right rear on a skateboard, snowboard, surfboard, Use my left to push on a skateboard, etc. Just when I learned slalom on an old Connelly wood Hook in the 70's, it felt weird to have right forward, and I could somehow get up better behind the old little outboards we skied behind dragging my right and standing on my left. Not sure why it felt weird, or better to have left forward. It just did. If I remember correctly, I had more successful deep water starts on my left forward, so that is how the decision was made. Too late to change now I guess.

I am not too picky either way. Our boat is old and has older grey glued in carpet. We live in the west. The carpet is cromulent for now. If I replace, I may go with deckadence or something like that. Or I might see if they make some covering out of woven bamboo or something similar that could be snapped in. Also, I do tend to have people take shoes off, but I am no drill sergeant about it. In other peoples boats, I presume off until told otherwise.

@oldjeep , I have saved enough skis of the ones I really liked over the years that I am making an adirondack chair out of them. Just need to get to the hardware store and get a blade that cuts metal. There will be some Elans in there (my old twin tips), maybe some old rossis (turn of the century slaloms, bright yellow), my Elan boomerangs (finally dead powder skis, pictured in my avatar pic), mebbe some old Heads, Oh, and a pair of RD Zero G slalom skis that were Elans in drag, with a made in yugoslavia sticker on them. And maybe my K2 V's. I can't bring myself to cut up the old VO's. Plus, they were foam with no metal, and I am not sure how well they will hold up as chair lumber. If I could figure out a way to work my old Duvall slalom in there, I would. But can't think of how that would work.

@oldjeep I have a race stock set of VO's ordered through a buddy whose brothers may have been olympians, which were way too stiff for me, though I could handle a "normal" pair of VO's just fine. These ones had the pink and grey KVC top, as that was what the company was selling then. But these were definitely very stout VO's, with the massively thick all foam with tons of fiberglass construction, and split steel edges. I still have them in a shed, with the MRR's on them. I keep threatening to bring them out in for some goofy day spring skiing, but am a little concerned I might hurt myself. ;)