BlueSki

On the way to Sedona you could hit Jerome, which was a gold mining town until hippies found it in the 60's and brought it back. The town is in the Mingus Mountains and has some great views. There is also the Verde Valley Railroad where you can take a several hour trip.

I did not buy my truck (or my boat) to save on gas. To respond to the author of the article, not the original post, we, the U.S., have a huge tracts of land and consequently a much lower population density than our BMW-exporting friends. Our transportation infrastructure is built on the highway system so we own more cars per capita... of course we burn more gas. I often forget, however, that the European rail system runs on unicorns and kittens barfing rainbows.

All it needs is a pool table and a urinal and you are done.

H2O Proshop had the Claw 2 cheaper than others so I gave them a shot for my annual "here, you can give me these for Christmas" handoff to the wife. I am used to neoprene on the back of the hand, so this feels a bit different. The palm seems good, so we will see how it goes in the spring.

 

Does anyone have experience with the Connelly Claw 2.0? Any Good?

http://www.bartswatersports.com/catalog/Water_Ski_Gloves/Connelly_Claw_2.0_Gloves/index.asp

 

You probably would have been fine until you asked the question online. I am sure the NSA forwarded your information to the local authorities.

That is one hell of a concentration of ski lakes, we need more of those across the country. Just curious if all of the lakes are ever in use simultaneously.

There is no finish line. You just have to enjoy the ride.

@FrankS, the only thing missing from that vest are the molle straps so that you can attach a holster. Might help to take out the ski-grabbing monster that lurks around 5 ball.

A boat needs at least a little bit of color on it, or you should replace the name down the side with the generic "Boat". I recommend blue, but I am biased.

 

http://blog.omahype.com/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/4115790935_17e4832fec.jpg

I am on the S2 as well. If I ski through the turn in good position, it's ability to maintain speed back to the wakes is great, but push on the tail hard to complete the turn and you are doing the opposite of what the ski does best... making it easy on you.

This video will never let you forget. Consider yourself warned that this will damage brain cells.

 

I recently used the new Prostar commercial with all 3 events. It is well produced and the engine rev sounds cool. Most of my colleagues have no idea what skiing is about, so a few seconds of cool video do the job. None of them have followed up with technical questions.

Looks like I am going with the Lyric. I found a great deal on a new 2012 close out that was too good to pass up. If it does not work out, expect to see the ski for sale next spring. It sounds like that will be unlikely, however. Thanks to everyone for the input on the different skis. Hopefully, she out skis this one's capabilities and I have to get her a high-end ski in coming years.

Sad to see him go. I remember reading the story about how he hurt his back. He was in college during the depression so he would hop on trains, riding the box cars, from Miami University to his home in Toledo. He hurt his back when he was thrown from the train by a couple of hobos that wanted his food.

+100 on any woman that thinks a ski boat in the garage is more important than new furniture!

@JayG80, I will have to pass, I think I will keep her and I need a driver at times... although, I wonder if the post could be construed as an offer. If so, and if @Horton draws my name on the Goode, she might prefer sunny CA. Watch out, she's very cool but does not take any crap... she can hold her own, the poor woman has to with me.

 

@bassfooter, yes I would love to hear from some of the female ballers that have ski suggestions... and yes, I am very lucky.

 

@AB, thanks for the feedback on the Lyric, it looks like a good option, and given that her current ski is red, black, and gray, I think she would enjoy a bit of pink. Unfortunately @GOODESkier's wife's lyric has the wrong size bindings. I think @Wish's recommendation of a D3 Z7 is worth pursuing too. I am tempted to find something at that level of ski so she can continue to improve with it and not ski past its ability like @GOODESkier's wife did.

 

Message sent via SIA.

@GregDavis, that was at the top of my list.

I am thinking about a new ski for the Mrs. this Christmas to replace her old KD Evolution. She skis fairly well on it and is skiing the course at 24.9 longline, but is still getting the hang of rounding the buoys. She wants to get better and is finally driven to ski the course. I can't do the try-before-you-buy deal with her, she will guffaw at the idea of a new ski. So if I get her one and it does not work out, I will just sell it. Any thoughts on the Radar Lyric and how well that ski works through 15 off or should I look for a bit higher-end ski? Any other recommendations, besides buy her some jewelry too?

Well, crap. I was about to drop tracings in the mail. To answer your question @brewski, one is an In Tow 12 inch radius, one is an Accurate 13" straight, and the last a Connelly Prophecy small daiameter.

I plan to do the tracing this weekend, so hopefully snail mail has them to late next week. Those look great.

The EXOs were comfortable enough, but I took the lack of HO team skiers using them as a compelling indicator.

@rockdog, I would not hesitate to use the R-style. I had similar concerns and have found that the back foot liner is key. Just for grins, I tried a thin, but high wrapping liner on my back foot last night. I had a strap from an old Sahara dry suit around my ankle for that rear high-wrap feel. It was horrible. My back foot did not feel secure, it was hard to get out of the water, and I skied poorly. The thin liner created the problem I was concerned about. I stopped my set, put a thick liner in, not the thick one that came with the binding, but my old EXO boot. I instantly felt better. I was secure, comfortable, and skied better. The old EXO boot is very similar to the boot that came with the binding. There is enough of a heel cup with the R-style that I feel good in it. I used the thin liner that came with the bindings on the front foot and followed Mapple's tighten in recommendations.

I made the switch from EXO Pro to Reflex with R-style this weekend. The bindings are so much lighter than the EXOs. So far I am two sets in. I followed Mapple's advice on set up and buckling in his video that has been posted on BOS several times... very tight on the rear foot. I had a similar rear-boot-feel concern because I have been using hard shells for so long, so I decided to use the EXO liner on my rear foot just for familiarity. I took it easy for the first couple of passes but quickly felt comfortable. At first I was taking too big of a bite in my offside turns, but with a self-provided reminder I started to ski well. By the end of the first set they felt fine and in the second set I was skiing as well as I have all year, in fact, better. What was significantly different was the improvement I felt in being connected to the ski, I was not anticipating feeling that change so substantially.