tbrenchley

Here is the round from the tournament...the video isn't great because the boat judge was secretly filming me to try and not "distract the skier" I really am a better skier than this but I've just had to get scrap mode out lately....oh and I nailed my gates this time!

@Klundell You should really learn to do the backslide to come out of that type of crash with all your joint capsules in tact

@Brady I would assume you know who my chiropractor is...he's the one that was driving and posted this video. Oh and you might see a follow up video because I just had another scrapping 38 where I might have been doing a backslide for even longer. People on the dock thought I was going to hit it haha

Is anyone else's back stiff this morning or is it just me? haha

It wasn't in a tournament and of course I didn't make the course as you will see my backslide around 6 ball but I'd put my 2 ball up against just about anyone. PS this was 38 off at 36 mph

and that my friends is a true 1/4 buoy score ;)

@toddl I'm down with the handle length being adjustable to the height of the skier to make it more fair for guys like me that are under 6 feet tall....I don't like that pros like CP and Nick Parsons pretty much have a line length advantage over me with their reach

I can't preach this enough and it's just as true at 28 as it is at 39 off...you can't continue to pull past the centerline of the boat! You only create down course speed and create no additional width before the buoy. I'm not saying edge change behind the boat just stop your progressive pull and start to come up. Watch any pro skier and they don't pull past the middle of the boat. Nate is by far the best at doing this which is exactly why he is the best skier. One thing you will notice is you have to protect the handle when you do this because if you are used to pulling past the second wake your timing requires you to reach early. Fight this urge and keep both hands on the handle as long as you can and ride the rope up higher on the boat

I guess I don't worry about being the same size since I ski on dual lock and don't expect to ever come out of the bindings since the plate on my ski releases. I actually prefer the larger size for my set up and the "bulk bungee" lasts me longer than the ones I get from radar for a lot less money.

Not going to lie...I thought twice before clicking on a thread titled "video dissection" that was created by someone named XRATED...

I guess since my dad and uncle no longer ski in tournaments and just do it for a fun little competition between the two of them they don't really actually ski because it's not a record capable tournament? I guess I would call them out if they started running around the dock claiming they are basically ranked #?? in the USA because their practice average is the same as a ranked skier that has a 12 month tournament average of the same score, but since they don't I'll just let them pretend like they can ski. Besides, @ntx why would you even tell us your practice PB of 4 @ 38 if it doesn't count anyway?

I'll just have to disagree with you @BG1. First, let's address the space to go out the exit gate, why would I need the same distance (41 meters) to get to the center of the course as I do to get all the way to the other side of the course to make a turn? Why should you get bailed out for running a terrible pass and squeaking around the 6 ball with enough time to S-turn, eat a sandwich and get back to the exit gates? Do or die mentality is just the way this sport is and it can be at any point in the pass, eliminating the gates is not going to change people trying to hang on to things that they shouldn't. Second, I've been skiing for many, many years and run the gates thousands of times and I'm sure I've hit my share of gate balls and never once has it even affected my ski and caused me to crash so I'd like to see if anyone else on here has ever had the gate ball monster jump up and bite you...anyone??? And to be honest with you I never use the right hand gate buoy as a reference point because it does disappear, but when it does reappear it's not a problem because I'm not trying to get as close to it as possible. It's a technical aspect of the course that only enhances the experience for me.

@ntx I just have to ask what your last tournament score was?

we turned off perfect pass about 5 years ago and I tried the course at 28 off full speed which showed as 42mph. I turned 2 ball but it wasn't worth trying again.

I don't think a ski adjustment is needed unless you have that problem every pass....looks like you just took a bigger turn than you should have, but way to fight for the pass!

I can't quite figure out what all the chatter is about changing the gates, moving the gates, removing the gates...it just doesn't make sense to me. As far as the points made in this thread, I'm not sure how you're going to make this sport any safer or more popular by making any change to the gates. Show me data where the gates are more dangerous than the 3 ball or the 4 ball because if safety is what you're looking for you might want to take Horton's advice and just narrow the course a little maybe even slow down the boat? I still scratch my head and wonder who came up with the center line rule that the gates are good if the center of your ski goes over the center of the gate ball...honestly who can really see that but let's not get carried away and just remove the challenge of the gates. I've had my gates pulled one time in the 10+ years I've been skiing competitively because I guess my centerline was an inch off but since then I aim for a foot inside the right gate ball and honestly I've never been late to the one ball. Heck if Regina can split gates at 41 off and get to the 4 ball I don't think nudging the right gate ball is what you should be working on.

My cure for back pain is go and see my ski partner Kevin who is a chiropractor...ever skier should have one! (A friend named Kevin and a chiropractor)

I buy mine from Smith and Edwards...it's a local surplus store. The bungee I buy is a little thicker but it works well and it costs me less than $1 to replace a lace (which is the only thing that breaks)

I just watched the webcast myself and there was no way Nate was going to be able to turn that 2 ball...I don't care if he was behind a Natique, it wasn't happening. He was way to slow around 1 ball and pulled all the way to two. IMHO

Yeah, I'd have to say that boat driver was pretty attentive....even in slow motion he was flipping around pretty quickly. haha But the last time I felt the rope get jerked like that after a crash my friend was getting a cast on her wrist but she wasn't skiing at 38 off 36 mph. So I was a little concerned.

I have the new strada boots on a g-10 plate using the interlock system. I can tighten them as tight as I want which makes the ski super responsive and I have no fear that in the event of a hard crash they separate from the ski to prevent injury. I would highly recommend them, they are super comfortable too.

Well I ski 36 and to be honest there is only one way to learn to ski it and that is to ski it. I've never dropped speed to 34mph to try a new line length. If you have zero off you can reduce the speed to 35.5 or something like that to try it out (Chris Rossi gave me that advice a few years back) but you have to ski 36 differently than you do 34 so there's really no reason to mess around with 34 once you can run it. My advice would be to go back to 22 off possibly 15 and get your 34 mph pass done and then speed up before you shorten the rope because you're just going to have habits that don't really translate at 36...especially the shorter the rope gets.

I have a few questions: Do you ski or intend to ski in tournaments? And how much longer will you be in the 36mph division?

can somebody that is on site at least post a few pics. I hear the conditions are crazy hard with rollers but would love to see some pics of the event!

Ok I'm not against the idea, but I have to ask who the "several" are that can get "mid way through" 41 off. Last I checked the world record is now 3 at 41 and I can't think of more than 2 women that can get through their 39 and only one of those get through it consistently. So realistically Regina is the only one that is going to have a chance but now there are guys skiing 4 and 5 at 41 off. Have one giant group if you want with men and women but what woman that averages 2 or 3 at 39 is going to sign up for that?