RazorRoss3

I've always found that where they are sets me up 20+ ft early to the one ball so I'd be a fan of right where they are to answer the question posed in the discussion title.

Is it just me or does it look a lot like a Strada only with a higher ankle? In other words are we going to be seeing discussions titled "don't over tighten profile bindings" soon? The orange looks cool though

Practice I'll ski anything short of white caps, anything short of pouring rain (and that doesn't always stop me), and on my home course you can throw some fishing boat wake in there as well. In tournament the drivers say they can't drive the course before I say I won't try the course. The university of Iowa waterski club got 3rd at 2012 conference because we all practice in crap all the time and conference was a 15mph straight up the lake all weekend and was 60 degrees and no one else could ski in the cold and the wind. Since the standard tournament comes equip with a 10+ wind I think that practicing in anything just makes you more prepared for when it counts.

I agree, I start skiing when the ice goes out and stop shortly before it comes in so my worst is at the beginning of the season and my best is usually towards the end although once it starts getting cold and I'm not getting as many sets as mid summer I don't Improve very much.

I made this mistake 2 hours ago and coming around 3 ball at 28 off out of position I skipped the ski out and slid across the water, my back foot came out of the toe strap and the water caught the tip of the ski and jammed it towards me. My foot did not come out and I jammed my ankle pretty good. Second set I didn't over tighten and fixed a pulling position problem and had a lot more fun. You need to tighten it enough to feel like the ski will respond to your movements but not any tighter than that.

Righties have an onside cut through the gates has always been my argument here, 1 ball might be my off side but with an onside cut to it if I can't set it up like magic I'm doing something very wrong.

It's a cool idea but the rope isn't a very stable mounting location and I think that between fast motions, and possible slack I'm not sure if the video you got would be any use as far as reviewing and learning although it would probably be great for promotional videos. I'm personally a fan of the quality and simplicity of giving the spotter a camera and telling them to follow the skier.

No arguments here. It's a good ski at a good price.

@lahey, might be interested. He's riding a pretty old stick at this point and could use a new one.

@mwetskier, wow... I'm pretty sure the bottle says not to exceed 2 per day. Not like I haven't gone through three in a day over the course of a 3 round slalom tournament before but not in a few years. I make no argument to the claim that 5 hour energy wakes you up I've just personally tried to cut back a little. I do agree with the concept of not chugging the thing down, I've found half now half in a little while moderates the jittery side effect fairly well.

As a once one a day drinker of 5 hour energy I can attest that the stuff works pretty well for the most part and is incredibly convenient. However it has a tendency to give you a little to much to quick so that you feel jittery instead of energized. Now I only drink them when I'm on long road trips or early ski mornings.

At collegiate Midwest regionals this year a wake boarder in the trick event threw two flips on a board with no fins behind a tournament boat and was able to get plenty of air time to pull it off. I think it would take a few years but wake boarders would start switching to the tournament boats for the sake of practice and it would also lower the cost of practice in that event since the tournament ski boat costs a lot less than the sometimes 6 figure wakeboard boat. I think if you got the word out that we were including the event (4 event skiing) or were making the trick rules more wake board friendly that they would start showing up.

@mattP, I like the indo board as well, push ups are fun on it especially.

In collegiate skiing (particularly in the Midwest) we advertise our teams as water ski and wakeboard clubs for the sake of attracting as many due paying members as possible. In my time on the team I've seen a wake boarder run buoys at 26mph 15 off at collegiate nationals on a wakeboard, I've seen a wake boarder throw 2-3 flips in a trick run, and I've even seen one hit a ramp (a lot of work to 3/4 for only 60 ft.) The way we run the tournaments is that in trick the board can't have fins and is scored like a skier riding 2 skis so everything is half credit other than flips which are full, in slalom there is a natural disadvantage because the board just doesn't turn sharp enough to run a full speed pass and the toe side is a pain, and when some knuckle head tries to jump they hardly break 40 ft. on a ride over. I would see no reason that non collegiate tournaments couldn't move towards this as a first step and then start integrating a wakeboarding event in as we moved forward. It would shrink the ever growing size of wakeboard boats if we made them use the same boats as we use for the other 3 events, they would start learning some boat etiquette so they wouldn't be constantly ruining the water, and more than likely they would start moving into the other events further growing the sport.

Eat, go to the gym, eat, study, eat, sleep, repeat. (additional eating and lifting as deemed fit)

I always have a handle more because I like to have my own handle for the dimensions. I usually have my own rope to make sure I've got one.

I wanted to say thanks to everyone who posted here to help, we found some Radar Lyrics cheap with bindings though and I think that's what the girls are going to go for. Great to see how helpful everyone in this sport is and have a great season everyone.

Neither did I but as I said when we did it looks like we live to ski another day.

the 65 sixam is a great ski and served me well until I moved into 36 where it wouldn't stay in the water through the turns and would be a great ski for either of these two but I would like to see that one stay in the family a little bit because it's such a great ski. I have been looking around a little bit for one of those since it was such a good ski for me and it looks like while it is no longer in production that O'brien is making a new ski that uses the same shape but with a few tweaks I guess. Not sure what they changed really but it could also be an option. As for the 68" Nomad I'm thinking that might be a little too much ski for either of these ladies to handle at their skill levels especially since I'm a little on the small side for a 68" Razor and I'm not exactly a little guy. If I were to guess I'd say that neither of them have feet as big as yours or mine Dave.

I've got until about mid October I think but after that the temps start getting low enough at night that the Club needs to winterize the boats.

@denoski, I've never skied a Strada, is it the right kind of ski for a skier who will be spending the majority of their time between 26 and 32 mph for the near future? @rico and @chef23, both of those skis look like they are what I was hoping to find so let me talk to the ladies and try to get back to you later today. Thanks for the help and the quick response to the post.

I've got two women's skiers on the University of Iowa Waterski Team that are looking to get their first skis. Since they are new to the sport they don't exactly need a Radar Vapor or anything like that so I was wondering if anyone had any older skis collecting dust that they may be interested in selling. We're looking for 66" skis with a wider body like the O'brien Sixam 2.0. If you have anything that fits the bill that you are willing to part with let me know either by commenting on this post, or emailing me (mjr660683@gmail.com).

Despite a rather shaky start to our collegiate season this year and losing some amazing skiers last year the University of Iowa Waterski club has successfully 3-peated our way to the Midwest Collegiate Regional tournament after an 8 year drought. The team came in 8th out of 18 making the qualification with one place to spare, our vice president medaled 5th in men's trick and 3rd in men's overall, yours truly medales 3rd in slalom, and numerous members skied personal and tournament bests the weekend it really counted. We'll be practicing hard this week and coming to play at PITS lake in Decator, IL this coming weekend. Wish us luck.

Yes and I wouldn't say I won't do it again, right now I'm at 1@35 big boy speed.

My powerlifting is to my skiing as a nicotine patch is to a cigarette if that's what you mean about hooked. It's the only thing that keeps me (relatively) sane in the off season but nothing compares to slalom.