Brady

Yaah, that is the place!

Hey Ballers, I am planning a boys trip down to powell at the end of the month. Will be down there on my houseboat for 4 days. If any of you are interested in heading down, we could make it a BoS affair. I will have my portable course set up and we will have a couple of ski boats and my buddies G25 for "other" activities. And quite frankly, my houseboat kind of rocks! Let me know if you want to come and see the prettiest place "with water" in the world.

Chris, another thing I noticed today is the width of your spray. It seems you are jamming down the back foot to get it turned. One thing I have found interesting is this; last week when I was in Lake Powell skiing with some buddies, they made the comment that I have two levels of sprays. My spray around the ball was about 1/2 of the size of the spray coming into the first wake. I never realized this before, but when I do it right, it is easy to grip the handle coming into the first wake. When I do it the other way, it is all I can do to maintain my grip coming around the ball. Fast behind the boat equals easy relaxing turn at the gate, imo..

@SM I have "long fat legs" unlike normal people. Do you find me scary? Oh, and I am also extremely hairy and I like to hang out on docks!!

75%, but I didn't answer two questions because the time ran out....didn't see the damn timer. Oh and @scotchipman, "I have no idea which question I got wrong, I know all of the answers" there lies the problem. you THINK you know all the answers!!!!!! :)

@Horton That is for damn sure....many of us are whack nuts. Just look how my wackiness is reflecting on a my 14 year old--she is almost a lost cause. This is why I am so grateful to put Ellie on a pedastal, so I can get my girls back on the straight and narrow!!!!!

@MISkier wouldn't it be impossible to travel slower than the boat speed? That is a constant, and physics would say that you are always traveling at that speed. ?? Maybe not.

@AB. But did you take into account how close Wade's face is to the water when he crosses the wake? I believe it is called the "balls component" So, with the conversion rate, 55.2 mph times the balls component ratio of 1.5, he is traveling roughly 75 mpg!!!

I would think that you would always be at 34mph at the apex of the turn. That is when you are at your slowest speed. I would like to get a radar gun on top skiers as they are crossing the wakes. I would think the speed is much higher than what one would think. Time frame is easy. I measured just under .5 seconds from the apex of the the turn til the first wake.

Okay, here is a technical question that I know guys like @Than_Bogan and others will love. I also know this was discussed in the last couple of years, but I couldn't find the thread, and I think this is an interesting topic. I have a neighbor of mine who is a professional drag racer. I won't say his name but his initial are A.O. He also was a great skier in his day (PB 2.5 @ 35 off at 34) He was telling me about all the G's he feels when he races and I told him skiers--especially elite-- feel g's when skiing. He promptly told me I was full of Sh&*. I didn't say skiers have as much g's as dragracers, but nonetheless, g's are experienced. he then said that if you felt even 2 g's, you wouldn't be able to hang onto the handle. So, who is right and who is wrong? I didn't pull up any of my formulas from college, but rather, I searched the internet and came up with this site: http://measurespeed.com/acceleration-calculator.php According to the site, if one accelerates from 34mph to 70 mph in the course of 1/2 second, you would experience 3.27 g's. Also, wouldn't your current weight play into this, as a skinnier skier would create more g's than a hefty one? I know that there has to be something going on behind the boat, because the exhileration I feel could only be rivaled going mach 5 in an f-16. Or maybe on a ride along with @SkiJay.

Chris, I am by no means anywhere remotely close to where @SkiJay and @Colebrah are, but I will give you my input on this because this is something I worked on a lot last year. After taking lessons from Terry Winters, there was two things he told me to do that have made a huge difference in my turns. 1. Like what was said above, I consciously push my front knee forward over my foot so I can't see the front of my binding. I actually bounce a few times in my set up pushing my knees forward before the 55's. @scotchipman does that always--kind of a muscle memory for him. 2. When coming to the ball getting ready to turn, I was told to fall inward and let the ski turn, instead of jamming my back foot down and pushing the ski into the turn. The old way was a way to impress people with my massive spray, but it did nothing for my speed and it was a motha hanging onto the rope as you loaded up. I am finding that by simply falling inward, and getting my handle tucked into my hips, and letting the ski turn without me trying to force it, I am getting stacked faster and am generating much more speed with much less effort--and I am a big dude! These two bits of advice have kept me more forward and have sped up my wake crossing dramatically---which is where I strive to be fast.

@slvrbulit Don't give into @Horton's God complex!!! Send him a bottle of hair conditioner, and you will have all the stickers you could ever want and need.

As a million mile flyer with Delta, good or bad, I would take them over any other carrier in the Country. It's tough when you have overside and odd-shaped items. But, I feel they, for the most part, pay up when they screw up. The pilots for Delta are a bit nuts however, especially ones from ATL!

I would rather have those guys from india telling us about the benefits of pontoon boats than trying to sell overpriced land to a bunch of skiers. @AB if you drop your price to 4million, I will buy! Just waiting for my damn lottery ticket to come in, and I will move back to Ohio....kind of miss tony pacos anyway.

This is a similar question to the dye thread, but if your carpet is looking rather shabby, what are the best approach in either replacing it completely, or a small section. I am curious if I choose to replace it, can I put in snap carpet, or do I need to fully replace it all with permanent carpet?

Earlier this week I was reading the incredibly-written story about Karen, aka, "Super Mom" and I noticed the writer of the article was a, Ellie Rae Horton. Being curious, I wanted to find the relationship between Ellie Rae and Horton, and I quickly assumed that she was either a daughter or a niece of our fearless leader. I then went and re-read other articles written by Ellie Rae, and I became more and more impressed. I also looked at the D3 site, and saw her bio as a factory team skier for them. Here is what I came up with after all my research...this is one hell of a great young lady. She seems to be very balanced in life and has her life on a perfect tract. As a father of 3 daughters, I would truly be honored if they turned out similar to how she is in her life. Most of us here are parents, and one of the few things more important than skiing is our kids. Horton, regardless if you are her dad or her uncle, you have done a outstanding job in influencing and molding Ellie Rae into an incredible young adult! Not that it matters, but your new little baby is lucky to have you as a dad! So Ellie Rae, you are now my poster child for how I will influence and mold my daughters!!! Continue with the great work in writing your articles and chasing down those damn balls!

BoS The only drug legal in all 50 states

@Than_Bogan, with that said, which of the two would you rather have on your beach volleyball team? (Keep in mind that Will is supposedly much stronger than Adam!) :)

@skihard, call them. they will take care of you too! They have the best customer service of any company I have ever dealt with. They once stayed on the phone with @scotchipman and I for 6 passes as we were trying to dial in my settings. And as slow as chippy skis, that was a long long time!!!

@webbdawg99 I have to say that Will's hair is a bit dryer than yours. Other than that, I would give my right nut to have just one ball like that EVER!!! You are the man....wet hair and all!

If the water is in a liquid form, my fat ass will be on it skiing!

It fills my need as an adrenaline junky in a relatively safe environment; It is a phenomenal workout; it is something that can challenge me even though I am not at the elite level; it is a fantastic way to hang with my friends; and it is something that I can always improve and become better, but can never reach the finish line---it is a lifetime of striving perfection!!! It completes me

@usaski1 take it easy my friend, you might end up in a wheelchair! I have said it before, and I will say it again, you inspire me in life!! I have two siblings in wheelchairs, and if I could find out a way to bottle a little bit of Mark Turner and sell it to everyone, I would be rich, cause YOU know how to live life brudda!!!! Keep it up

Man, Terry is one heck of a great guy. I have taken several lessons from him, and I am amazed "as usual" at how humble of a pro he-like so many others-is. I wish him absolute success on his new venture, and look forward to the day when he becomes an advertiser on BoS.

@Ed_Obermeier. I agree. Wake surfing is what you do inbetween sets! ANY water sports in decline only hurts us skiers in the long run. The little budget slalom boats gets is because of the bigger budgets being spent on "more popular" activities on the water. Anything we can do to promote ALL forms of water activities should be a priority. Well, everything except water boarding. :)