FWinter

I'm currently halfway through reading a 250 page book on fin tuning. Yep, 250 pages of well written slalom ski insight addressing fin setup as well as issues, terminology and analysis of many of the things we all encounter in skiing. It's outrageous and an incredible thing to have in our sport. As a huge fan of water skiing I'm really excited to see something like this. @SkiJay has written a bible for water skiers.

Honestly, I saw this picture originally, before it being posted here and was a little confused. Everything you guys have said about creating direction without unnecessary load is exactly what I like to do but I'm not sure this is it. The honest truth is that the ski I'm on is a little different to my old one (Boris is always developing) and I'd been on it only for 6 sets before the weekend. While I know the ski is superior to what I had before I still haven't worked it out fully, especially on my offside, as @bishop8950 said. This photo is just me having the ski a little behind me. I guess it was good I didn't start leaning hard or I'd have fallen pretty badly. I had to make a decision on which ski to take this weekend and felt that the new one would suit me better even after only a few sets. I felt better every round as I got more and more confident on it and towards the end was really starting to get great angle both ways. The ski surprised me a few times with how much angle it generated without any effort on a few occasions. A bit more familiarity and I'll be doing well I think. On another note I love it how this photo has been posted and no one has noticed in any of the otitis I'm wearing brand different gloves on each hand

I'll be seeing all you ballers in attendance in a few days. @Horton, keep a space and a mic for me.

@MattP Is that really true about Mapple only running it 4 times? I saw him do it 3 times in one single tournament at Princes around 2003/2004. I know he also did it at Greater Miami Ski Club. I know it's tough to get scores, especially going back a few years but I reckon he might have a few more. I also saw Will Ashers first ever score of 1@43 at the British Nationals at Thorpe in 2008. It was the first 41off he'd ever run and he did it in grim conditions. My mind might be deceiving me but I think it was even raining a bit. He's a true Brit. That remains the best score ever in Europe and maybe even outside of the USA.

@aupatking I certainly have no interest in teaching anyone this technique. It's terrible for skiing effectively and horrible for the body. After the next pass in which I won the final I couldn't move my neck for days. Legendary hero Glenn Campbell (2005 World Silver and all round good bloke) carried my ski bag for me on the way back home to England. @jimbrake my thoughts exactly. I looked back at this photo and winced, it was a horrible over-turn/ fall which meant I had to hold on. However, I guess it's not such an awful thing to have in the locker if I need it.

Before anything else, can I just say @MattP, I am forever impressed with your devotion to water skiing. It seems you have worked out that water skiing does not in fact stop at the borders of North America and follow events in Europe which I know many have no idea about or at best don't care about. I applaud you, my friend. As regards the event in question I guess there were a few upsets. It was a funny old place to ski at a public lake in Paris which was inherently washy because of concrete banks. It wasn't awful by any means and bigger scores were attainable which was proved in the results. The aim of the organisers was to put on a tournament in a public place where there was a chance of a huge crowd. Unfortunately the fact that, because of the wash, the drop time was 90 seconds, the event was incredibly drawn out and long and I feel like any crowds were put off by seeing 20 seconds of action every 2 minutes. It certainly wasn't very compelling and there was very little tension during the big events. It's a sad situation when even many the skiers there remark that its the most bored they've felt at an event. In terms of my own failure, I succumbed to the conditions. I hit some wash and went down early. It happens I guess. I feel like this was the same for a number of the bigger names who did better than me but didn't get to the top. Daniel did a good job and so did everyone else that managed the conditions better than me. Interestingly it could be that the spotlight will fall back on this arena very soon. The rumour going around was that France are bidding to host the World Championships there in 2017. Given the mess we saw this year with the Italy/ Mexico fiasco I would imagine they will get it as no one seems to be interested in hosting Worlds at the moment. All I can say is that should it go ahead, I truly hope they can fix the concrete banks. Firstly so the scores can be as big as a Worlds deserves and secondly so that the drop time each each end can be returned to the standard 40 seconds so spectators have something to watch other than swirling water.

@eurosport I'll be here. Like you said I'm here Wednesday. Let's get some skiing done. @aupatking I've never heard of anyone flying in for a total of 5 hours to ski 2 sets. That was bloody fantastic. Great to meet and ski you and hopefully see you this weekend over at the Malibu tournament.

@Andre turn of phrase, maybe an English thing. I'd say the real number is ever so slightly lower.

@Stevie Boy I'm afraid I don't have a spare MC to try. As I said before, I'd let you try one of mine if it wasn't covered in velcro. Having said that I can't recommend the ski enough and yes it would be the 66.5 that you'd want. That's what I'm on. @MS Boris has a bunch of skis coming out of production, he's really ramping it up this year because he's super happy with the ski. He's had a thousand orders from Asia recently so I think he's fulfilling those for the moment. I'm sure he'll get back to you. Worth the wait though.

@horton, you seem crabby my friend, is it the anaesthetic or the lack of hair? What a painful double whammy.

@MS I'm afraid we don't. However if you have size 12 feet right foot forward you're welcome to try my spare in my powershells. @aupatking and @Orlando76 I'll be here til either the 1st or 2nd of July when I head to the Malibu Open in Alabama. Haven't decided yet what day I'll leave but I'm moving more towards the 2nd if that makes a difference. It would be great to have you if you want to come. Just let Logan know and we can book you in at logan@jodisskischool.com. Looking forward to having you.

If anyone is interested I'll be at Jodi's place until the end of the month and will be available to coach. Jodi is away in Europe but myself and Logan, the manager of the ski school, will be here training and taking students. If you guys fancy it please head over, we'll be happy to see you.

I don't know if people are still interested in what happened but I can give my account of how it happened. At 39 I totally screwed up bouy 4 and 5 but got a lean on into 6, threw the ski out, took a big hit and got through the exits. Being totally honest about it I wouldn't put my life on if I got around it. My initial thought and lasting impression is that I did but there was a lot of spray and waves, especially with the cross wind coming from that side of the lake. Anyway, when I was in the water after that pass no one mentioned reviewing the pass so I assumed I had it. I then managed 3@41 which I thought gave me a decent shot at the title. A couple of minutes after I got back to the dock I was told that my score had been moved back to 5@39 after a review. I then went and asked for a further review from the judges in the pavilion, which is allowed at any IWWF tournament with a fee if the decision is not overturned, which of course I was prepared to pay. I waited and watched Nate ski. As he ran that ridiculously easy 39 I was told that my score had again been changed back to 3@41 which I was pretty elated about. I am told that Nate, after thinking he had won with 6@39, was told as he dropped in he needed to beat 3@41. We all then saw him go inside of 1. I am also told that the line being at 43 and not 41 is a false rumour. My feeling at the time was that it wasn't fair for Nate that he didn't know the score to beat until the last minute so I assumed he would be granted a reride at 41 to try to beat my score. However, after another 30 or 40 minutes, during which time my score was reviewed again after another protest, this time from Nate, we were told by the chief judge that the decision was that my score was again reset back to 5@39 and the decision was final. I could not review it again meaning Nate was Masters Champion. I wasn't incredibly happy that they had again taken back a score that they had confirmed as 3@41 twice but I understand it's tough for them. Nate and I were then allowed to watch the video that they judged it from. They use the boat video that has been sent via wireless communication to the tower, which is compressed and low quality as a result. I honestly couldn't see from the video if the ski was inside or outside of the bouy as it was pretty blurry and low quality and contrast (I'm slightly colourblind). All I know is that it was close enough for it to be given, then taken away, then reviewed further and reinstated and then finally taken away. The result of all this confusion is that I lost out on a big title which is upsetting. However, Nate and I remain friends and we understand that, at this point, this sort of thing is part of the sport. My lasting thought on it is how much of a shame it is that the title came down to an off water decision instead of a definitive on the water display.

@Wish much appreciated. Love having the ballers on side! I'm excited, let's see how it goes.

@Than_Bogan As I say, this must have been five or so years ago when we first started seeing these sorts of guards in good old England. I've no idea of the brand but I think it was one with the zip tie sort of thing that looped around the handle bar from the guard which I guess fell out of style. I'm sure it wasn't one of Brenda's. I've never used a guard but certainly wouldn't rule it out. As for carrying on the skiing, thank you, I will do my very best!

@lhoover Since you mentioned me, heres one good reason. A few years ago I heard a story about a guy who put his ring finger through the loop that held the guard to the handle while falling. It ripped his glove off along with most of the skin and muscle on the finger. I've never had a problem with my handle ripping pieces of the hands I need to ski with off of me. This is why I ski with the set up I have always felt safe using, a 12 inch handle. Hows that?

@Luzz speaks the truth. Lake 2 is the best. My best score is on that there water.

@Luzz can you do one on the structure and quality of bathrooms in hotel rooms and the best method to test them with your foot? Or do flow, either way.

@MattP dude, I'm the luckiest guy around. Two and a half weeks in Florida because of airlines not being able to land when it drops below freezing while classes were cancelled in Monroe. It doesn't get better than that. On a separate note, that course is my favourite in the world I've skied so far. Those lakes are long enough for a 16 bouy course though. I'd love that. I really think it's the best for skiing, not just for fitness but it changes your perspective. Safety turns on five are not allowed with eight bouys. Got to attack every bouy like it's 1 ball.

@klindy Cheers! @Horton My pride and joy.

I have never felt so honoured.

@mattP You're not alone mate, I've had one for the last month or so and I've done a fair bit of travelling with it to and from Florida from Louisiana. Really good. I used the Reflex foam thing before which was great but didn't protect the end of my ski. Best thing about it is that you can stick a ski sleeve under it and it'll stay on and protect it. Ski-doc is the way forward. Not expensive either, they should sell a bunch of these, well worth it.

I can only give my experience with the kit I've used all year from In Tow. I use a 12" long, 1.030" thick spectra handle which has been amazing. The rubber wears less than others I've used. I've also been using their slalom lines for practise. I don't notice any major difference between this and the traditional masterline one that I'll often get in tournaments but I like how it just has one loop to put over the pole. I had someone put the 'wrong end' of a line length on last year and the role came off the pole while I crashed very painfully.

If someone does crossfit but then doesn't go on endlessly about how they did crossfit and how it's the best thing ever, did they do crossfit at all?

Best of both worlds. Both current lists (IWSF and Elite) have serious drawbacks. This corrects for the most part as it takes into account both performances of scores and tournaments when everyone's present to compete. Messes up the backyard bandits. Great job BOS chaps