Booze

I'm looking forward to it, but it'll be cold turkey skiing for me. l've have about zilch for practice. It's been cold/rainy here this week and I have to work in Novi, MI all next week. Fly straight from DTW to AUS.

It's interesting to see how his ski is aligned more cross-course and planted, than what his body alignment would suggest. (IMO)

More like snubbed. Don't know why.

I saw her waiting on 2 ball @ 41 on one, confirmed slots present, ;) I think it's a matter of 100% trust when $ is on the line. Give it a little time. If I had couple/few WR's on a particular ski, I might be hesitant to part with it too.

Interesting. How about 'extra' bouy credit for the 34mph folks speeding up to 35 or 36mph?

@SkiItUp I still see you 'riding' your back foot. I know it can be a tough concept to totally adopt and feel, especially when you see video of top-notch skiers not specifically looking like they are 'putting weight on the front of the ski'. The word that comes to mind is bias. They are still applying an important bias to the front foot. You may be getting a fair amount of weight on your front foot at times, but you have a consistant bias to your back foot. It's almost like you are steering the ski from the back foot rather than the front. An analogy that comes to mind is an airplane. Sure the rudder is in the back and plays a critical role in control, but the wings (the most important part of an airplane?) are ideally in the front half of the center of gravity. Imagine how an airplane would become more instable, imbalanced, and hard to control as the wings were moved back on the fuselage. That's how I see your ski...like an airplane with the wings too far back of the CoG. I challenge you to ride a ski with one leg and try crossing the wakes...basically ski around for a while. That will at least illustrate the point I'm making about the front leg should be the focal point/foundation of slalom. Imagine trying to ski with one leg in your back boot. I know I couldn't. You are 'left footed' aren't you? Which foot do you kick a ball with? Notice how your 135 (heelside, yes, @OB1...HEELSIDE) side of the course is more managable and better than the other? That's because it's easier to get away with a back foot bias on that side, whereas, on toeside, or offside, or whatever, the front foot is critical. Notice how the ski bounces uncontrollably around 2/4, and is difficult to generate angle? That's because youre pushing on your back foot. Keep trying and let us know. ps: look at your glide. see how the ski is plowing? I challenge you to practice the pullout and adjust util you get minimum spray out the front and and the water is breaking at your front toe. And remember, the weight shift comes from the lower half, not the upper half. Stand on front foot, get hips out over the ski. Think about the opposite...stand on back foot, drop hips back...not good, right? I'm sure some of the sharp guys on here (BruceB, etc) can explain it better, but hopefully this makes sense.

@mbabiash Cool! What changes did you make? Next I'll try moving my binding forward a notch. My fin is at stock now, except using a ventral and wing at back.

6th set riding the N1FT yesterday. Breezy and cool. Four 35's btb, and a 2 and 4@38. That's a better set than i had on the FT all through the middle of summer (6+ weeks of ski time). It's a keeper. - hardly EVER stalls at finish of turn - aggressive carve and easy inititiation of offside turn - if you stand on it properly and don't get deep...BAM...instant change of direction on both sides. - comparison of 66.75 N1FT to 67.75 FT....it's definitely a 'stickier' ski. Doesn't feel as fast but conversely is easier to gain and hold angle even with a bad turn. Goode description says it rides deeper, which I believe. My onsides are inconsistent because I'm fighting the urge to do my normal big hard tail-sliding turn. I get better results by not getting deep and maintaining tip pressure. The issue then becomes having the right lean and rope tension at the finish, to handle the sudden change of direction.

@twhisper Just for the top, right? How easy/difficult would it be to copy the top of another ski...say, a vintage EP?

...and me?

A guy I knew from collegiate skiing (John Roeder) showed up at last years States with an Endo I believe. Ran 3@38. He raved about how good it was. I'd like to try one, or a G5, or whatever.

@Jody_Seal What filter do you recommend? Synth or Dino?

@OB1 - So how's your initial impressions/comparisons? I got 6 passes on the 66.75 N1FT yesterday (with bad glare one way) and went up through a couple 35's, so that's a really good sign. For me: -appears to ride deeper, so more drag but stickey and safer at the bouy (hope that makes sense) -toeside carve is awesome...apply a little tip pressure and it WANTS to turn and finish quick at the bouy, but with not too much angle. very managable. and the times I got over the front too much, it kept moving and never bit. -Heelside is interesting or odd. If I pushed or rushed it, it wouldn't come around like I would expect. A big slow turn would result, with tip rise. But there were a handful of turns were I didn't get in deep and stayed over the ski (like I should), and BAM, it snapped around so quick I wasn't ready for it....but it did keep moving. I havent checked the fin yet, so I'm curious to see how it came from the factory. The last new one I got it was way off from published numbers...and yes, I have a 2nd gen slot.

Actually, Ben is on a XTT. But yeah, Stevie, good question. I've ridden every Mid Goode flavor there has been and like them all. Took an XTM I had 1 week on to Nats. I predict Dave will come out with a F.T.M. at some point, but that's alot of molds to keep up with.

@Steven - 66 or 66.75 XT for you...but they are kinda rare. I recently started riding a 66.5 XTM and love it.

@wtrskior - well, sounds like you did agree with me there....I just chose not to mention the gates. ;) I knew someone else would (it was too obvious).

Shift weight off back foot and into front knee...which will translate into weight on front foot. There are too many wrong ways to simply 'put weight on front foot'.

My toeplate, that has worked with every Goode with inserts and the T2, did not fit on the new GT.

@dmaxjc_ski 2nd video, sure that's the same guy? lol You have much more 135 tip pressure, so it looks totally different to me. 1 ball looked great, but it did finish hard. (thought 3/5 was good) So perhaps it grabs like that sometimes and now has made you a bit gunshy, resulting in safety (iow, sloooow, shifted back of ski) turns? Makes sense. I'm guilty of that myself sometimes. Perhaps others will comment, but I think it's a classic case of too much fin length. I would start backing off on the length and while testing, make sure you are pushing on your front knee through 135 (not to mention 246, but that's not the focus here). You want to be able to use the front half of the ski without it biting or stopping. Also, to progress into shorter lines, you must shift your priority from the short hard turns with the short hard pull right out of the bouy...to a progressive lean out of the bouy, into the spray, and through the wakes. Right now, you are hitting it hard at the bouy and coasting through the wakes. The wakes should be the agressor, offense zone, rather than defense, coasting zone. Think about it...if your rope had a weak spot in it and was about to break, where would it occur? At the bouy or in the wake zone? Where should your greatest load occur? You get 135 ironed out, keep elbows and the handle closer in the spray zones (to maintain outward momentum), and attack the wakes pushing with your knees, and you should be getting into 28...maybe more.

@DmaxJC_ski The issue I see is you have a consistent bias to your back foot, and it is rearing it's ugly head at the finish of your 135 turn. The clue is to look at where the water is breaking on the ski and look at body position to see how much emphasis is being placed on front knee. Your pullout, gates, and approach to 1 is not bad. But see how you shift weight to the back of the ski mid-turn? Had you kept the water breaking more towards the front of the ski, you would be shocked how hard it would turn. The best way I have seen to make this happen is to consciously place emphasis on your front big toe, front foot, up through your knee, and to the hip. Doing so not only shifts weigh to the front of ski, but also forces you to stand up on the ski rather than lean out over the front and/or drop hips. I felt inclined to comment because I have a buddy that has beating his head against a 15/34mph wall for years. He refuses to use his front knee like he should (resulting in hips back and handle away from body), and the results are bad...and this is a guy that is not weak, and has a black belt. So I encourage you to try this and report back on the results.

I got a set on a 67 GT this weekend. Very impressed. Toesides were automatic and sweet. Fast from side to side. Heelside turns can't say for sure because my toeplate moved mid-set and was hanging over the edge of ski by 1/4". (Connelly pattern must be unique?)

@Rz - ah, I'm waiting on the new one. Looking forward to it. On another note, I got a set on a 67 GT this weekend. Very impressed. Toesides were automatic and sweet. Fast from side to side. Heelside turns can't say for sure because my toeplate moved mid-set and was hanging over the edge of ski by 1/4". (Connelly pattern must be unique?)

@Rz, the old or new FT?

If you are talking about the base material, I've used skid-proof sandpaper stuff for years and like it. Takes the spongey vague feeling of standing on rubber out of the equation.

@JoeMac , you have the right idea. From what I have seen, start at the front and add to either side as you see fit. Also, bear in mind water is shot up through the slot, so keep them on the inside as much as possible and 'strapped' down with interloc or gorilla tape. I'm sure you already knew, but note that the shims go on the side you're turning into because that's the side that is 'compressing'.