BCM

@cragginshred - I grew up not far north of you and used to ski at NM. I've been through the fire evac orders. Computer, photo albums and the file cabinet with insurance, vehicle, etc info, the rest you can replace (@horton - the note book is a good idea as well). Good luck. I was just working in that area a few weeks ago, I have lived all over the country and it is one of the most beautiful areas I have ever seen. Also, I'll have to let you know next time I head home to ski, I'm sure you have met my family out there, but I don't think we have met yet.

@creeker - I'm a few hours north of you, I'll keep my eyes out on CL and the local used sporting goods stores. Good luck, I hope you find your gear.

My last ski rides were a 3000 mile flight plus a 2hr drive to the house I was staying at then 90min to the lake... This spring I drove 12+ hours (one way) for 6 sets. Last spring a solid 12 hours for 4 sets... I didn't have any ski rides within 12hrs of home the past 2 years. If all goes as planned, next season will be about 90 minute drive to the private site, 30 to public.

I've skied a 1900 foot lake with no turn islands, behind a late 90's Malibu at 36 and it was fine. A little quick, but not bad.

I can't afford a new ski so I ski the current one until it isn't safe to ski anymore then buy a new-used ski from one of you on ski-it-again...THANK YOU. However, I don't trash my ski when it isn't safe anymore. They become wall hangers, or chairs, or something semi useful. I can't trash a ski if it has been good to me.

Until you find a way to ski every length on the line, it isn't too easy. Waterskiing is a game you cannot beat. After each successful pass there is another line length until it will be physically impossible to hang on to the handle and have your ski go around the ball.

@eleeski - I recently went through something similar in another sport. I was trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon and wound up getting injured before the qualifying race due to over training, I was too focused on the end result and forgot that I had to get there first... A year or two ago we temporarily lost access to our slalom course and we wound up free skiing a bunch. Open water with friends and family, it was a blast. We even pulled out an air chair and wake skate for a while and basically screwed around for a weekend. There was no coaching and no PBs, just lots of laughing. It was the best weekend I have had on the water in years... I currently live 3000 miles from my favorite ski partners (dad and brother), but when I get to go home and take a few ski rides with them they are the best rides of the year... @OB - good article, I think the process section is very important for skiing. Should you focus on running the pass or how to run the pass...

@eleeski - I find that when I am focusing on the competition aspect too much, I forget to have fun skiing and my performance suffers. After a big tournament, I find that spending some time skiing for the sake of skiing helps me get things going again. I spent 4 years skiing in college. During that time I would start skiing in late February trying to get things going for our first tournament in early April. I would ski 8+ sets a week. I then was skiing tournaments every few weeks through Collegiate Nationals in October. I skied well, but was constantly focusing on the next tournament. In the past few years I have only been able to ski a few times a year and two years ago, after only skiing a handful of sets I set a new practice PB. I have found that taking the pressure of competition off of myself for a little bit has greatly improved my skiing as I am more relaxed. I am also enjoying skiing more than I did before. I am also a runner and have found that when I but a lot of pressure on myself for one big race, I often over train and endup injured or fatigued at the time of the race. The best races I have run, I have registered for the morning of or week before. Its not the pressure of the competition itself that impacts my performance, but the pressure in the weeks prior... I am different than most however. I have competed on a regional or national level in several different sports and have always been relaxed the day of competition because at that point all you can do is what you trained for. I get more worked up trying to be sure that I am prepared... I say, go ski for the sake of skiing. Ski because its fun, not because you are trying to dial in that next trick before the "Big Show". We should all ski because its FUN!!!

I used to ski with a supportive belt (weight belt) under my vest. perfski.com/Three-Event-Equipment/Accessories/Schiek-Back-Support.html I had much greater success with weight workouts focusing on core strength, running and cycling. I bought mine for jumping and tried it for about a season and wasn't sold on it. I would consider finding an old belt or a jumper who uses a belt and trying it before you buy. I found that I didn't like the extra bulk under my vest. I also felt that it limited movement too much for my liking. However, I know a few guys who ski with them and like them. I haven't skied with or even seen a supportive vest for some time now. I still jump with it due to the impact of landing. It also adds a layer of protection when your skis aren't the first thing to hit the water.

After I had a similar ankle injury I used some regular medical tape and then wrapped in duct tape. Regular medical tape will fall apart in the water or will get stuck on your boots. Duct tape allowed me to stuff myself into my jumpers all taped up... Get good duct tape though, the cheap-o stuff from Lowes/HD gets nasty when its in the sun or gets hot... Also, the duct tape ads some rigidity, but even with tape if I stuffed the tip it hurt.

I'm not one to adjust my fin regularly, I think the airline baggage handlers have adjusted my fin more than I have... so I am trying to gain a greater understanding of how to make skis work better... the airline got me into -35/36mph... "I had been advised that the tip set-up for a RFF versus a LFF was different since you need more tip for a LFF(?)" - could someone explain this for me? I am not doubting or believing, just not sure why foot forward would matter.

I agree with @bracemaker about the FMs, I was on a pair for about a year. Felt very safe. Mine were used and I could never get them to feel right. I know a few folks who are on newer setups and are enjoying them. The release is smooth and effortless and its always all out or all in. They are expensive, heavy and stiff; but, I always felt safe in them. I only stopped skiing on them because the ski they were on broke and the new ski didn't have the right hole pattern...

"Swerve Me" - signal from skier to boat driver that skier is ready to go... "The wind is picking up" - the skier is skiing sucking so bad they are creating wind, this can get bad enough that they suck the oxygen out of the air at which point the boat crew tells them "Its getting hard to breath in here". "Franken-ski" - a ski/binding set up that no longer resembles the factory setup, usually using rusty bolts, bondo and zip ties...

@Ryno - I like it.

@skidawg - Thank you, however, I have a few old sets of snow ski boots laying around. @skihart - I have checked them, I replaced one boot that was starting to crack but today both are fine. From 2004 to fall 2008 I was skiing on them 4 days a week, Feb-Nov, then the last few years I haven't been skiing as much, but they have some serious time on them. I've broken two skis in that time, but not the boots... I think I got a good setup, my 9600 lasted a little over four years while some ski buddies were getting a few months out of theirs and my boots are still solid while I watched others have the cracking issue. I think I got lucky. @ski38 - If my snow ski boot buckle idea doesn't pan out, I'll give Goode a call about the new ankle cuff. The bottom buckles, unfortunately are pretty well toasted. If I can get the snow ski boot buckles to work, I'll post some pics. I won't be getting around to it for a week or two as I am on on the East Coast and my ski is on its way to the West Coast (via FedEx) and I won't be getting out there for a few more days.

@Danger - thanks, I think I am going to cannibalize the old snow ski boot, I have had it with the ratchet style. @MrJones - Trust me, I'd love too, but the current prices are way to high for my pay scale. I do feel safer jumping than strapping on my slalom ski... @Ed_Johnson - thank you, that was exactly what I was looking for. I'm going to tear apart some old ski boots next week, if it doesn't work, I think I'll be buying some of those.

Im 5'10" 160 and think it works well. I find that my level of cardio conditioning is more important that strength training. If all I have been doing the past 6 months is running and cycling I will ski better than if all I have been doing is lifting weights. But that's me. There are way to many variables to narrow it down to one or two measurements. The scientist in me is intrigued by this. If there was a spread sheet with skier data (i.e. height, weight, age, years skiing, PB, waste size, body fat, primary workout type, etc.) it would be real easy to run some statistical analysis and come up with a scientific answer, assuming the data makes sense. Maybe some sort of logistic or multi-variate regression?

Maybe a LAX helmet like this one? http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-131223342931329_2264_40004064

I am in need of new buckles for my slalom (old Goode Powershells with side click ratchet buckles) and trick (Fluid Motion with side click ratchet buckles) boots. I have been told to get the aluminum buckles from Reflex, but at $85 a set I can't justify it. Fluid Motion sells the side click ratchet buckles at a better price point, but I would like to change everything over to the snowski boot style buckles similar to those on the new Goodes (similar style to those sold by Reflex). Does anyone have a source for cheaper buckles? If I can't find something I am going to cannibalize some old Salomon ski boots for the buckles. I know I should just replace my 8yo Powershells with something else, but I can't afford new gloves right now, let along a $500 set of bindings. I would really like to replace both bindings (slalom and trick) but I won't be able to for another year or two, so I will have to make this work in the mean time. I am open to doing things a little unconventionally, anyone tried anything different that may work? I'm pretty handy with power tools and have no problems skiing on a Frankenski. Any help would be appreciated.

@Than_Bogan - There are plenty of young women out there as well. Many of the girls I skied with in college have been more successful than the guys in terms of finding ski sites. The girls I know are indifferent to islands. @eleeski - I'm ashamed of my generation...wakeboards, Jersey Shore, skinny jeans, etc... I like boat paths that simulate an island, it does the trick for me. Growing up skiing on public sites, even at 36/35off, I don't notice a difference in water between sites with islands and without. I believe it to be site specific. Water costs could be interesting, an island reduces the evaporation from the lakes surface, however vegetation on the island will draw water from the soil and thus the lake and through evapotranspiration (water loss through stomata on leaves) the water will be lost. It could be a draw in terms of total water loss...

I'm with @gregy, I've been looking for a new jump lid and have been looking into some Kayak helmets there is one made by NRS/WSRI that looks promising from the internet photos (I haven't found one in person yet). I have also looked into LAX helmets with a full face mask, none of them intrigued me in terms of a jump helmet, but I think it would work for slalom. As a downhill mountain biker, I have LOTS of experience with mountain bike/BMX full face helmets (i.e. Bell, Pro-Tec, etc.). Generally unless you buy the more expensive models, not all the pads are removable and they will get funky with if they are not aired out real well. Also, they are getting thicker. My most recent MTB helmet is about as thick as a motorcycle helmet.

Most of the lakes I have skied without islands have been short with space restrictions when they were built. On these lakes I have the same issue as @JDM with getting up to 36mph prior to the 55s. If you can get to speed with enough time, do what ever makes you happy. I have seen people accidentally ski into shore, jump ramps, docks, logs, other boats and I have personally hit bottom around an island (my fault). @eleeski - When the old men stop skiing, there will be another group of slightly less old men ready to take your spot. At 28 I will be replacing one of you in the private ski lake community at some point in the future, its still a few years away, but it will happen.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, RESEARCH SKI SITES BEFORE YOU MAKE A DECISION. I didn't do that with my last move and the closest ski site is 3hrs away. It is NOT acceptable. I have moved all over the country in the past few years and I left a good job to do it. I couldn't be happier with my decision (except the skiing thing). I still use my previous employer as a professional reference because he is a good man and he understood that I was leaving to better myself, my career and the quality of life of my family.

I don't know a lot about ZO, but I have taught a few college level GPS/remote sensing/orienteering courses, so my suggestions are based solely on my understanding of the basic fundamentals of how GPS works. As a forester, I have been let down by GPS systems many times in steep and/or forested areas, so trees will impact a GPS unit. When my handheld doesn't have contact with enough satellites, it doesn't know where it is either. GPS systems generally need 3 satellites (ZO may be different) to get an accurate location. My first step would be to get your hands on a basic hand held GPS unit (Garmin or otherwise). It should have a screen that shows the satellites which it is able to communicate with. I would idle through the narrow area (where you are having trouble) while watching that screen several times. If you are getting below 3 satellites regularly, then the Gismo mentioned below could help. As far as Gismos to help go, I have a Stihl MS 460 that does a real nice job of removing trees.

Another view of my home lake New Melones (@cragginshred). I now live 3000 miles away, but I'm excited to go home and ski with the family in a few weeks. I did see a recent picture from a member and the water is a bit lower than this Google Earth image is showing... It doesn't ski as well as other sites, but its always fun.