Summer is the wrong...

season for business trips. Just ask Clint. He missed out on a head wind (the first wed, evening head wind in nearly a month) for some engineerig thing that I don't understand. I only engineer with duct tape (see previous post)

Chuck, you have to relax your arms into the base of the ramp!



You are fine out of the counter cut.



This is where the perfect pass switch kicks off. You are relinquising all of that hard-earned rope tension. Remember Scot Ellis' 4 rules: head up, back Straight, arms straight, skis together.

Everybody looks like a slalom god from a distance.



Pat is back! On a trick ski? He used to make fun of me for tricking. Now he wants to trick more. He says yesterday was the best he had ever tricked, thanks to the upgrade to the new connelly. His last trick ski was from the disco era. If I fallearly this weekend and he beats me, I will never hear the end of it (deservedly so)





I would like to thank the cinematographer form the old Batman TV show for those tricking shots. na na na na na na na na.....

Here's a cool photo sequence. This is Leah's first ever set over the ramp with a jump sling. Notice how on each jump she gets into a better position


jump 1, landing like a bag of shit


jump 2, not much better, and the right arm is bent


jump 3, almost there, not as much righ elbow flexion


jump 4, you've got the right one baby, uh huh! The best form Chuck, Pat or I have ever seen from her. She went to the dock after that one.

In response to ...

an earlier post from

the green boathouse

, Iowa has much to offer in the way of both newfangled technology and old fashioned scenery. For example, On iowa interstates, you can see people who have adopted NASCAR technology for personal use



Iowa's roads are full of varied terrain. Observe the first photo



It's cornfield, and the barn is behind the treeline.

Next photo:



There is no corn, only grass. And the kicker, the barn is IN FRONT OF the treeline! What do you have to say for yourself now, greenboathouse?

left palm up...

right palm down, vice versa. I've never thought that it really mattered which way palm was up for slalom.
I have been converted. For left foot forward, right palm up and vice versa. After 10 years, I have switched and I regret not switching years ago. I used to have a strong pull through the wakes on my on-side, and only hope not lose pull on my off-side. After switching, I can get just as strong a lean in either direction. Running my hardest pass this morning was the official conversion event. I now preach opposite palm up to foot forward for all the new slalom skiers I teach. Let it be written, let it be gripped.

No pics yet,I'm waiting for Leah to email them to me.

Out of the frying pan...

and into the fryer, so the saying goes. after heavy winds for the better part of two weeks, now the water level is to high at out lake and the backwash is almost unbearable. It's impossible to get more than four decent passes. I'l just blame the rollers for the slack line in this shot. Observe the limp rope. I'm the dark speck riding the tiny sixam in the picture. The rope is at 28 off, I think.



This is what rick looks like from a long way off. He's just a couple sets away from consistent 32 offs again.



And we're done.

"No more pencils...

No more books, No more teachers' dirty looks..." and I'm glad.

I Just graduated nursing school. No job yet. For now it's 1/2 a day for NCLEX review and job hunting, and 1/2 a day for skiing.

here's some circumstantial evidence (my wife would nbot be smiling in a phony graduation shot)



There has been 20+mph winds up here for about 10 straight days. Check out what we had to contend with on wed.



Luckily, our lake has two ramps facing opposite directions. One is for distance, and one is for show ski jumping. In a moment of sacrilege, (and self-preservation) we decided to do single wake cuts off the show jump. A 25 mph head wind with whitecaps is much better than a 25 mph tail wind with whitecaps. Chuck's landing photo has a good shot of the chop that day.





Sepaking of Chuck, It looks like he is finally back to full strength. Three years ago, he blew out his left knee throwing gainers off the ramp in the ski show. He actually did a little better than just blowing out his knee. He tore the ACL,MCL, and PCL. For good measure, his Tibia was displaced superiorly, and he tore one of his hamstring muscles off the bone. He has since retired from show jumping.

This sport must be addictive. Skiers will bust their asses to get back on the water even after VERY nasty injuries.

This morning I was ready to break my trick ski into a million pieces. Every time I get frustrated, I try to invent some drill to work on balance and forget about my trick passes for a while. Today I was crossing both wakes as fast as I could in both backwrap positions. I discoverd that it is a very good drill, and I think I uncovered some fundamental balance weaknesses in my trick skiing. I was very unsteady in my regular backwrap, and was falling after the second wake in the reverse backwrap position. attaining enough balance and control to mimic slalom free-skiing should get me out of this tricking funk, and climp up to the next level, I hope. No pics, I forgot the camera.

If it releases perfectly...

I don't feel a thing. A hangup could mean a trip to the orthopedic surgery clinic. My perfectly-reliable-until-2-days-ago rope release hung up on me yesterday. I was working on my toe pass, and fell backward on a simple toe front. Christy let go in plenty of time, but the end of my trick rope caught on the ponytial holder that I use to keep my rope release from fraying. [Sorry for no pics, but the waether was threatening and I didn't want to risk bringng the dig. cam. to the lake.] Luckily, after about 1-2 seconds of loading up the line, my toe strap shot off of my foot. (Strange as it is to say this) I was lucky to have fallen backward on a toe front. In that position, if the rope loads up, The skier will most likely ride on their back for a few feet, without an akward, ligament-tearing pull. That ponytail holder immediately returned to hair duty, and I was completely unscathed.

Here is the rope release with the ponytail holder at the end



To keep the release from fraying, I wrapped a small rubber band around the loose end. It should be too small to catch the trick rope when released. If it does catch, the band is so skinny that it should just break. If any elastic compunds are to break, the rubber bands are a much better option than muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Here is my low-profile rope release



I received advice on the subject in a post to skifly.com. A VERY good tricker suggested that I not put anything at the end, and just let the rope release fray out. When it frays too much, make a new rope release. I think this tiny rubber band should provide the best of both worlds. I just don't see how my rope could hang up on it. The rubber band is just too delicate. I will find out soon enough.

By the way, I am still a believer in the rope release. Rope release vs. mechanical release is an emotionally charged topic among trickers.

Move the feet back, and the hips...

move forward. Go figure. My decision back in winter to heed the gospel according to Freddy Kreuger and move my jump binding holes almost two inches back has completely changed my body position. Check out the before and after shots.

Before: 2K5 regionals



After: this morning at Eagle Lake, my first time over the ramp this year




When I saw the picture, I was shocked, and a little excited. Last year, I was jumping high 120s (with the occasional low 130s in practice) with a ridiculously ineffecient position in the air. If I just get back even with last season, I should be near the EP range.

Clint took his first crack at the ramp this morning as well. He was admittedly rusty, but all in all not bad. Some photos.







The rest of us are not planning to ski in a tournament until early June, Leah is feeling more pressure than anyone else in our ski club. She qualified for NCWSA all-stars (the lone Hawkeye skier to qualify) two weeks from this weekend at Dream Lake Estates in Huxley, IA (also site of the Iowa state champoinship tourney). She wants to be taking consistent 3/4 cuts by then, and jumping in to the 80-90+ foot range, like she was at the end of the summer. While getting ready for all-stars, she is transitioning to using a jump sling. She's caught between the short and long term. We are not letting her go over without a sling again after all-stars.

Here's a shot (OK, 2 shots) of her progress





She hit the side curtain on a single wake ealy last month, and is having trouble getting late enough to get a tight line through the air on a single wake. If she brings it down, that will probably keep the arms from going up and in.

Speaking of time pressured jumping. Christy is leaving for a summer abroad in a week or two, and needs to relearn how to ride out a jump after a nasty foot injury last summer. We're giving her some confidence by taking her over the side of the ramp. She's almost ready to go off the top.





I don't think she'll be heading to Spain with a monkey on her back.

Rick is slowly returning to form. I hope he finally gets into 35 off in a tournament this season. He does it in practice, more often than myself. He's come close to runnig 35 in practice several times. This should be the year he does it. Today, he was sticking with 22 off.





Once he gets off of the tail of the ski, he'll be hitting stride.

Time to pull the boat out...
But first, here's a shot of Eagle Lake, as viewed from the 3-event dock (we share the lake with a show team) in all it's glass-clam, unspoiled splendor.



A sight like that just gets my blood pumping .

It's been a bad series of mornings...

for my toe pass. To say I am struggling with it would be an understatement. I have not completed it in practice once this year. For a remedy, I decided to spend two entire sets just riding in the toe back position and crossing the wakes. It's been a long time since I have done that, and I am hoping the step backward will allow for two or three steps forward. I remember something about Michael Jordan saying that the fundamentals never change, the only thing that changes is your attention to them(no quotation marks because I'm not sure if those were his exact words). Good basketball advice that applies to waterskiing (or any sport)as well. SPeaking of fundamentals, I've been teaching my friend Christy to trick, and i'm not even letting her try to turn backward. I'm making her spend most of her time riding the ski on one foot. I swear by it

Wait a minute, I've already talked about that. Here's a few pictures



This is Christy riding one one foot. Pretty good body position. She's right over the center of the ski.



This is Christy right before she tries a sideslide. Again, pretty good body position, but she does have that tense look you see with beginners as they attempt something new. But she hasn't let her hips drop too far back, a common mistake for beginners.



Here's Cyrus again: More free skiing and practice on technique. Speaking of practicing technique, my photography skills could use some work as well. Anyway, Cyrus is slowly pressure washing the cobwebs of winter each morning he comes out. If he gets more front ankle bend and keeps his chest higher in the turns, he'll be course-worthy.



Here's a gratuitious shot of the blog moderator. I call this look "Magnum II." It's almost ready (Note: Must have seen "Zoolander" to get the reference)




I will end with a shot of the MVP of the last few days of sunrise skiing: the new trailer hitch. ALways keep your ball even with your hitch's tongue



The van pulls like a dream now.

If I am so inclined...

I will not land a flip on my trick ski. I learned something very important this morning: too much body inclination on a reverse flip (left-to right edge for a lff such as myself) kills both lift and rotation. This morning, I was tricking again. After a brutally frustrating series of toe tricks, I worked on my reverse flip. I changed my approach to the wake, and I think I have figured out how to get ski all the way around. I pulled out wide, 15-20 feet outside of the wake, and statred in slowly. My goal was to load the line with as little body inclination as possible. Time after time, I have approached the wake with a gradual increase in pressure and angle, but with that increased line tension I have created a corresponding reduction in the angle between my body and the water. In other words, I am lean-locked when I start to throw the flip. No wonder I cant get quite all the way around. I did it right once this morning, and the filp basically completed itself. I stuck the landing, no butt check and skied away. the problem wa I let go of the handle out of shock one I hit the water. I had to coast along the lake watching the handle skip away.


This morning I skied with Cyrus and Abe. They both slalomed, unfortunately the water level in Coralville lake is still too low to install the course at Mid-River marina, so they only could free ski. Here are some gratutitious ski shots

Cyrus, as of 2006, a waterhawk as well:




If he gets some practice in on the course, he should improve by a few passes. FOr now, keep your chest up through the turn and increase your front ankle bend.

Here's abe, He's moving to New York next month and Then to DC in the fall for audiology school, so his ski season might be short this year



Here's Abe slaloming: 22 off/ 32MPH free skiing.



He has been into 28 off/36MPH before but he has not had much quality practice time the last couple seasons.

By the time he skied, the sun was out and the fog had lifted. The shrinkage, however was in full effect. I'm getting sick of cold water. I want some hot weather.

I rode my jumpers too. I'm still working contering with my weight on the left ski until the moment i'm ready to make my turn. I felt more comfortable gettin my right hand on the handle, but I am still on my heels at the start of the turn.

Hopefully my next post will have reports of my first time over the ramp this season and my first successful filp/ reverse sequence.

Time to go

When soaking wet at 48 degrees, the only thing...

between yourself and severe hypothermia is child-like enthusiasim. Ok, and the drysuit helps too. I love getting up at 5 am to ski. I had the chance to go this morning. I was up at 430 without the alarm clock (Libby really likes it when I manage to wake up without the buzzer). By morning, the fivesome was down to a threesome; Cyrus was on call and Abe had to work all night at the genetics lab (no, I don't think he's ever seen a five-assed monkey). So it was just myself, and Christy and Leah from the Iowa ski team whom I have taken to coaching.

Behold, the University of Iowa ski rig: A 1997 Moomba with nearly 1300 hours, and a 1990-something Dogde Caravan with nearely 170K miles to pull it. It runs through the slalom course at 36 like it's being driven by Stevie wonder after a 12 pack. But it's allright for tricks and riding jump skis (No ramp on coralville lake, unfortunately).





Leah skied first, I'm teaching her how to do her forst wake back/ wake front, and she is just now doing both without coming out of the back position outside of the wake. Here's a shot



When I started to ski, I noticed that the chilly air stung my face. Note the distressed visage.



But I managed to get over the initial chill and do some halfway decent trick sking. I worked on hands and toes this morning, but I couldn't get any shots of the toe tricks because Christy lacks the talent to take pictures and hold a release rope at the same time. Not that it would be a smart thing to do for any one who actually had the talent..






Christy skied after me, but the camera ran out of memory. I had her mostly just riding the trick ski on one foot. Cross both wakes, then go to one wake, jump inside, outside, inside, outside, and switch to the other wake. Its a great drill to learn proper body position on a single trick ski, and it accellerates the learning curve for beginers.

Before heading home (or to class, in Christy and Leah's case) I rode my jumpers. I spent about half the set doing the coran drill at 26mph, then I just cut at 35. I was concentrating on keeping pressure on my left ski in the counter cut until right as I begin the ramp cut. Scot Ellis mentions this in his Fight School DVD, and it seems to help keep a tight line. Although at times I felt like the handle would not come all the way into my right hand, and I was gripping with my fingertips only. Oh well there's still time to iron out the early season kinks before cutting at the ramp full speed. the goal is to avoid jumps like this.



This was at regionals last year at Water's Edge Estates. I had the speed and direction to jump well into the 130's on that one, but I was on my heels and split my skis on the ramp. Future posts of jump pictures will look better, I hope.

That's all for now. I'm probably skiing at Eagle Lake this weekend with Clint and Rick, so I am anticipating some good shots. My goal is to get ski shots of everyone I ski with on this blog. That shouldn't be too difficult if I'm sitting in the boat with a camera.

Moments from...

a skiing deprivation induced delerium, the season started. April 1st, a nice round date to get back on the water. First, a little srping cleaning on the POS U of I Moomba, with muratic acid. That tingle tells you it's working. So does a full thickness chemical burn. Luckily we,managed to avoid any singeing flesh. I'm doing nursing clinicals in the burn unit, and I'll be damned if I have to spend water time in there.
As for the skiing itself, just some rusty trick skiing. I did not set the lake on fire. I was just happy to be out there, especially after a first day of spring like this:



That snowstorm was a major buzzkiller. Happily, the snow soon melted, and the air grew (I can't ask for much better than) tolerable.

So now I'm back on the weekly, or biweekly, hell, tri-or-quad weekly if I can, trips to ski at waterhawks. Around my apartment ( also a POS, by a cozy POS nonetheless)There are a few other signs of ski season. A drysiut hanging over my balcony, for example:



The pond in the background is the same one as in the happy spring picture, only three weeks and 35 degrees later.

The surest sign, however, is my wheeled three-event bag:



Call me crazy, but wet neoprene smells way better than those Xmas tree air fresheners.

Now I need to start bringing a camera to the lake.

Something I vaguely remember...

from a chemistry class a few years ago was entropy. Atoms will eventually rearrange themselves to a low-energy state, given the right conditions. The better the conditions, the quicker the decay.

In the real world (apologies to Plato) Leave a metal structure, a jump ramp, for example, sitting in water long enough, and it will rust. If it is heavy and it has rusted through, it will break. Have eight people stand on the back of the ramp to reduce tongue pressure on Pat's trailer hitch and it will break right away. After an all-around expletive session, discussion veered toward topics like angle iron, stick welding, and numeric references to voltages and thickness of steel.

All I know about welding is that it's a great way to put an eye out. If Pat emails me, I'll have pictures soon.

Because jumping is rife with suspense, and narrow time windows, we have only until april 7th, when we host a collegiate tournament at our site.

Measure once...

drill twice, isn't that how the old saying goes? I finally mounted my jump bindings this past weekend. My new bindings are about 1.5 inches back form my old boots, as you can see here




One small problem. After painstakingly measuring the exact locations to drill pilot holes, I screwed up, royally. One of the holes did not match up the binding plate's hole pattern. So I had to improvise and drill a new hole into the binding. I figured it's a lot better than drilling a new hole into the ski. A new binding base plate is much, much cheaper than a new pair of jumpers. Take a gander



Notice the screw just to the outside of the predrilled holes. What workmanship! I hope Freddy Krueger's advice on my binding location works. Moving the bindings will be a pain in the ass if I have to do it. Hopefully, I won't.

Glitches be damned, I am done and ready to go! The new hole shouldn't compromise strength on the plate. I have my old buddy JB Weld to assure that. I set all the screws in a little dab of it. I am banking on not having to mess with the overlays this year, knock on wood.

So here they are, in all their mounted glory



Nothing left do but wait impatiently to hit the ramp again.

The best time of year to...

do any type of repair to your equipment is in the winter. I've had to mount new jump bindings and repair the right edge of my trick ski before spring, and I have done so in a fashion that is nothing short of anal. To fix the trick ski, I mixed up a dollop of JB Weld Steel epoxy resin, and spent a good forty 45 minutes applying a thin strip along a 6 inch section of the edge of the ski. After waiting 24 hours for the axes to cure. I sanded it with two grades of sandpaper: first 100 grit to get rid of the bumps, then 400 grit waterproof sandpaper to remove the imperfections along the outer edge and bottom side. If I had noticed this in the summer, I would have quickly applied the resin, smoothed it out with my finger, and called it done.

Mounting my jump bindings has been almost as bad. I spent a good hour per ski filling each hole. I twirled each toothpick in a the tiny puddle of JB Weld, allowing a string of gray thin enough to fit into the old binding holes. Slowly lower trail of JB into the tiny hole, repeat five times per hole, repeat for five more holes. Wait 24 hours and sand to a relatively flat surface, as shown




That was the easy part. The next thing to do was to mark the new hole pattern on top of the ski. First, I measured the distance from the rear horseshoe to the tail of the ski. Freddy Kreuger recommended 29.5" when I asked him about it at the Midwest winter conference in Iowa City (Nice job hosting, Christy and Co.). That's about as good as source as I'll get, so I went with it.

After getting the tail measurement, I measured the distance across the skis at three points, each corresponding to hole locations. Then I measured the distance across the binding plates (yes, they do get narrower toward the heel end)and did some subtraction and division. An hour of measuring later, I'm within a millimeter of center with both boots. To mark the holes, I pressed down on the binding to account for the slight bend in the plate. Pressing down, I dabbed inside the holes with fingernail polish. A lovely shade of pink, I might add. The bindings however, are not yet mounted. I'm holding out until this weekend when I can use my father-in-law's drill press to make starter holes. till then the boots just sit idly, like this



In the summer, I would have covered the old holes with duck tape, measured tail distance, eyeballed side-to-side distance, and drove the screws straight in with elbow grease. 20 minutes, done. I would not want to waste that much ski time fixing equipment. Lucky, for winter, I guess.

No, winter sucks.

T minus.....

one month to go. March 1st. It will happen slowly, week by week. The temperature will increase, and the ice will melt. I will start off by daydreaming more. It will progress into a full-blown case of the shakes, like a nicotine addict on the drive to his favorite convenience store. Meanwhile, I have to keep working out, while not flunking out of nursing school in my last semester. Then there's the matter of boards and a post-graduation job.