Wakeboard?? Slalom??

[shepherd]

Some idle thoughts while waiting for the hurricane... I'm a slalom skiier and I think nothing compares to the adrenaline rush, speed and POWER that goes with skiing on a narrowboard at 32-36 mph through the slalom course. But most people I see out there are wakeboarding. Why? I've tried wakeboarding before but it seems relatively tame compared to slalom. Maybe if you get good and can do some of those wild air tricks, the rush is awesome (?). Or is it just because wakeboarding is easier and more convenient -- you don't need glass, don't have to worry about finding a slalom course...

I might buy me a wakeboard and try it for a while to see what it's about.

Any thoughts??

This has probably been debated a hundred times on this board, but I'm new here, so please excuse if it's a tired issue. :worthy:

[Double Overhead]

Im way more into wakeboarding. There are endless things you can do on a wakeboard. Skiing is just cutting and trying to improve on the same course. That seems boring to me. Slalom is harder to get up but once up I think wakeboarding is harder. Its much harder to ride a wakeboard in chop too because it rides a lot higher in the water and throws you around. Glass makes a huge difference with a wakeboard.

I can tell you that there is nothing like doing a flip on the water. Right now I can do about three inverted tricks. It is a blast. I snowboard and surf so wakeboarding comes natural to me. I grew up skiing and wakeboarding and now I dont even own a ski. I think if you wakeboard and start to try different things youll appreciate how challenging it is. I know several very good skiers who got on a wakeboard and were like a fish out of water.

I think as time goes on I think you will see fewer and fewer skiers. I think this is because wakeboarding allows a lot more creativity and allows you to get airborne. Last time I went snowboarding there were hardly any skiers. I think wakeboarding is headed in the same direction.

[aprgriggs]

Wakeboarding is different....even if you aren't that good. The feeling you get flying through the air is great. Similar to cutting up a course.

Try it....

[H20skeefreek]

As someone who sells skis and wakeboards I will tell you that last year ski purchases were rather stagnant. But more people are still buying skis than 10 years ago. More and more people are getting into wakeboarding b/c it is easier, both the actual act, and finding a place to do it. Anyone can wakeboard behind their uncles Bayliner. Also it's more marketable for television because there is a very large variety of things to do on a wakeboard. If you have a trick that you can't do, you just do another one. With skiing, if you can't make the balls, you can't try them a different way, you have to keep pushing yourself. Wakeboarding is more spectator friendly, the challenge skiing is internal.

In the long run proportionately, there will continue to be less and less skiers, but I think the total numbers will stay about the same. The people that have the desire to succeed and prove themselves will continue to ski.

Also, with the amazing things that CP and other pro skier are doing, we are getting a little better exposure, and with the Jim Michaels debacle, we are getting some additional exposure.

[Tennesseeski]

I do both and each has its own good points. When I get tired of freeskiing or the water gets rougher than I ride my CWB. But you are right shepherd, nothing compares to the rush you get from running 30+ on one ski. That is what is all about for me!

[SteveO]

I do both but prefer slalom. I guess I'm still old school. The rush of pullling hard through the course is hard to beat. It also seems like my boating friends are coming up injured more on their wakeboards than their ski. When I board, it's because the water is too rough and or I don't want to make the 40 mile drive to the course.

[ski_king]

I also prefer slalom. I got a wakeboard for the kids last year and I have tried it. I consider it fun, and if I had it when I was younger, I could see myself loving it. My teenagers seem to prefer slalom.
In the area I ski, there is mostly slalom skiers, although there is one hardcore group of 4 or 5 "kids" who live and breath wakeboard.

When the rare wakeboard boat with a tower comes by, people who look and stare and stare and ask what the ???? is that thing putting out that huge wake?

[RobertT]

This is my first year doing anything behind a boat, so I might bring a little different perspective to the debate, I assume most boat owners started on skis. I have tried just about everything this year, and as posted in a different thread I feel the following.

First, I am not 19, I am 33 with 2 kids. Its not all about the adrenalin to me.

All of my friends that ski started on doubles, then slalom, then dabbled in wakeboarding. Most of them are now getting more into wakeboarding as here is why.

Slalom is awesome. Very pure. Although I am no good at it, the feeling of the ski on the water at 35 on pure glass is incredible. Not like anything else. However, for us to enjoy it we must get up at 5:30am...and we are not strong enough yet to do it for an hour. Five minutes and we are shot and need a little time to catch our breath.

Wakeboarding gives instant gratification. You can learn to jump the first day, and it is infinitely less fatiguing. I mean, you can get up on a board, at a nice slow speed, and cruise for a LONG time. The tricks are endless, there is no limit to what you can do.

Slalom seems to be about perfecting the perfect technique to achieve greater control at high speeds, it has been equated to a golf swing.

Wakeboarding and its many forms seems to be more like dancing. Its interactive with your friends too. With slalom, we only have one or two people in the boat. With wakeboarding, its a very social environment. Seven people in the boat, tunes jamming, and the person behind the boat can look up and see 12 eyeballs with smiles under them getting them going. A hard fall at the slower speeds are painful but its mostly just more smiles. A little chop does not mean the end of the day.

Couple that with the fact that small children can board with great ease. My 11 year old got up on skis and a wakeboard the same week, and has no desire to ski again (although he does want to barefoot). What does that tell us?

In short, I am gravitating towards boarding more than anything else. I still wont board in the morning if there is another boat anywhere on the lake so I will still ski a few times a week, but....to sum it up....

I would rather practice dancing behind the boat with friends and music.....than concentrate on a golf swing.

I hope that makes sense.

[zberger]

This is my first year doing anything behind a boat, so I might bring a little different perspective to the debate, I assume most boat owners started on skis. I have tried just about everything this year, and as posted in a different thread I feel the following.

First, I am not 19, I am 33 with 2 kids. Its not all about the adrenalin to me.

All of my friends that ski started on doubles, then slalom, then dabbled in wakeboarding. Most of them are now getting more into wakeboarding as here is why.

Slalom is awesome. Very pure. Although I am no good at it, the feeling of the ski on the water at 35 on pure glass is incredible. Not like anything else. However, for us to enjoy it we must get up at 5:30am...and we are not strong enough yet to do it for an hour. Five minutes and we are shot and need a little time to catch our breath.

Wakeboarding gives instant gratification. You can learn to jump the first day, and it is infinitely less fatiguing. I mean, you can get up on a board, at a nice slow speed, and cruise for a LONG time. The tricks are endless, there is no limit to what you can do.

Slalom seems to be about perfecting the perfect technique to achieve greater control at high speeds, it has been equated to a golf swing.

Wakeboarding and its many forms seems to be more like dancing. Its interactive with your friends too. With slalom, we only have one or two people in the boat. With wakeboarding, its a very social environment. Seven people in the boat, tunes jamming, and the person behind the boat can look up and see 12 eyeballs with smiles under them getting them going. A hard fall at the slower speeds are painful but its mostly just more smiles. A little chop does not mean the end of the day.

Couple that with the fact that small children can board with great ease. My 11 year old got up on skis and a wakeboard the same week, and has no desire to ski again (although he does want to barefoot). What does that tell us?

In short, I am gravitating towards boarding more than anything else. I still wont board in the morning if there is another boat anywhere on the lake so I will still ski a few times a week, but....to sum it up....

I would rather practice dancing behind the boat with friends and music.....than concentrate on a golf swing.

I hope that makes sense.


That is probably the way I will go too.. just need to get up on 2 ski's first.. :headbang:

[juju151]

Well, where do I start...everyone else has done a great job in giving comparisons. I started snowboarding the winter of '94 when I was 26, and that was a couple of years before it started getting really big at the east coast ski resorts that I go to in N.C. and W.V...it was so funny how when I came sliding into the lift line, I would spend the entire time answering questions about it. Back then it was VERY rare to see more than 1 or 2 other snowboards on the mountain besides mine...and most of the time I was the only one there with a board. It was like that for a year or two, then all he!! broke loose...and then every punk and their brother started boarding and then snowboarders started getting a bad name because of the lack of respect to others by the younger crowd on boards. Yeah, even me...a devoted boarder have wanted to slap the pi$$ out of quite a few inconsiderate boarder punks on the slopes over the years...and not only on the east coast, because I've been to just about every ski resort in the U.S. and Canada, and those "types" are everywhere. Wakeboarders were looked upon the same way for a while, but I'm glad to see that it's starting to change. More and more "mature" people are trying and liking it, so you have more people that understand respect on boards now. Not every young boarder is like that, but unfortunately that type of "crowd" was the majority of the boarders for a while.

Ok...back on track...

Keep in mind that I have NEVER, EVER had a ski touch my feet...on snow or water...and probably never will. Not that I'm against skiing or anything, but I never had the desire to do it...because it just didn't look like it would be fun and exciting. But when I used to live in FL, I would surf...ALOT!...until my "near death experience" one day when I was surfing some REALLY good waves because of a major storm off the coast. Needless to say, that was the last time I ever surfed.

So one night while watching TV, I saw snowboarding for the first time and that's all it took. I thought, Yeah!!!!, surfing without the worry of drowning and undertow!!! The very next Saturday morning I drove to N.C. to try it out, and I can honestly say that it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life...I'm hooked!!!

So as soon as winter was over that year I was pretty bummed out...I had been snowboarding about 19 times that winter and I didn't know what I was going to do until the next year...so I thought, Hmmm...wakeboarding looks like it would be pretty close, so I bought a boat and I was on the lake EVERY weekend until summer was over. And let me tell you...the transition months of spring and fall were torture for me!!! The wetsuits helped out a little, and I've been out when the water temp was 46 degrees, but that's not too fun when your feet and hands are numb and your afraid to do any tricks because you don't want to fall in the water.

But anyway...since I've never skied, I can't really give you a comparison...but my point, if I even have one here, is that to me there's more to boarding than the rush. The rush and doing just about an infinite number of tricks is a great part of it...another thing is the way the board rides so high on the snow and water it just gives the feeling of floating on air when the conditions are right. I really only like to ride when the water is smooth, otherwise you're bouncing around like a bobber and it's not that enjoyable.

It's really the "Free" feeling that you get...I don't know if I can describe it, but when you are first learning you don't get it...that feeling comes more after you really get the hang of it and are totally relaxed and comfortable on the board. This is reminding me of when Patrick Swayze is having the "surfing spirituality" talk with Keanu Reeves in the movie "Point Break"...not quite like that but simular.

So, it's just basically that you can do ANYTHING you want...not just limited to cutting back and forth really fast. You can do that on a board also...you might not be going quite as fast, but you can get that board up on edge and cut hard.

But mainly, just have fun and enjoy it...and the best thing for you is that you can do both!!! So ride on Dude!!! :headbang:

BTW...did you get the Fatboy in the living room yet??? :purplaugh

[shepherd]

I definitely wouldn't compare slalom skiing to golf. Trying to improve your pass through the course is more like a Formula 1 race car driver (or motocross biker) trying to improve his speed around a road course. So here is the way I see it...

slalom skiing == road racing
wakeboarding == figure skating
;)

That said, after years of skiing the buoys, I find slalom kind of boring when just free-skiing (like driving on a race track with no turns) and only do it to keep in shape and practice my technique. That's why I'll probably get a wakeboard -- for when the slalom course isn't available.

Any suggestions on a good first wakeboard? (I'm 5'11", 190 lbs.). Probably an intermediate board -- I don't want to get a cheap beginners board because I don't want to be shopping for a new one in a couple months.

[juju151]

O'brien Buzz....if they still make them.

Very stable and tracks great, and you can still do any trick you want on it!

You definitely don't want a "slippery" board when you are learning, you want one that tracks straight no matter how you distribute you weight on it. Because "side sliding" isn't a good idea when you're just learning.

And since you a skier that's used to facing forward...my advise to you would be this...

REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE RIDING SIDEWAYS ON A BOARD!!!!

If you don't remember anything else, remember that!!! Even at 18-20MPH a face plant will make your eyeballs bounce off the back of your skull!!! :purplaugh

Good luck...

Oh and BTW..."figure skating"...Mmmmm, don't think so!!! More like...

slalom skiing == road racing
wakeboarding == Freestyle Motocross!!!

Yeah!!!...that's more like it!

[shepherd]

when I used to live in FL, I would surf...ALOT!...until my "near death experience" one day when I was surfing some REALLY good waves because of a major storm off the coast. Needless to say, that was the last time I ever surfed.

BTW...did you get the Fatboy in the living room yet??? :purplaugh

I learned to surf a few years ago in Cocoa Beach for several reasons: 1. I can do it on my own, don't need a driver/spotter/boat.
2. I really love the ocean.
3. I get bored just sitting around the beach watching the waves.

Like you, I broke my board in some storm surf -- it was my first board (only 2 months old) and a beginner like me shouldn't have been out there, but it was awesome. I learned my lesson. I'm in Panama City now, and I just let TS Arlene pass without surfing (the waves were huge, but blown out).

But this is not a surf forum... Juju, slalom skiing may look boring, especially if someone is just skiing around the middle of the lake. But if you could just experience the adrenaline of trying to make it across the wakes to the next buoy while a 300 hp beast is trying to haul yer a$$ down the course away from that buoy.... It's a real battle, and it's FAST! Even surfing overhead+ waves can't compare. :headbang:

ps. the Fatboy is going into my friend's garage on higher ground. My front stairs are just a little too steep and my front door is just a little too narrow. :rolleyes:

[WakeSeeky]

When the rare wakeboard boat with a tower comes by, people who look and stare and stare and ask what the ???? is that thing putting out that huge wake?

Just struck me funny, seems most of the small boats I see anymore have towers, at least half of the I/O's and oddly, even a couple of jet boats. Today was the exception, it was a MasterCraft-fest out there. Saw an S&S same colors as yours, Powerslot82, pulling a skiier, then two 190s at the ramp as we came in and a 205v in line to launch. Today was crummy windy, so I don't know why so many ski boats out, but it was definitely unusual.

Couple weekends ago I put my ski on for the first time in maybe 3 years. I mostly wanted to see if I could still do it, but it was fun and I've been taking the first run on my ski since then. I've never skiied a course and likely never will, so I can't compare that, but I love the floating feeling you get when you get air on the wakeboard. And it's just easier on my body. I've been known to over-do just a little, and Monday's aren't quite as rough after wakeboarding. ;)

Anyway, all this to say, they are two different sports and I find both enjoyable. I happen to like wakeboarding a little better, but don't see any reason why you can't enjoy both if you want. Remember, you CAN have it all! :D Except I really want to try a Sky Ski, and I haven't gotten to that yet, but one of these days....

[Maristar210]

slalom skiing == road racing
wakeboarding == figure skating
;)

Any suggestions on a good first wakeboard? (I'm 5'11", 190 lbs.). Probably an intermediate board -- I don't want to get a cheap beginners board because I don't want to be shopping for a new one in a couple months.[/QUOTE]
\


You might change your tune when you actually wakeboard. Do a 180 wake to wake and then come back and talk to me about "figure skating". Us wakeboard guys think you glass hunters are a bit overzealous, It is hard to be judgemental when you have little history with the dark side.

Start flipping and THEN start talkin.

All the best

Steve

[shepherd]

Maristar, I'm sure you're right. When I start flipping, I will start talking. But, like WakeSeeky said, I want it all. So I'll keep my "old school" slalom ways and try out the wakeboarding.

p.s. I'm not overzealous -- just ignorant of the "zen of wakeboarding." I'll learn...

WakeSeeky, I tried the air chair years ago when it first came out (it was a rental). It was awesome -- you talk about "flying." I highly recommend it, though I haven't rode one in a few years. Cut throught the chop like it wasn't there.

[P-Rod]

[QUOTE=shepherd] But most people I see out there are wakeboarding. Why?

Shepherd,

I can't agree with you more. The adreneline received from slalom skiing is amazing. But I also wakeboard quite alot. The reason that I seem to wakeboard is that there is less stress on my aging body. The closer that I get to 40 it seems it takes longer for my body to recover from the aches and pains that comes with the added stress from the slalom coarse. Either way, I still have a load of fun while out on the water. :woohoo:

[shepherd]

P-Rod, I know what you mean. The old body don't recover as quick as it used to. But it's a "good" pain right? ;)
Maybe I'm a masochist, but I love it when I'm sitting at the desk Monday morning all wore out, and that soreness in my back and shoulders reminds me what I was doing the day before... :steering:

Like you said, though, the main thing is that we all have fun on the water, whether skiing, boarding, surfing, or just cruising. Life is good :)

[P-Rod]

Shepard,

You are correct that the pain is the good type of pain. The pain only last a short time and the pain subsides by Thursday, just in time to go do it again on Saturday and Sunday. There is nothing like spending the weekends on the water with your family and friends. "Life is Good when you own a Mastercraft"

[PendO]

My 1 1/2 cents ... free skiing, skiing the course, and wakeboarding are all fun, but I think it depends what you grew up with. I grew up skiing, learning behind my dad's jet boat how to slalom at 5, thankfully he traded it for an I/O, and later got our first ProStar (1987), followed by a 98' Sammy. I don't think I skiied a course until I was early teens, and by that time I was more locked into free skiing, that skiing a course never really interested me. Comparatively it was about as different as powder skiing, and skiing a slalom course. Nothing beats the powder in the Rockies. I would rather wakeboard than ski a course, and it does not make me nearly as tired a free skiing ... but lets be honest, when you wake up at 6:00 and the fog is just rolling off the water, nothing beats a pull behind a M/C ... wakeboarding, wakeskating, and surfing are all fun throughout the day when the water is less than perfect, but when you ski early in the morning and actually hear the ski making the turn, it is true bliss ... that and a good pull on the tube;) jk

[Jerseydave]

My 1 1/2 cents ... free skiing, skiing the course, and wakeboarding are all fun, but I think it depends what you grew up with. I grew up skiing, learning behind my dad's jet boat how to slalom at 5, thankfully he traded it for an I/O, and later got our first ProStar (1987), followed by a 98' Sammy. I don't think I skiied a course until I was early teens, and by that time I was more locked into free skiing, that skiing a course never really interested me. Comparatively it was about as different as powder skiing, and skiing a slalom course. Nothing beats the powder in the Rockies. I would rather wakeboard than ski a course, and it does not make me nearly as tired a free skiing ... but lets be honest, when you wake up at 6:00 and the fog is just rolling off the water, nothing beats a pull behind a M/C ... wakeboarding, wakeskating, and surfing are all fun throughout the day when the water is less than perfect, but when you ski early in the morning and actually hear the ski making the turn, it is true bliss ... that and a good pull on the tube;) jk

AMEN, BROTHER!

I'm with you, early mornings are the best. Just you and the lake, everyone else is still sleeping!!!

[John B]

AMEN, BROTHER!

I'm with you, early mornings are the best. Just you and the lake, everyone else is still sleeping!!!

You sure got that right,But you forgot the ski.

It's "JUST YOU, YOUR SKI, and GLASS WATER" :D

[SkySkiSpokane]

Can't we all just get along!! :D

I must be a different breed. I love tearing throught the course, throwing a heelside tantrum, going huge with the foil, and killing myself at 40 mph on my bare feet.

I foil most but love them all!! :toast:

[78skier]

I'm a skier however I also love wakebording. Both are better on water that is like glass.
Unlike sking where you want no wake when you cut, wakeboarding you want a taller wake but you want to land in the flats (smoth water). However its not just the size that matters you want the wake to be sharp as well. I like the speed on my ski and I like the wild tricks on the wakebaord. So you can have fun with both but do whatever make you happy because boating cost to much money to not have fun with it.

[skitilldark]

I can't really add much to some of the wonderful descriptions already offered here except for a couple of observations; I too absolutely love slalom skiing. The speed, the control...there's really nothing like it. But it took me about 15 years to get to the point I am at right now(not having to worry about the basics). The whole wakeboarding experience is about socialization I believe. In our slalom boat, we have MAYBE 3 people, mostly just one skier and the driver taking turns. There is no socialization. it is all about the run. In wakeboarding, it is about everything— tons of people in the boat, laughing, joking, waiting for a face plant, etc. The speeds are low enough to hold conversation. And perhaps most importantly, ANYONE can be up and riding pretty well on a wakeboard in about 3 to 4 runs.

[Leroy]

I love them all, snowboard, snowski, waterski, and wakeboarding. Salom is just so physically demanding, but crashes don't hurt as much, wakeboarding hurts so much when you catch an edge or land wrong, but is physically much easier. Water needs to be pretty smooth for either. My boys just ski (land and water) due to couple of smacks. I think the boat requirements are just as demanding for either sport, I would say tie a rope on a Bayliner and try either and you'll be equally disappointed.


The snow sports are such money shredders when you take a family of 5. Airline tickets, hotel, lift tickets, meals.......easily $7k-$8k for us.

[rodltg2]

i combine the best of both worlds. slalom skiing and the social aspects of wakeboarding. i hit the ski lake 2-3 times during the week. early saturday hit the ski lake and get on the road to the houseboat by 11. i spend the rest of the weekend out on my houseboat .

[88 PS190]

For me I love slalom because i find riding a wakeboard very inconvienient, one i'm 6 foot tall 160 pounds, and that's thin and lanky, I do not spin well.

I do like kneeboarding so i guess i still want a tower eh?

[Boogieman]

I like to snowboard in winter and wakeboard in summer . . but I'm not really into jumps and tricks . . in winter i prefer deep powder . . and glass water gives me the same in summer . . most of my friends don't understand . . but for me, jumping over the wake is not that awesome . . its the "like flying" feeling on flat water behind the boat . . .
slalom skiing though, is to exhausting for me . . . . . :D

edit: I guess I'm a waterboarder . . . :rolleyes:

[West TN Wake]

I guess its all according to what you are brought up doing and i don't guess you have to have perfect butter for wakeboarding but nothing compares to edgeing out into glass flatts and cut in for some huge air...i love it..got a good board for ya..if you wanna give it a go..
Some idle thoughts while waiting for the hurricane... I'm a slalom skiier and I think nothing compares to the adrenaline rush, speed and POWER that goes with skiing on a narrowboard at 32-36 mph through the slalom course. But most people I see out there are wakeboarding. Why? I've tried wakeboarding before but it seems relatively tame compared to slalom. Maybe if you get good and can do some of those wild air tricks, the rush is awesome (?). Or is it just because wakeboarding is easier and more convenient -- you don't need glass, don't have to worry about finding a slalom course...

I might buy me a wakeboard and try it for a while to see what it's about.

Any thoughts??

This has probably been debated a hundred times on this board, but I'm new here, so please excuse if it's a tired issue. :worthy:

[RexDog1]

I definitely wouldn't compare slalom skiing to golf. Trying to improve your pass through the course is more like a Formula 1 race car driver (or motocross biker) trying to improve his speed around a road course. So here is the way I see it...

slalom skiing == road racing
wakeboarding == figure skating
;)

That said, after years of skiing the buoys, I find slalom kind of boring when just free-skiing (like driving on a race track with no turns) and only do it to keep in shape and practice my technique. That's why I'll probably get a wakeboard -- for when the slalom course isn't available.

Any suggestions on a good first wakeboard? (I'm 5'11", 190 lbs.). Probably an intermediate board -- I don't want to get a cheap beginners board because I don't want to be shopping for a new one in a couple months.

Ok now you have dun it, My Wife is Soooooooooo
Pissed off at you :eek:
She says, “strap on the blades I will show YOU how to Figure Skate" :rant:

I think she thinks that you are putting down Figure Skating
So if she comes knocking at your door …………..RUN…I Do :eek3:

[Jimmy O]

I think it's pretty cut and dryed as far as this debate goes. The older guys with a need for speed prefer to slalom. There is nothing like trying to control and create more speed @ 36mph. I admire wakeboarders though, especially when arial and gymnastic skills come into play. My son and daughter wakeboard only and can't understand why i only wan't to ski early in the am: when no one is on the lake. Besides that i don't think they like to get up early. It takes alot of patience as the driver when pulling wakeboarders as they seem to want to go forever when learning something new. Good attribute though.

[jayocheskey]

I like to consider myself a HYBRID on the water. I took up wakeboarding at the urging of some of my buddies. It is a thrill; I landed my first invert this past summer - what a rush! BUT, doing the course, as so many of you have mentioned, and grinding out every turn really get the adrenaline rushing in a completely different and exhausting way.

The bottom line - people nowadays are looking for instant gratification. It is MUCH harder to learn to get up on a slalom as opposed to a wakeboard. Both present their own comparable challenges after that.

[AirJunky]

I started slalom skiing back in like 1990 on an HO Mach I. Did that for a couple years, even went thru the course a time or two.
Then wakeboard got popular in like 1992. I had fun with that and landed some fun tricks, 180s, body slides, and a few back rolls.
Then in 1994 we got our first Air Chair. It adds a whole other dimension to skiing....... skiing in 3D! It's fast, do slalom turns all day, in crappy conditions even, and never touch the water. It's acrobatic, do 360s & rolls all day & not abuse your knees.
After a few years riding the old AC we started stripping & tuning the foils. It's sort of the Harley Davidson of waterskiing, custom foils, graphics, seats, bindings, etc.
In 1998 Sky Ski came out...... a custom foil with a warranty! And they ride better out of the box than anything we tuned.
Then in 2001, they started attaching foils to wakeboards. I haven't made it to that discipiline, mainly because I don't think my tired old back & knees could handle the abuse.
So in 2004 Sky Ski started making extended length foils. My current ski is the B-39 & is a full 10" longer than anything else I've owned. At 40 yrs old I'm got a 1/2 dozen inverts & going bigger than I've ever gone & developing more consistancy than ever. Late last summer I had a "stand up run", meaning I ran thru all my tricks & didn't crash once. I don't think I've done that in years & it felt awesome!
I can't wait to get out again........ hears to summer coming soon!!

[jmyers]

I have been skiing for sooooo long it is second nature! I can wakeboard and do it so I don't have too hear the "you have a wakeboard boat and don't wakeboard" But after I prove the point it is "ok I'm done hand me my D**N ski!" It is fun but I do think it is the younger crowd and people begiining that wakeboarding the most! The same can be said for me snow skiing and snowboarding! :twocents:

I did have to fill them wakeboard racks with new wakeboards to look cool though! :D