Women's Speed

[sammgarrity]

Hi!

 

I'm some-what new to the slalom course... I've been skiing for 7 years, but only slalom for 1, and I was wondering why women cannot go 36 mph if they complete their 34 mph pass? I'm nowhere near that right now, but hopefully I will be soon. I've been trying to find the answer, but cannot. I have a hunch of what it is... that we're "too fragile". I'm also wondering why hasn't it been changed?

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[disland]

Its in the rules. Generally if the majority of the skiers want a rule change the power that be will do it.(at least AWSA, IWWF is a whole different ball game) I good example is the just raised the mens 4 jump speed. The reality is no one has been asking for it. I think the women like running shorter line lengths that 34 allows them to do.

[Than_Bogan]

I don't know the original reason, but I know a lot of female competitors and I've never really heard anyone clamoring to go to 36. I can tell you that when I first got through 34, I would have found it a lot more fun to shorten to -22 than to go on to 36, which at first felt more like 136. Of course, eventually you get used to it, and you'll hear a lot of 35-year-old males wishing they could stay at 36.

 

For me personally, I would say that 34 and 36 are exactly equally fun. The challenge level is identical, since you just shorten the rope until that's true! 36 makes you think and react a little faster, but 34 confronts you with a shorter line length, which requires you to be more precise in your line through the course.

 

As far as fragility being the reason, I sure don't think so. I gotta say that 34 is often harder on the body than 36. For me I went from -35 being my "miracle" pass to -38 taking that role, and the slack hits at 34/-38 are a lot meaner than they are at 36/-35.

[Than_Bogan]

More importantly: Welcome to slalom!!! Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!!!

[Roger]

Brent, women drop to 32 at 53 (women 5)...

[sammgarrity]

Thanks everyone! (Esp. Than Bogan! So far I'm enjoying it!!)

As for right now I'm at 28 mph... But if I ever make the 34 mph pass, I think I go to 36 just to say I can do it, then cut the rope. But I really appreciate everyone's input!

 

[Jody_Seal]

If you ask a lot of guy's "34.2mph" is girls speed!

I open water ski at 36mph and recently tried it in the course. I think for course skiing I will stick to Girls speed...

[Roger]

Me too, but I always thought MM and Big Dawg should be 35.0 to make a definitive split between Men 3,4,5,6 and Open Men. A number of MM skiers I know would have no issues with this.

[ForrestGump]

There are a number of Big Dawg skiers that already train at 35.0-35.2mph.

[Than_Bogan]

[Thread hijack alert!] My opinion is that fewer speeds is better, for the simple reason of being able to compare. If I see Big Dawgers running some score at 35, I'll have only a slight clue what it means, since I've never skied at 35 in my life and probably never will. With them skiing at 34, I can always aspire to match their scores. (Not saying I will, just that I can aspire to it, which I consider a very good thing.)

 

Note that I'd be fine to switch us ALL to 35. I just don't want the very best old guys skiing a different speed than the next tier of old guys.

 

Btw, while I think Big Dawg is great, I would make it a rule that either ALL men are in MM, or none are. I think it's goofy to contest age categories at Regionals/Nationals, but not have a clear winner because some -- but not all -- of the top skiers competed in MM instead.

 

Back @sammgarrity: You're quite welcome. And I'll bet 50 cents right now that you'll change your mind after running 34 mph. Shortening the rope is just more fun. Of course, I understand the desire to be able to say "I did it," but since we're ultimately all in this for the Fun Factor, I'll keep my 50 cent bet placed :).