Nano One Ski Test Days 9 and 10

[Horton]

If you read about day 7 and 8 you know that I returned to warmer and slower water, was frustrated and then after removing my wing was again running a 38s. Let’s be honest here when I say running 38s what I should say is running 38 when I do not screw it up. I am not running it easy but I am running it a lot.

 

This weekend I went to two, 3 round slalom tournaments on faster water. Since I often ski well without a wing on other skis, I did not put the wing back on the N1 for the weekend.

 

I had very high expectations Saturday morning. First round 4 at 38. Not great but is my old average. Second round 2 or 3 at 38. Now my confidence is slipping. Third round 4 at 38. Now I am wondering what the hell I have done wrong. I even took a practice set after the tournament. 3 at 38.

 

Sunday morning I put the wing back on. Not sure why but it is the only thing I can think of. First round 4 @ 38. Not the score I wanted but things felt right again. Second round 2 @ 39. The 38 was not pretty but this matches my all-time best tournament score. Round three only 2.5 at 38 but that was totally fatigue. In reality it was my best gate and one of the weekend.

 

What does all of this mean? All I can think of is that with my settings and this ski, it is very sensitive to water temp. I tend to agree with the theory that skis do not change gradually with temp, the water gets to a point and everything changes all at once. With the N1 this is sort of radical. Perhaps with slightly different fin and bindings this would be less radical or would happen at a different temp. Time will tell.

 

[jipster43]

Congratulations @horton! That's some badass skiing! Must have been fun. Everyone was contemplating the Nano One at the tourneys I was at this weekend. Actually the PowerVest was getting a lot of chatter too. Must be the time of the year!

[Stevie Boy]

@Horton Nice skiing, just remember most atheletes can only hold peak performance for a period of six weeks, with careful planning and nutritional control you can bring that performance back for approx four weeks after a two week lull, by your posts I can only deduce that you could possibly be over skiing, Long Term Fatigue or Injury can result, look after yourself, we need testing and input from you in particular, I find your views fair and not bias.

[MrJones]

... and leave the wing on.

[Texas6]

Nice work Horton, congrats on the tournament PB. It is highly possible that the shorter ski length makes it more susceptible/noticeable specific to changes in water temp.

[bhs]

@Horton, did you gain any weight before the first round on Saturday?

[Horton]

@bhs ? No. I had a couple of ok poops before I skied. (really no idea what you are asking)

 

@Stevie Boy with my lifestyle I have to unfortunately wing it. I understand what you are saying but I really can't play that game.

 

@Mr. Jones well yea. I will be skiing 36 and or 35 mph for the next two weeks so the wing will be needed.

 

@jipster43 @scotchipman @Texas6 thanks

[sunvalleylaw]

Thanks @Horton for your continued reports. I like your writing and insights. Good on ya for the great results recently!

[Boody]

May as well throw in my experience too.

 

I have been running a lot of 38s in practice, but not in tournaments. Direct opposite of last year, when I ran a dozen or so in practice and the same in tournaments.

 

I practiced with my Nano mid last week, then jumped on the N1 on Thursday as we had a tournament this past weekend, 5 rounds. I ran my 38 otd on Thursday, got 3 at 9 and said fine, this will work for the tournament. I was less than 50% on my mid.

 

Long story short, I never made at 38 this weekend. I got 3 to 3.5 in all the rounds. With that said, I was in all of them but one (first round). My problems were clearly my on side, which used to be money and my off side was sketchy. Now, my off side is where I am making it up and my onside is either a crash, a stood up turn, or just ok. Several people that have seen me ski said the same about my on side, it was not a "snap" like before.

 

As frustrated as I am right now, I am still going to give it a little more time. I am going to tweak my binding set up a bit to better my on side. We will have to see if it hurts my on side.

 

In previous posts, I mentioned that the ski felt extremely slow. I do not feel this at all after 5 rounds in a tournament, but I still feel it shuts down going into the bouy much better than my mid. It also turns better, expect my on side at this point.

[Rich]

I watched you ski all rounds. My take is that you have to come up on this ski on the onside turn.

It is less critical on offside for some reason. ( Ielieve it has to do with the forward rocker on this ski) That is my take. My experience with the ski is that if I get over the ski on my onside it turns really good, if I don't rise up as I approach the onside apex I will end up with a tail turn. The offside is the best I have ever had and seems to have eliminated the dropping of the inside shoulder that was so common for me and others on the offside to get a ski to finish. Before you start changing settings and binding placement try coming up on the ski as you approach the apex of on side turn, I believe that will solve the problem. My 2 cents after watching you and also my experince of the ski.

[Than_Bogan]

@scotchipman That last paragraph almost exactly matches my experience (except replace Mid Nano Twist with Traditional 9900SL).

[Boody]

Thanks @Rich and @scott,I will try coming up more on the on side and see how that goes. On offside I'm 99% on front foot, on side I tend to push on heals.

[tfriess]

What bindings are you running on the N1?

[Horton]

@tfriess

Strada

[SteveY]

John, do you ever ski on other favorite skis to check and/or reset your performance baseline during your peak? For instance, the Prophecy was a ski that you seemed to really like last year. So are you just getting better as a skier or is it only the equipment that is raising your level of performance?

[Than_Bogan]

@Horton Yeah, please stop getting better. That's too confusing.

[teammalibu]

Nano is working great. Ran my second 35 in a tourney saturday. and ran a tourney PB 1 1/2 at 38 on sunday.

[Horton]

@teammalibu have you been thinking about our "project"?

[Boody]

@Horton, how does it compare to the A2?

[Horton]

@Boody one of my self imposed rules is that I do not compare skis as part of a review. I know you guys would like it but it complicates the process. I ride the skis and try to describe them.

 

In this case I have not ridden the A2 enough in a year to answer even it I wanted to.

[teammalibu]

@Horton

Last truck rolls off the production line at shreveport plant tomorrow should have some extra time to work on the top secret project!!

[skidawg]

Erb/Horton super secret project?????

I'm thinking......blowup doll w built in tequila shots

[The_MS]

@Dawg. Blow up Sheep, not doll.

[Stevie Boy]

My N1 arrived today, I was expecting a bit of a minger when I opened the box , but was pleasantly surprised, my ski looks pretty good, fin was pretty close to factory, so I left it alone, bindings on and off to the lake, would you believe it the worst wind and water conditions we have had all summer, just had to have a nudge, to see how it felt, hard to evaluate the ski, but it did turn nice both sides, cannot wait until I can ski in some decent conditions.

 

 

[Than_Bogan]

Had to look up what a "minger" is (very unattractive person in British slang), but I think once you know what to expect it looks fine. Also the most noticeable "visual flaw" is the bunching at the edges, which becomes almost invisible once a binding is mounted.

 

It can be off-putting if unexpected, however.

 

It looks real nice on its way out the exit gate at -38, too.

[Dirt]

@MS @skidawg reminds me of Pinky and the Brain

Pretty obvious which one is which

[Horton]

@Dirt that is not cool @teammalibu is nothing like Pinky.

[teammalibu]

Hate Tequilla love Margarittas any doll will do!

[teammalibu]

Almost forgot @#$%^& N1 ROCKS!!

[Horton]

Day 11 was at 35 mph (I guess - not exactly sure if we set ZO right) Ran a bunch of 35s

[tjm]

@teammalibu nice skiing Mike!

[Horton]

So I got through day 13 or 14 and then United Airlines separated me from the Nano One. I will have a new one in about a week. For now this review is on hold.

 

This is the second time I have had to switch skis mid review this year for unforeseen reasons. Strange year.

[Horton]

Almost forgot to post this...

 

That last ride I had to the N1 was at Soaked and I for sure out skied my seed. Chances are I will never score higher than Chad and Marcus again it the same day.

[ForrestGump]

True. I thought about texting Chad and telling him even I don't fall that early! ;) Probably doesn't make sense to go poking the hungry bear when he's got to drive me at some point, though.

[The_MS]

Should have flown Delta.

[Horton]

It was cool beating Chad. I wish MB had skied better. The conditions caught a lot of skiers off guard.

[jdarwin]

Probably helped being first off the dock, huh?

[DavidP]

Hmmm, I have a ski buddy that wants a N1 and is a United Airlines pilot...

[Horton]

@MS

With one exception, United has proven to be rude and incompetent dealing with. I am hopeful that I have found the one person in the organization that does not need a Cranial-Rectal-Ectomy

[The_MS]

It is weird that you were all worried and then it happened. I think you overthunk it and it came back and got you. So much for hard case protection.

[Horton]

I was skiing so well I knew something had to go wrong. @MS how did you get into the baggage area at Denver to do this.

 

[skibug]

Did they use that as the nose gear when landing?

[skiep]

How is the ski????

[skidawg]

@horton "Cranial-Rectal-Ectomy "....U mean an anal-cranial!

[The_MS]

I have connections everywhere. I tried to get it on the way to Orlando but missed it.

[ForrestGump]

@MS I told @Horton that you probably trained those guys.

 

[Than_Bogan]

(Deleted question because I'm a total idiot who failed to look at the entire thread before posting.)

 

Meanwhile, I think I am getting close to writing up my own "formal review." I think I understand enough of what this ski is about, and have demonstrated how it improved my skiing. I'd kinda like to see an "official" practice PB on it, but since I have no idea what I'm doing at -39, that's gonna be largely a matter of luck.

[Stevie Boy]

Looks like some numbnut, who,s had a frontal lobotomy, has driven over it, I guess you didn't tip the porter.

[teammalibu]

I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a pre frontal lobotomy!

[jlittle]

Fusion courtesy of Delta the first week in June. I'm currently skiing on an old relic and between skis. Not wooden undergound old but pre ZO.