Adjusting for Cold "Fast" Water - Revisited

[Razorskier1]

OK, the water in MN is now officially frickin cold! Skied last night and it was about 55 degrees out and sunny and it wasn't so bad. Skied ten 32s, four 35s and then finished with two 32s and I could still feel my hands. This morning 41 degrees and cloudy. Two 32s, eight 35s and two 32s to finish. My hands were bricks!

 

Oh, ya, about cold water skiing. The first few passes of both sets I felt really fast, but not narrow. Ski was running around the balls and hooking up with speed very smoothly. Actually kind of fun, but different from what I've been working on. Made a conscious effort to be "lighter for longer" like I've been doing. Suddenly I was wide, early and slow, just like I am trying to be. So by focusing intently on doing what I'm supposed to do, I created a feel very similar to warm water skiing. Not the same, but close enough.

 

Wish there was more time in the season. I'm working on new things and really feel great, but the iceman cometh!

[sunvalleylaw]

Throw me into the not really good enough to mess with it camp. I will just keep working on my form and ski around it for now. If I start getting into 32 off and better, then I may start messing with it.

[SkiJay]

If you intend to learn how to tune your own ski anyway @sunvalleylaw, why postpone getting started? Anyone who is a regular skier can feel small setup changes with a little practice. Just take one single adjustment like distance from tail or wing angle, and play with it over a long period of time while keeping a log.

 

Wing angle is a good place to start. For many skiers, it's the only adjustment they make, and all you need is a screwdriver and some free wing angle gauges:

goode.com/images/anglegauges.PDF

 

Try it one or two degrees shallower. Then try it one or two degrees steeper. Take it off and see what changes. See if you can feel a 1/2 degree change. Not only will you develop a personal preference for your wing setting, you will also start developing a new level of awareness of how your ski is behaving. This useful background "awareness" is a learned skill that, like all skills, improves with practice; and I'm using the word "awareness" because ideally while skiing, your attention is focused on your skiing, while only a subtle awareness of how your ski is helping or hindering is playing in the background.

 

So long as you remember that learning how to ski better will always be 99% about building better technique, developing this ski-behavior awareness along the way won't set you back. You will just be that much better at setting up a new ski or bindings when you get to 32 off.

[sunvalleylaw]

@skijay, sure, I am sure I could mess around with it some. I typically have been a 'find a setting I like and stay there' kind of guy with most things, but no harm in trying as long as I don't get more focused on that than skiing.