Portable Slalom Course???

[skihard]

Unfortunately for me I don't have very good access to a slalom course near me. We constantly move from lake to lake as we love camping and skiing new waters when we can?

 

I'm VERY seriously thinking about purchasing a portable course but am cautious as I don't know anyone who owns own?

 

So I'd like to toss it out to the group here:

 

Who owns one and do you like it?

Is it easy to install and remove?

How many people are needed to get it installed and removed? (Just wife and myself mostly)

How much maintenance is involved in owning one?

 

I have seen some for sale on ski it again but as stated am nervous about the purchase if it's too much work or just not worth it?

 

Thanks gang!!!

[The_MS]

EZ Slalom. @EdObermeier

[fu_man]

My buddies have one on our lake (public). My experience is that you can do it with 2 but 3 is optimum. One driving the boat and two working in tandem to pull out the right peice at the right time, put the pieces together with the ropes, and maintain tension on line for the pieces that have already been deployed. The trick is to find a system so everyone knows their role. With 3 people that know what they are doing, it takes us about 20-25 minutes if we dont have any snags. Removing is a bit easier, but it is important to put the pieces away in an orderly fashion. The problem with pulling it (for us at least) is the mud and algae. Very messy and it gets that way even if only in the water for a short time. If you leave it in over night for an early morning set, for some reason the bright colored balls attract fishermen like flies to poop so be prepared to have some diplomatic conversations. As well, there have been many times that our rope has snagged lures and hooks...Wear gloves when pulling it in!

 

It is a labor of love that we used to do a lot more on our lake up until we met a guy on the next lake who keeps his in permenantly.....a hell of a lot easier to drive 5 minutes. However, when that was our only option that is what we did.

 

 

[swc5150]

x2 for @EdObermeier. I have an EZ and it's awesome! I also own an Insta Slalom, but prefer the EZ. My wife and I can pop it in somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes. Pulling is easier, approx 15 min. As an added bonus, Ed is a BOS staple, so he's here if you need him. As far as maintanence, there isn't much to them to fix. Ball attachments have been the only thing I've had to deal with since buying the Insta in 1988 (and still use it when at the cottage).

[Horton]

Ez!

[swc5150]

BTW, my wife is 98lbs in a wet suit, so you don't need a couple gym rats to install or pull these courses.

[MattP]

Oh just a thing we learned over the years. If there is a wind. It's easier to put it in a tail wind and easier to pull in a head wind. You don't wind up with the line under the boat.

[gregy]

I have an EZ slalom with rope. Going on 3 years, never had a problem with it. One of the lakes we ski on has a lot weeds which makes it a real pain to get in and out, sometimes impossible. We almost always put it out with 2 people, just got to organize before you start. I use a cheap set of mechanics gloves, you have to tug on the rope pretty good to keep straight as you go. We also lay a heavy canvas tarp over the back seat and trunk cover to keep from damaging them.

 

I put a heavy rope with a bouy and a light anchor on each anchor which helps retrieve the anchor if it gets stuck and can help straighten the coarse in difficult conditions. I got the anchor stuck on a stump or something right after I first got it and it took about a half hour of pulling from different angles with the rope course rope tied to the boat. Couldn't believe it didn't brake the rope, after that is when I started using the extra rope, use a bouy to locate it and little anchor to keep it out of the way.