Ask Rossi Chapter 3

[Horton]

We are evolving this as we go. This is part contest and part masters lecture.

 

@chrisrossi‌ will choose the best couple of questions and answer them. The authors of the best questions will get some sort of swag.

 

Put on your thinking cap and see if you can hatch the most interesting question for Mr. Rossi.

[MarcusDski]

Hi @chrisrossi‌

Recently I have sort of hit a wall in my skiing progress and I can't seem to get any nice clean 22off/16m passes run. I think my problem is width. What advice could you give to a longer line length skier to help get wide and early to each buoy and run some clean 22off passes. I have been told things such as tensing my core through the wakes and so on but I can not seen to make it click. I know a group of us at our local ski club are having the same problem so any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks

Marcus

[DanE]

@chrisrossi Hi, both my son and me are using Strada boots on our skis. I have always had my front boot slightly turned out (front turned towards little toe) slightly, 1/8" or so. Haven´t given it much thought before because that setup have felt the best regarding joint alignment (also have the rear boot turned out but more pronounced). After some weird results from tuning my ski I finally tried to set the front boot dead straight, and wow, everything felt better, from turns on both sides to wake crossings. My reasoning was that since the heel of the front boot was moved closer to the inside edge onside turn-that helps my onside, and correspondingly the toes on front boot moved closer to inside edge on offside turn helps offside also.

Made the same adjustment on my sons ski and his reaction was the same, he immediately skied better and more symmetrical. Is there something to this or what is the general consensus on turning front boot?

Does anyone turn their front boot towards the big toe side to make the above mentioned effects even greater?

[waterskicorey]

@chrisrossi Hey Chris, I wanted to ask you if you could talk a bit more about what you said in an earlier post, you said that before you learned how to run 35 off and shorter, you had to get in your mind set that at the shorter lines lenghts your body does not go around the bouy, just the ski. Could you explain and talk more about this? Thank you.

[Kavan]

When conditions are less than ideal and it's windy, what are some of the thoughts or adjustments you make to your skiing? In both cross winds and head tail.

[Rez]

@chrisrossi, I have moved my way up through the speeds and am about to move onto the shortline. The shortened rope feels a lot different and obviously the geometry is a bit different also. I was wondering what your best tip is for making the transition between the longline and the shortline. Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers, Donald

[drewski32]

@chrisrossi, I am mostly a 28 off skier, 36mph, and the main thing stopping me from running 28 more consistently and running 32 seems to be my transition, particularly going from 1,3,5, to 2,4,6 (rff). I can build angle going into the wakes, and try to begin my release at the centerline, but into the 2,4 buoyline i feel like I am losing massive amounts of angle right off the second wake. I am then forced to ride the ski nearly flat into the buoy and try to slam a turn to get back over to 1,3,5. The problem is there at 22 off, but is less prevalent. At 28, it is a major issue, making the pass difficult. At 32 off it keeps me from making it to 3 ball. How can I get the ski to maintain an arc going outbound from the second wake to the ball going into an onside turn? Perhaps the problem starts before the wakes?

[xrated]

What is the best advice to give to a wife who is still relatively new to skiing in order to get her riding her edge? She is on year 3 and has mastered deep water starts and is now starting to work on crossing the wake. A few times last summer she actually got her ski on edge while coming back to the wake but each time she flattened out well before reaching the white water(not to mention the "holy crap" look on her face). Apparently "just trust your ski it will hold" being yelled from the boat is not the correct advice to give.

[onenicksix]

Hi @chrisrossi. Obviously one of the fundamentals of slalom is to get your hips forward, or hips up as some may say. I have progressed up to 36mph 15 off and currently still struggle to get my hips in the ideal position crossing the wakes, especially on my offside cut. I know that I need to bring my hips forward, but I find this easier said than done. What is your best tip on how to bring your hips forward to create the ideal stack? I think my problem my lie before the turn, as I tend to break forward at the second wake. However, if I concentrate on keeping my hips forward through the second wake I feel I carry a lot more speed into the bouy. Again, I would just like to know the best way of getting my hips into the correct position out of the turn and throughout the pass. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[gmut]

@chrisrossi. I have read articles that tell you to decrease length when you move the fin forward and conversely increase length when you move the fin back. Could you expound on this topic and maybe explain the reasoning behind this, also, which is faster cross course a deep fin or a shallow fin, assuming no wing? Thanks Chris.

[Chris Rossi]

Great start guys! Keep them coming. I appreciate the thought that each of you are putting into your questions and hope to answer each of them as long as I have time.

[Razorskier1]

@chrisrossi‌ I know that I need to be consistent at maintaining a tight line off the second wake, but sometimes I still find myself coming up and in, reaching instead of having the boat take the handle. Are there some ways you think about that to increase consistency?

[Gloersen]

I’d like to build upon what @Razorskier1 is asking (assuming the same theme); what cues (visual, tactile, back shoulder/arm pressure, etc.), if any, do you use to help keep the upper body leveraged through the edge transition? Seems as the line shortens, in my hack attempts to create greater, more efficient lean, the tendency to come up and in with the upper body during edge transition is hard to avoid.

 

@ChrisRossi, thanks for your efforts in educating us.

 

[rq0013]

Im having the same troubles at-32,-35 at 36mph as Razorskier1 and Gloersen. I think learning these concepts is the key for me to run the pass easier.

[TravisNW]

Chris,

It seems an important factor of running short line passes, 38 and beyond, is to establish width sooner. A new concept I've recently been introduced to goes on to say that instead of trying to maintain max angle after the wakes one should ski directly at the Bouy. This goes against a lot of what people have been trying to do for so long but actually makes great sense because a shorter path will save time and space. Thoughts, agree, disagree? I can explain more but have a feeling you might already be with me here.

[Marco]

I was going to ask something similar to Travis's question. As the line shortens, the optimal path tolerances reduce. As JB once said, skiing super shortline is like skiing a path the width of a garden hose. What is the optimal path as the rope gets to 38 and beyond? How is it different from longer lines?

[GOODESkier]

From a ski tech and boat tech stand point..... if you went back to a 1980's ski and boats and looked at LaPoint being the first to run a full pass at 38 (Behind a mastercraft?????). What has been the single biggest advance in this sport that allows common guys to run 38, 39.5, and some into 41....... Could you or other pro guys run 41 on 1980 technologies?

 

Think how fun a throwback Thursday Night tournament at Horton's lake would be? Winner could have braggin rights for a whole year until the second annual throwback thursday tournament.

[drewski32]

@GOODESkier that would be hilarious. Ski on an 80's ski behind an 80's boat, see who can get the furthest down the rope

[Horton]

Please stay on topic

[GOODESkier]

That was on topic.... well mostly..... here is what I was really asking:

 

I was asking what part of this sport is dependent on technological advancements? Can you ski on a stick that is 25 years old? Can you ski on a stick that is 12 months old? If your going to be serious, can you ski on a STRADA after the Vapor comes out? On a 9960 after the Nano One comes out? On a MONZA after the A1-2-3 came out. When a company claims their ski is built with GPS speed control in mind, what does that really mean? When will the tech side stop advancing so much and put this back on the athletes shoulders to figure out a better way to get around 3 ball......? Kind of a ski and tech/builder/designer question.

[Horton]

OK, This round of ask Rossi has almost wrapped up. if anyone else has a question for Rossi lets have it.

[GOODESkier]

Started a separate thread before I thought about the ASK ROSSI THREAD:

 

Almost ran my second 38 of the season today (3rd ever and 2 time in the last 2 weeks!)...... I am going to blame our river current on my miss on the way to 5 ball. (175,000 cubic feet per second of flow today and although we are not in the main flow, it still gets squirrel-like)

 

Wondering, I have only seen 4 entrance gates at 39.5' OFF in my life. How do you start getting acquainted with that next rope length? How have people prepped for their next advancement?

 

I have thought it is a good idea to try a 39.5 off every set, even if I don't get through the 38 cleanly just to start seeing a little practice there? I have also thought it is better to just own 38 first by backing up that pass more times like I have done to own 35.

 

How do I start taking a meaningful stab at 39.5 without just chasing balls? This could be a question for everyone that is on the cusp of that next rope length.

[Chris Rossi]

There are some good questions here to work with. Let's leave it open until the end of the day and then call it. Thanks for taking the time to participate and I look forward to answering!

[gmut]

Chris, sometimes you watch a skier do really great on the same brand of ski but a different length. So can you figure out mathematically how to transfer the working settings, say from a 65.5 inch ski to a 68.5 inch ski, fin settings and binding location? Kinda like 28.5 is to 65.5 as X is to 68.5 for binding location and similar calculations for your fin settings, dft, depth and length. So if you calculate the dft for the 68.5 based on binding location calculation anf dft from the 65.5 then just leave the depth and length the same as the 65.5 does that sound reasonable? How do YOU do it?

[T_C]

@gmut Good question. Often wondered the same thing!

[Horton]

Ok Officially Closed

@chrisrossi‌ has some reading to do