Woody74

@aspski and @S1Pitts, I grew up near here! My parents still live in Invermere, I had no idea this place existed. Growing up it was mid June before the lakes up there were warm enough to ditch the wetsuit most years.

I ruptured mine skiing in the summer of 2018. The doctor also prescribed ear drops and told me to take it easy for two weeks. It fully healed and my hearing was back to normal.

@DaveD Thanks for the response. Looks like the 69.5" is what I should be looking at.

Hello everyone. I got back into skiing in 2018 after about a 17 year break. I forgot how much I love skiing! In 2018 I picked up an HO Syndicate Omni and it's been a great ski (much lighter than my Kidder Redline from the late 90's!). I primarily free ski open water and would consider myself a good free skier. I ski 22-28' off, occasionally 32' off at 32-34mph. On the very rare occasion I get to ski a course (only 3 times in my life) I am good for 3-4 buoys @ 15' off at 32mph with one full pass at 6 buoys. As I am getting into much better ski shape this year and skiing weekly I am considering moving from a crossover ski (my HO Omni) to a true course slalom ski as that is what I grew up skiing on. I am 47 years old and a fit 6'3" 235lbs. My Omni is a 69" and feels more than stable at my current weight and boat speed. The ski I am looking at getting this winter is the 2022 Radar Vapor Pro Build. My question is do I need to get the 69.5" or would I be ok with a 68" in the Radar Pro build at my height, weight and ski style? A good friend now lives on a private lake with a course so my chances to run through the course will increase but I will still primarily be early morning aggressive open water sessions. Thanks for any info/help! Joe

I wanted to give a big thank you to how HO helped me out last week! I bought an HO Syndicate Omni in august of 2018. The ski only has about 20 days on the water and about a week and a half ago I came off the lake and saw that I had three stress fractures in the carbon fiber top layer just under the front boot. I called HO and asked if the ski was still safe to use or if there was anything I could do as the warranty ended in 2019? Lorin was the lady I spoke to at HO and she asked me to e-mail her some pictures and additional info. She and HO promptly sent me out a brand new 2020 Syndicate Omni to replace my damaged ski!! I am so grateful to them for the new ski and how they handled my situation. I thought I would share my positive experience. Joe

@Kwoody51 everything I have been reading the last three days says exactly what you confirmed, the T factors have great lateral support and the Vapors have excellent comfort as well as excellent support. Being away from the sport for 15 years I missed a lot of the evolution of equipment and all I know are open toed boots and tend to lean toward the T factor for that reason. With all of that being said I haven't seen a single negative review of the Vapors either. Possibly a win-win whichever boot I choose?

@CCPD3 Have you tried the Radar Pulse boot at all? It seems similar to the Vapor but with a less rigid outer shell I am guessing?

@skialex perfect! Thank you. Now I just need to decide between the Vapor or the T factor. I am going to continue to run my Radar HRT on the back.

Will the D3 T Factor binding mount on my HO without any modifications?

@aupatking thank you for the reply! The more I research the more I like the sound of the Vapor boot. I definitely want something that makes me feel very connected to the ski. I believe the plate on the Vapor boot is compatible with my HO or am I wrong? I liked the rubber boots I ran in the past but I'll be honest they were less than comfortable. I assume that has all changed with the new T-factor boots though.

Short back story; I got back into slalom skiing in 2018 after a 15 year break. I have been skiing on an HO Syndicate Omni with HO Freemax front boot and Radar HRT rear. Back in the day I was skiing on Kidder with double rubber highwraps but am really liking the HRT on the back currently. I feel like I would like to upgrade my front boot though. I mostly free ski (fairly aggressively) and attempt the course @ 15 and 22 off a few times a season. My first question is would the new 2020 HO Skymax be noticeably better than my current Freemax boot or fairly similar in performance? The other two options I am considering are the D3 T-factor front and the Radar Carbitex Vapor boot. Any advice or input from people that have used these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Joe

@Drago it still gets pampered after all these years, haha.

Cent, the Kidder is still mint! I plan to ski it again next summer to see how it feels compared to my HO Syndicate Omni :smiley:

The Kidder I skied on in highschool (circa 1993) and my friend's Dad's old Cut n' Jump that I keep asking him for. lol.

68ºF Standley Lake, Westminster, CO.