jlittle

I'll chime in on this. First, @jhughes who did you PM in your post above? It appears you might have hijacked this thread trying to sell your boat. Nah, you wouldn't do that. Second, you then went on to say how slippery all Malibu's from '17 on are, they're the worst, and then said your '23 actually drives pretty well. Well, maybe the factory had two good days because this boat drives very good. I had no problem switching back a forth from that crazy 200 to the Malibu at the tourney this past weekend and run respectable Surpath numbers in both boats from the Boys divisions all the way through M3, 6, 7 & 10. This Malibu does drive very well. For TXi as you say. Sure the 200s might be more consistent from boat to boat but this Bu is no slouch. It also skis very well too. But don't take my word for it, I'm still working on my deep water starts.

@Horton So what's the theory? I'd heard you could potentially fail your driving test if you removed your hand from the throttle while the boat is under power.

Prior to everything blowing up, would Larry Nassar have passed a background check or a SS class? Most likely. So wtf does it do? If USOC would give up info on USOC people who knew what he was doing maybe I'd be more of a fan. Definitely people at USA Gymnastics should go to jail. Probs USOC people too... That was a direct quote from a waterski partner of mine. He's contemplating renewing his and his family's memberships.

@Wish It's just the tip of the iceberg. I can think of tournaments in Helena, Kalispell, Greybull and possibly one or two in E.WA which will end. Why, because we have a hard time getting officials filled out for the number of divisions required to just run these events. There's a reason in the tourney guide we went to TBD for running order. I, along with the other chiefs, have spent many hours prior to tourney day trying to figure out running orders so we don't have to change drivers & judges every two skiers. So now, we have background checks. Skier 'A' drives 500 miles, Skier 'B' 400 miles & skier 'C' 250 miles to ski and help out where they can. We as chief officials are relying on these skiers and their ratings to make this tournament happen. Skier A & C have not completed the background check and are, now, not able to help. The tourney is a bust. Do we refund all the entries? Does the sanction fee get refunded? Surely our sympathetic governing body will understand and take care of the LOC. And you know where sympathy falls in the dictionary?

@The_MS "As an organization we pushed back on this and submitted an appeal arguing our judges did not fall into a position of authority… Unfortunately, that appeal was denied by the USOCP. As a national governing body under the oversight of the USOPC, we are required to follow these policies and procedures…" Why are we required to follow these policies? Why did our governing body side with USOPC? Why couldn’t they have seen where this will end and stood behind the membership? This would have been the perfect time to sever ties. Unless there’s some small print we don’t know about. Did we sign in blood? But it’s most likely money. How ‘bout Due to your denial with regard to USA-WSWS request to reconsider background checks for all adult judges we regret to inform you we will no longer continue to support USOPC. Effective January 1, 2022 we will no longer be part of your organization.

@jgills88 point taken. The other day I recieved the email from headquarters and as I read through it my first thought was, well that's it for me. It's time. Some of my decision is personal but this hoop I'm not jumping through. Could I? Sure. I'm just not going to. I know I don't give as much to this organization as most but I have spent plenty of time keeping my ratings current, volunteering and traveling to tourneys. The part of this decision which really bugs me is, leaving a couple of friends without a chief scorer. They'll figure it out though. Like @Jody_Seal I was wandering around the house this morning thinking about this, except I had pants on, and my thoughts went to a group of guys to my east. It would only take 2 or 3 of them to decide this was the final straw and it potentially could eliminate 4 to 6 tournaments. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out in the years to come.

I'm a snow skier... I'm also a snow ski instructor. I teach kids. And adults. I have to take a Safe Sport class. Ok I'm a snow skier... In order for me to ski at any resort in the US, because there's kids there, I have to take a Safe Sport class. No

I pretty much have one gun case. She has seen me leave hunting & shooting with it all the time and knows it well. All the new guns come home in that case :wink:

I'm 50% sure I can wrestle the ski @jipster43 won away from him and 100% sure I can out run him (see below). 4 passes into JP's season this happened. Yes, while skiing. And yes, literally the first ride of the year from what I understand. Kidding aside, I'm happy for your win. You deserve it. Just don't leave your ski unattended next summer if I'm around ;)

@mfjaegersr Good to know for my recollection of the event. Or lack there of apparently. Which means, where the pic was taken most likely did get a bunch of ash. I too thought of the Joe Cash photo when reading the thread title.

They are a little bit lucky the mountain blew to the north as that reservoir is due south of St Helen's. Although even if it had gone south the Swift reservoir (NE of them) most likely would have taken the brunt of the mud flow. At least in the short term. I also suspect the ash fall out was probably minimal where they were as most of it went east toward Yakima, Moses Lake, Ritzville & Spokane. Prevailing wind. If you ever have time, and are in the area, it's worth the drive up to the Johnson Observatory. The devastation can still be seen and is pretty impressive even 40 years later. I remember the day well. Cool photo

@vernonreeve "great guys" might be a stretch ?

@Horton Funny. Yes, beer cam. You can find them in stores right next to the drinking goggles. If you can get a mssg to Nick tell him to be careful. In that part of E WA it's a shoot first and ask questions later. Wolves, cougars, Sasquatch etc etc.

One mtn pass west of our lake place. If he's heading east maybe I'll catch him on the game cams. Or her I suppose.

I've been a Nautique guy for a long time and currently own two (1997 & 2008). If somebody was going to give me a new one for free I'd take the MC.