Edbrazil

Note that Taylor and Freddy had to run off for the Chile Night Jump victory, when they tied in the final round.

No ice-out yet on big Lake Winnipesaukee. It is right about the average time for ice-out. But, it has gone into May several times, with the latest on May 12th in 1888.

Never tried it, but I've envisioned making explodo-buoys filled with propane, triggered by when the tension band was cut.

Simple one to start with at home: Hang a ski handle from a door frame, then lie on your back on the floor. Make it so you just can reach the handle, and then do pullups.

One of his students was/is Taylor Garcia. The results speak for themselves. Tgas has a nice private site near the back lots of Disney World. Last I knew, Jason Seels was also there.

The metric course ended up about 5 feet shorter than the old AWSA course. That was very apparent when we changed Jack Horton's course over in February 1974, as we left the AWSA course in during the process.

The question of skier size/reach goes back at least as far as Warren Witherell, who was perhaps the first skier to get into line off, or at least beyond the first 12 off shortening. Ol' Stew McDonald described a tournament in the olde days when skiers first ran max. speed (34 mph then) at 75' longline. So, the problem came up: what next? Then they decided to shorten the line; thinking they settled on 12 off. Note: this was on the foot-dimensioned course and with the long endgates, and when the gates counted for one point. Of course, whether they were skiing on accurate courses is a question, long before it was general practice to survey them. About 1967, I came up with a computer program in the BASIC language for 3-point surveying. Ps: Warren asked: "Do they raise the basket for Wilt Chamberlin?" Think it was Wilt, a tall guy at the time in the NBA.

At his site in Boca Raton Florida, Chet Raley has his 2 courses set up with the left-hand option. At one time, he was thinking of running a Class C where you were required to ski the lefty course in at least one round.

Glass calm water feels like you are standing on a sharp edge. Best barefoot water is a slight ripple.

I think that Brett Wing did a true 100+ mph on actual bare feet. The other "barefoot" records, such as by Pellaton, were done with wearing booties.

Back when, I participated in a barefooting duration contest, held on the Connecticut River in Massachusetts. I was a good solid footer. So, not far into my run, I encountered a small log. Which was slimy, and I slid over it. Later on, another log. Went into paranoid state, trying to straighten up and look ahead. Led to me falling, after maybe 2-3 minutes. So, on the way back, we started picking up debris and putting it in the boat. Was lots of stuff, and it took us a while. We all got back, and they figured that I had a hugely long run. Nope. I forget who was the eventual winner, but I did the river clearing for them.

Incredibly stupid rule. Getting back into the wake and letting go of slack should be a score of 3/4. Used to be a full point.

Wow. Thanks for posting. The first Shreveport tournament that I worked, and pre Pro Tour, which started in 1984. My name was even mentioned as one of the key officials. This was my first Shreveport pro tournament before many others.

Just need another Robert Wadlow to come along.

Before going to metric, we had 33off for a while between 30off and 36off. I witnessed the first time that 10.75m was run at the Thrillah in Hydrilla. The rules are such that we will never run out of loops, but a 0.25meter shortening is difficult to add. However, a special super-short line could be an option, with loops starting with 10.75m, and going on and on.

Back at the 1977 Nationals, in runoffs that kept repeating, the loops at 10.75, 10.25, and 9.75 were used. With the Technical Controller hustling down to the dock with splicing fid and a segment of line. Final result was that all ties were never resolved and a tie was called.

Moomba: I worked 10 of those events, from 1982--1991 inclusive. Part of a week-long festival, and huge crowds watching waterskiing. At the time, it was on live TV in AUS on channel 7. Different pace down under, with setdown delays between passes. Plenty of beer in the crowd, and plenty of beer cans floating down the Yarra River. Developing ski show there, with plenty of falls. But, later on, the Gilligan's Island themed show was great.

I worked the oldtime Shreveport tournaments. Lots of billboards throughout town. The attendance was a zoo of people. Just walking a short ways to check on the jump meters took some 15 minutes. They even brought in a company to construct a temporary grandstand. Site was not wide open water, but neither was it a dug private lake. We had World Records there, and not just in jumping.

For sure, you don't want to ski on either of the 2 river sites the Tour went to: Knoxville or Chattanooga.

Anyone with some AquaSport skis to show? They made top jumpers in the era of wooden skis. Don't think they stuck around when composite skis came in, starting in the late 1960s. Also, their founder/owner Larry Brown died relatively early.

The site of the 1973 Nationals in Petersburg, VA had power lines over it. And, power poles in the water. Poles were eventually removed. I don't think the site is in current skiing use.

In the 1970s, Peter Knapp had a 2-ski flip in his run, toward the end. Landing tended to end up in survival mode.

@Horton: In the way back, ?early 1970s?, Wayne Grimditch was apparently working on a 2-ski Wake 720FF. Where he would wrap the rope around himself twice. Don't know if he ever tried it in a tournament. Now, according to the Rules, that kind of wrap is a no-no.

As a jumper for well over 20 years, my lower back is crap. I did go to a stem cell presentation, and it looked promising. But expensive. No help from Medicare or Medicaid. A single treatment was quoted as $3,200. Comments, ideas? Sure would be nice to feel and move "normally" again, and maybe even re-start skiing, of sorts.

Quite an area, in the middle of the high desert. I was at Horton Lake in February 1974 doing some ski testing. During that time, I worked with Dr. Jack to convert his slalom course to metric dimensions. Probably one of the first sites to do the changeover. As the new anchors went in, starting from one end, the differences grew, until the metric course ended up a little over 5 feet shorter.