Pond Skimming 2011

[Morwax]

Gunstock, epic failure as snowboarder goes early and rips the pond liner

 

[vdk03]

Stratton is having their 'spring fling' next weekend. I rode their today and it was great, think ill be going back next weekend to check it out. If it is a nice day id entertain the idea of giving the pond skim a shot. Couldnt be any harder than wakeboarding right?:wink:

 

[makimono]

Gunstock, epic failure as snowboarder goes early and rips the pond liner

someone ripped the liner at Wachusett today too

 

[Nick]

someone ripped the liner at Wachusett today too

Yeah I was gonna say I sat on a lift with Skimmer #128 and he told me they refunded him because someone busted up the liner.

 

[Nick]

my 8yr old made it across at Bromley a few weeks back, she was so stoked!

That's awesome :highfive:

How long was that, hard to tell from the camera angle?

 

[Nick]

So like I said, I did it a Jiminy this year. I wore my helmet cam, another helmet cam on my ankle, and had a friend take some pics. Here is a quick vid I made(first time editing anything). Dont make fun of it as i am not very good on the editing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK7fWS8t4c0

Good try! Love the camera shots... definitely want to try thix next year.

Are the people who are good at this normally also waterskiiers? I've been skiing my whole life and suck at water skiing.

 

[bobbutts]

Good try! Love the camera shots... definitely want to try thix next year.

Are the people who are good at this normally also waterskiiers? I've been skiing my whole life and suck at water skiing.

I think the key is leaning back so you don't let the rapid deceleration pitch you forward.
+ the wider the ski the better. Haven't done any official pond skims, but I imagine it's alot like riding over grass/mud, which I have done plenty of.

 

[from_the_NEK]

I think the key is leaning back so you don't let the rapid deceleration pitch you forward.
+ the wider the ski the better. Haven't done any official pond skims, but I imagine it's alot like riding over grass/mud, which I have done plenty of.

Actually, you have this all wrong :lol:

You need to stay forward. Leaning back pushes the tails of the skis into the water and you scrub all of your speed very quickly. Have you ever seen the skim boards at the edge of the water at the beach flying along on 1/2" of water? You really want to try for the same effect in pond skimming.
Wide skis (especially twin tips) are not necessarily good either. The twin tip creates a drag wave behind the ski that slows it down. I'm actually trying to find some big long straight sticks (215+ cm) to pond skim with next year (anyone have any they are looking to part with ;-) ?). The more ski you can get behind your boot the better.

 

[tjf67]

Good try! Love the camera shots... definitely want to try thix next year.

Are the people who are good at this normally also waterskiiers? I've been skiing my whole life and suck at water skiing.

I have found it best to use my powder skiis. When you go into the water try to keep your weight right in the middle of the ski. if you put some rainex on the ski you will take off like a bat out of hell when you hit the water be prepared.

 

[Cannonball]

The more ski you can get behind your boot the better.

Ski it switch!

 

[from_the_NEK]

I have found it best to use my powder skiis. When you go into the water try to keep your weight right in the middle of the ski. if you put some rainex on the ski you will take off like a bat out of hell when you hit the water be prepared.

Someone on powder skis has yet to win Burke's competition. They have an elimination style event where you get moved down the mountain for the next round if you succeeded in making it across the previous round. The twin tip on the big powder skis kills them and any skis with reverse camber barely make it through to the third round. The winner four years in a row was a guy on an old 160 cm swallow tail snowboard. This year he was barely beat out by a guy on some 190ish GS skis (flat tail).

The big powder skis probably work fine for one-and-done events where speeds are typically high enough to overcome the drag wave.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Ski it switch!

Last year a guy did make it through switch at Burke. He barely made it since he overcompensated and was leaning hard toward the uphill end of his skis. That really isn't something that you can get much practice for

 

[tjf67]

Someone on powder skis has yet to win Burke's competition. They have an elimination style event where you get moved down the mountain for the next round if you succeeded in making it across the previous round. The twin tip on the big powder skis kills them and any skis with reverse camber barely make it through to the third round. The winner four years in a row was a guy on an old 160 cm swallow tail snowboard. This year he was barely beat out by a guy on some 190ish GS skis (flat tail).

The big powder skis probably work fine for one-and-done events where speeds are typically high enough to overcome the drag wave.

Whats he puting on the bottom of the ski. My guess its an old shitty ski and he is loading up on the rainex or something that no one would put on there new skis. I could see how a twin tip could have drag. I dont see how a skinny ski will outperform a fat ski everything else being equal.

 

[Cannonball]

Whats he puting on the bottom of the ski. My guess its an old shitty ski and he is loading up on the rainex or something that no one would put on there new skis. I could see how a twin tip could have drag. I dont see how a skinny ski will outperform a fat ski everything else being equal.

Never done it myself so this is all conjecture.... But my guess is that float (i.e. powder ski) is less important than reducing friction. So a fat powder ski with more surface area actually creates way more drag. Rainex/silicone/Pam on a skinnier ski all keep friction way down.

 

[from_the_NEK]

Whats he puting on the bottom of the ski. My guess its an old shitty ski and he is loading up on the rainex or something that no one would put on there new skis. I could see how a twin tip could have drag. I dont see how a skinny ski will outperform a fat ski everything else being equal.

Everyone has secret wax/rainex/silicon spray applications. But when you carefully watch the different types of skis and boards go through the water at slower speeds, there is definitely a large difference in the amount of turbulence created by them. The flat tail is huge IMO. The longer the ski the better it planes out even at slow speeds. How well does a water ski work under 10 mph?

 

[Nick]

Check out this video I found... this is some heavy duty pond skimming!

http://video.ph.msn.com/watch/video...cpkey=c61c07bc-a79c-4b56-91cf-c90cee981c45|||

 

[Hawkshot99]

Check out this video I found... this is some heavy duty pond skimming!

http://video.ph.msn.com/watch/video...cpkey=c61c07bc-a79c-4b56-91cf-c90cee981c45|||

Impressive

 

[makimono]

Check out this video I found... this is some heavy duty pond skimming!

http://video.ph.msn.com/watch/video...cpkey=c61c07bc-a79c-4b56-91cf-c90cee981c45|||

Monoskiing FTW! 435 feet....but then what? :blink: