Ski Run - 5/29/10

We had a great ski run yesterday. Just Jenny, Abigail and I on the boat. It was a day of first in that it was Abigail's first ever day to "swim", she floated in her life vest with both Jenny and I. It was also the first ski run for me on my new-to-me '03 O'Brien Mapple Slalom ski.

Started off with a slalom run on the new ski. I bought the ski blank and bought a new HO Venom front binding for it as well. The binding was a little loose at the toe compared to my old Vision binding. So the first run was a bit shaky getting used to the faster ski and the movement in my binding. After two runs on slalom, Abigail swam for a few minutes. Then Jenny got out for her first run.

She did well for two runs on slalom, getting back into the swing of skiing. I then made two more passes on slalom that were much better. I moved back to 15 off for the first run so that I could get a more gradual turn and find the sweet spot of the ski. Once I was able to do that I moved back to 22 off for the next pass and it felt much more comfortable. I didn't yet go all out though since I usually do not do that unless there is someone else in the boat with Jenny. Too many injuries from hard slalom spills.

Jenny made another two passes on slalom and really looked good. She is getting enough slack on her strong side turn to get the rope in the water. Her turn looks great and she just needs to trust the ski a little more coming out of the turn. Like most all of us slalom skiers, her weak side is a little behind. Once she gives more control to the ski though she will be ready to go 15 off. It is so awesome to see how far she has come, she really looks great.

Abigail "swam" a little more then she got to drink a bottle of formula. No skiing for her this time, want to make sure we have someone else in the boat when we do that. I finished up the day riding two backwards. Crossed both wakes before my legs finally gave out. Getting in the boat Jenny made a comment that proves how much of a skier she is. Skiing backwards we passed a boat that was getting their riders ready to go on a tube. When I got in the boat she looked back at them an said "That's a shame, those kids on the tube are old enough to be skiing." Proof right there that Waco should be able to support my idea for a Day Trip Water Ski School.

More on that later. Hopefully I'll be posting again tomorrow after a morning trip.

Celebration Day Skiing - 4/23/10

This is a bit past due, but we went out for a ski run a few weeks ago on the same day that we finalized the adoption of our baby girl Abigail. It was an awesome afternoon, very little wind on the lake, and we skied for a few hours. We were the only skiers on the lake and there were very few boaters out at all because it was still early enough in the afternoon that people were still at work.

Jenny & I both skied slalom. I'm still working out the kinks of the winter layoff. Jenny did really well for her first run of the year. We took a short break and enjoyed the lake before I skied backwards on two skis for a good bit of the drive home.

Abigail is still getting used to her life-jacket but she loves the boat and being outside.

Jerry

First Run of 2010

The weather finally cooperated yesterday and we made it out for a quick ski run. It was not only our first ski run of the year but it was also the first boat trip for our little baby girl, Abigail. She seemed to enjoy it all but she was definitely trying to figure out why she was all squished up in the life vest. She fell asleep while we were driving around the lake looking for good water, which there was only a little bit of thanks to what must have been a fishing tournament. And she fell asleep on the way back to the boat ramp.

As far as skiing, I slalomed with my full wetsuit on. It wasn't really that cold compared to the first run of year's past but then again we usually get our first run in around mid-March. Made a couple of good passes before calling it quits and getting too tired. I could have skied a little longer but since I'm not too sore today I'd have to say I made the right decision on when to stop. Jenny didn't feel like skiing, she wants it to warm up just a little bit more before she takes that first plunge.

So hopefully we will have reason to post on this blog in a much more frequent time frame for the rest of the year.

Until next time.
Jerry