slalom ski?
 

I know I'll probably be chastised for putting this in the wakeboarding discussion, but my uncle always gave me crap about wakeboarding (he used to slalom). Anyways I recently got a slalom el
ski from the father in law. its a 68" O'Brien. I'm 195-200. I have a ski brendella (I've gotta assume its a good ski boat). I've got a ski rope. For the life of me I can't get up...I put the ski in between the rope (it has a split before the handle). I tuck my knees in and everytime the rope rips from my hands. I figured my driver didnt know how to do it. I tried slower and faster, still it rips putta my hands and I get a ton of water in my nose and eyes... Any advice from those who have done it? I mean it took me three summers to get on a wakeboard, but I figured with that locked down I should be able to grasp this fairly easily... I've tried with back foot out and in the binding.

Not a bad thing. Fun to hop on the salom every once in a while. Try this: put the forefoot of the back foot pressed on the ski instead of having the entire foot in the back slip. Try testing it with the rope either on the left or right side of the ski for balance when getting up. And just hold on for dear life. It's going to be hard to get up on one ski because it's just such a small surface area compared to a wakeboard. Ive always used a very large ski to help out with that. If you still get water in your eyes, then just squint or close them for a little bit. Once you get your body out of the water, ease your back foot all the way into the back slip/binding.

Thanks for the info. I anticipate it being harder with the smaller surface space but i didn't think itd be this hard. I don't consider myself weak in upper body strength but for whatever reason the rope always rips from my hands. I've got my knees tucked in, waiting for the boat to pull me up, but every time the handle goes flying. I've even worn a dive mask to help with the water (ya.... I did that)

Ive tried arms straight out, arms tucked into my chest. I usually have my driver pull me with the line tight for a second or.two before pulling out just to make sure its.not slack that's pulling the the handle from me.

You need to stay tucked in longer and keep your weight behind the ski longer. Keep the tip of the ski 6" above the water line at start.

I feel like I'm doing that. Tip is 6-9" out of the water and I'm tucked in the whole time waiting for it to bring me up.

As stated above, get the driver to put the boat in gear and drag you for a bit and then roll on the throttle rather than plant it. But the big secret that I was told the other day, lift your chin up. Instead of looking at the tip of your ski look over the top of the tower of the boat. I used to have trouble getting pulled over the front of the ski, especially when it was late in the day and I was getting tired. By lifting your chin you just seem to pop straight up out of the water

Hi mate,

Slalom skiing is good fun. The only reason i started wakeboarding is my parents couldnt afford to keep buying me new skis as i grew.

Few key tricks that may help.

- If you can get a deep v rope get it. This will help with your balance which is the main thing. Proline make one called the deep v quickstart

- I have both front and rear feet in the binding on start up
- Curl up into a ball with a focus on leaning back
- Ensure you are as straight (ski wise) as possible
- Lean back with straight arms

The most important thing in my opinion is to lean back and let the boat do the work. If you have straight arms and your legs are solid the boat is doing all of the work. Otherwise you will keep getting pulled forward.

As you get pulled up, wait, wait, wait until you are well and truly on top of the water. At that stage you will have a face and nose full of water but you will be up

Enjoy

Wrap arms around knees with handle held about 8 inches from ski...you are in a ball...knees against chest...leaning back...when pull comes dont let hands get pulled into ski...stay in a ball...dont try to breath while this is happening...dont let go...dont try to get up...and youll be up

Growing up skiing, the advice gets better farther down the thread.

Ball up. Back foot to butt. Tuck chin to avoid water in eyes and nose. Arms straight.

I have seen lbs and lbs of drag from loose board shorts. They scoop a ton of water, holding you down.

Also, you need to keep nose of ski out of water, but flatten it ASAP to get on top of the water. back foot to butt, pressure on front foot to get it to flatten out.

The guy above is right, ahead slow for you to get into position with some tension then nice and smooth acceleration.

Some people keep the ski vertical and causes too much drag. Ski like this "\" not "l". People don't realize they do this...

Good luck!

Man up. Hold onto that rope, its not easy, if you don't do it all the time it will hurt when you're done. Get another ski and drop to get the feel of being up. Man up.

Have you ever slalomed before by dropping a ski? If so start there. After that you'll figure out how to get up on one.

Gloves could help but I think you have other things to work on like the ski position etc. get up on 2 and drop one like stated above.

Thanks for all the advice guys! Idk what it was but after a month and 15+ attempts I did it today! I've never skied before but I told myself I had to get up on a slalom. It was definitely different. I kept both feet in, balled up, arms straight and after getting closer and closer I finally got up and rode for a bit. It's really hard to control, but it was also a little choppy on the river today.

http://i60.tinypic.com/29ly78i.jpg

I struggled with the slalom problem for years. Big thing for me, getting nasaly raped by the river and not being able to breathe. It's like you're drowning, even when you're holding your breath.

I can get up on 2 no problem, and got close to dropping one before. Well thanks to wakesurfing and related crosstraining, my balance got a lot better so I tried it again. I was able to drop one and ride slalom after. It was just a matter of finding the ski afterwards.

After that I bought a nose plug so I can stop the river from trying to drown me so I can deep start.

Good work Tom,

I often go for years without skiing and get up first go, so a bit of practice and you will too.

Once you are up, lean back almost as much as you can. Helps with balance alot, but make sure you still have you legs in a nice crouched bent position.

idk man, if that river is choppy you would probably like my glass...

Good job on the slalom btw. Took me 3 tries to get up few weekends ago and I've been slaloming since 1998ish

Looks like you got up. Nice work. Best advice above is back foot to your butt. You can keep the front knee a bit less bent, and it'll make a better ramp to come out of the water. Run a baseball grip on the handle for the best leverage to hold on. If you're running both feet in on the start, doing a slight track to your front foot side when the boat is initially in gear dragging you will help keep you stable until you get the full pull.

That ski is too small for you from the looks of the picture, and likely increased your difficulty. Just like wakeboards, there are a lot of advancements in the slalom world, and some really nice freeride skis out there. As well as parabolic and wide rides that make learning and cruising easier.

I too struggled with getting back up on a slalom after many years off.

Some of the most important advice on this thread:

1) look up at the horizon. I was looking down at my ski and needed to get my head up more.
2) roll your shoulders back when instead of hunching them forward
3) be on a ski that is the right size and ability for you.
4) the advice of having the ski at a \ angle instead of | was spot on.

I threw down an got myself a Radar Theory with double high boots that had great arch support and laced up the front so they weren't too hard to get into. Made a huge difference.

I'm now back to getting up 1st or 2nd try.

For me, the dragging a foot or dropping a ski was simply not going to happen. I had to do a deep water start or not at all.

We keep a wide slalom for guests. Connelly pilot. If you have access to a barefoot boom they are great for getting a feel. Very few people I cannot get up in short order progressing from the boom, to a short rope on a boom then to the back of the boat. Shortening things up a bit on the rope and using the tower (light kids only) makes things a bit easier as well.

Easiest group to get up are the 10 year olds. Teens seem to have more trouble since they weigh more