Trick Ski setup?

[Waynes345]

My 13 year old son has progressed dramatically on a slalom ski this summer. He was watching waterski videos on YouTube and expressed an interest in trying tricks. I picked up a used trick ski on ebay and want to set it up for him properly. He is right foot forward. Do I mount the rear toe strap in line with the boot or angled? Any tips for learning, speed, etc.? Thanks.

[outback 4]

If he's right foot forward then the back toe strap will be angled with the toe pointing to the left and the left heel will be in line with the right heel. Trick ski should be surprisingly easy to get up on and manuever around if he's doing good on the slalom ski. They can be extremely fun once you spend a little time on them. The hardest thing is realizing there are NO fins so you will spin very easily without much movement. I think when I was around his age I had the speed at around 15-16mph. Good luck!

[Waynes345]

Thanks for the info. So if I'm following you, the toe strap isn't centered on the blank, but offset so the heels are in line with the toe strap at a 45 degree angle or so?

[outback 4]

I'd say a 45 would be about right. It's also a good idea to put some sort of rubber grip on the deck with the toe strap over it. It makes controlling the trick ski a little easier. I can send a diagram your way of exactly what I'm talking about if you'd like?

[BensonWdby]

Remember that if he decides to try toe tricks you MUST have a quick release for the rope at the pylon. This also requires a competent spotter to actuate the release when the skier falls....

[MasterMind3002]

My 12 year old son trick skis behind our Outback daily. We shorten up the rope to about 60 feet. Set the wake plate to drive the rooster tail down and pull him around 15.

He also shoe skis daily and we use the exact same setup except we pull him between 18-20 mph depending on what trick he is working on.

[deerfield]

MasterMind - We visited Cedar Lake IN last weekend to explore the area and real estate market for a weekend home. Do you know the lake? Where do you ski? - Deerfield

'07 Outback

[MasterMind3002]

deerfield

sorry dude............I've never been on Cedar Lake. We ski on Webster Lake in north central Indiana. Where the Moomba's are king and the Nautiques are nervous. :D

[Waynes345]

Been a week or so since I've been back here. Thanks for the further information. My folks live on Chapman Lake not far from Webster and I had my Outback over there on Labor Day. I keep the boat on Apple Canyon Lake out towards Galena and we had the best skiing of the year this past Saturday when it was 55 and nobody but a couple fisherman out. Water was still fairly warm and near glass. Sounds like this weekend will be nice as well.

[MasterMind3002]

Same deal on Webster last weekend.............water is in the low 70's but smooth like glass. We've had nice warm days this week so the water temp should be decent.........I'm hoping to burn up some gas this weekend. This next two weeks is the probably the best skiing of the year

We only live 3 or 4 miles from Chapman Lake in Leesburg. Small world :D