Head Guard Protection

The patent pending cross bar design by In Tow utilizes Lexan 1/4" x 3/8" rigid clear tubing.  This tubing is virtually unbreakable with excellent UV resistance and impact strength.  It is placed three inches from the handle.  I just mailed one out today to a skier so I should be getting feedback soon.

                            Brenda

Front Page News

Moomba Men's Slalom Final

Things I thought were interesting about today's final round of men's slalom:

• Mapple started at 32' off and then once again opted out of 35' off coming back in at 38' off.
• Parrish got a reride at 39.5' because he hit a bottle at the one ball.  On his reride he made 6 buoys and then equaled the course record of 3@41' which was set by Smith yesterday.
• Asher missed his gates at 39.5' after running (I think) 5@39.5'.
• Thomas Degasperi was on "Dancing with the Stars" in Italy.
• Smith, last skier, missed his opening gates at 35' off.
• They were going to do a run off for 2nd and 3rd (3 way tie between Mapple, Degasperi, and Sedlmajer), but came back and said no on the run off giving Sdelmajer 2nd and Degasperi 3rd.

Moomba Women's Slalom Final

Emma Sheers pulled a Mapple...she too has been out of the sport for 8 years, but you couldn't tell running an impressive 5.50@38' off.  And Whitney McClintock starting at 32' off...I didn't know a female skier could do that.  Where have I been?  Congratulations to Karen Truelove for getting on the podium!

Moomba Day 2

Team In Tow skiers Dane Mechler (Junior Moomba Champion), Tom Brantley, and Nick Parsons were invited to ski in the Moomba Masters.  Tom and Nick were two of the fifteen skiers to advance to round 2, but did not make it to the final round.  Things I thought were interesting about today's 2nd round of slalom:

• Mapple started at 32' off (skiers have to start at this line length) and then came back in at 38' off.
• Asher at one point was out of the race because they said he did not make his gates at 39.5', but after Mapple had skied and before Smith skied, they reversed their decision so Asher will be skiing in the final round.
• Asher has the longest arm span out of all the top skiers.
• Mapple, after making the final round, opted out of skiing in the Big Dawg final round.
• Smith set a course record of 3@41'.

                                                                                        Brenda

I have set up on my website the video link, tweet link, and results link for Moomba.  It might not be as spiffy as other sites, but what I did for today's viewing was to link three tabs to the In Tow website and then I clicked on the three different links (video, tweet, results) within the In Tow website.  It was a nice setup to have all three pieces of information going at once.

Dane Mechler Wins Junior Moomba

Junior Moomba U17 Boys Slalom Results

Junior Moomba Round 1

Got an e-mail from Dane:

Hey Brenda!

I slalomed in the first round of Moomba today and I am in the lead! I have one more round to go and it is combined score. Just thought I would let you know the first round went great. Talk to you soon

Dane

His score in the first round is 3.5@11.25m.

                                                                                        Brenda

Dane sent me a picture so we know he's really there :)

MOOMBA + IN TOW

MOOMBA Invitation List and Rankings

1  Chris                Parrish               USA

2  Will                  Asher                 GBR

3  Nate                 Smith                 USA

4  Thomas            Depaseri             AUS

5  Jonathan           Travers              USA

6  Daniel               Odvarko            CZE

7  Nicholas            Adams               AUS

8  Nicholas          Parsons              USA

9  Corey               Humburg            USA

10 Carlo               Allais                  ITA

11 Aaron              Larkin                NZL

12 Jason               McClintock        CAN

13 Johan               Eferstrom          SWE   

14 Joel                 Howley              AUS

15 Boris               Laval                 FRA

16 Austin             Able                   AUS 

17 Martin             Bartalsky            SVK

18 Tom               Brantley            USA

19 Adam              Sedlmajer          CZE

20 Javier              Julio                   ARG

21 Brooks            Wilson               USA

22 Joel                 Wing                 AUS

23 Dane               Mechler            USA

24 Felipe              Miranda             CHI

25 Jonah              Shaffer              CAN

26 Nick                Purcell               AUS

27 Benjamin         Stadlbaur           SUI

28 Joshua             Briant                AUS 

29 Tayla               Garcia               USA

30 Andy               Mapple              USA

Team IN TOW skiers in bold.

As I have been getting geared up for the Moomba, I remembered IN TOW pulled the Moomba about 13 years ago.  The worlds best slalom skiers and jumpers skiing on my ropes!  Does anyone else find that amazing?  Man was I nervous.  It all happened because of my connection with Jaret and Britta Llewellyn.  

                                                                                          Brenda

Brenda,
 You Rock!

Two Down - Two To Go

An update on my young skier Dane Mechler.  He had a bit of bad luck with weather at Junior Worlds and ended up 12th in Under 17 Boys Slalom.  At the Mastercraft Australian Open, his first pro tournament, he came in 9th.  He's currently skiing with Daniel Odvarko, Joel Wing, Timmy Bradstreet, and Kara MacIntyre doing some training before Moomba.   Dane said, "We are skiing on Myuna Bay near Newcastle, Australia and it is saltwater so it is perfect practice for Moomba".  He's heading to Melbourne tomorrow where he is top seed for the Moomba junior event and 20th seed for the Moomba elite event. 

Learning to Water Ski

As I was preparing to talk with Lucky Lowe for the March issue of my monthly newsletter (the front page of my website), I came across this video Learn to Water Ski with Lucky Lowe.  If this is the year you are going to teach your kids to ski you might want to check this out.

Hopefully by Monday I will have some input from Lucky for my short line skiers!

                                                                                             Brenda

It's Five O'Clock Somewhere!

Just when I thought I was starting to get things under control after a two year stint of health issues and the aftermath of health issues (life does not congratulate you for still being alive, it just says "look at what a mess your life is now"), my son Jordan moved back in with me.  He enjoyed living on his own but came to the conclusion he did not like his restaurant job so much and did not like living on $8.50 an hour.  Yet he was distraught because he did not know what he wanted to do, but now he does. Isn't half the battle figuring out what you want to do?  Jordan is going back to college to work on getting a degree in Actuarial Science.  And so much for being an empty nester, I need to update my profile.

I am boring you with all of this to explain why I have been neglecting you guys.  My theme song for the past two weeks has been It's Five O'Clock Somewhere but it's time to move on....

Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett

I saw Alan Jackson in concert back when I was living in Austin (1989 time frame) when he just had a few hits.  It was a Randy Travis concert with Tammy Wynette and Alan Jackson as the opening acts. Alan slaloms.  In this video it's in jeans and cowboy hat with some footing in cowboy boots. 

  Alan Jackson on the water.

It's eight o'clock - time to go make some ropes for the Western Regional Tournament.

                                                                                     

                                                                                        Brenda

Let the Party Begin!

I went into production on February 20 and shipped for the first time of the 2013 season on February 22.  As one of my Massachusetts skiers recently said, "Summer can't come soon enough!!", and a skier in South Carolina said, "As we say here in SC, the first day of summer is March 1st".

March 2:  I just got an e-mail from my skier in South Carolina regarding the first day of summer:

I received my slalom line and it looks great! Today is the “first day of summer”, but unfortunately is too dang cold to waterski, so looks like we’re gonna snow ski this weekend with snow on the way today for the mountains!

So much for wishful thinking!
            

Mapple Skis Wins Pro Event at Ski Paradise

The final rounds were run head-to-head:

Semifinal Round

Parrish vs Mapple

Asher vs Smith

Final Round

Parrish vs Asher

The final round went into overtime with both Parrish and Asher running 3@41'.  Even though Mapple did not win, one of his skis did (Parrish's ski sponsor is Mapple Skis).

                                                                                                        

                                                                                           Brenda

Pro Event at Ski Paradise: Day 1

It wasn't too long ago I was getting the scoop from Gordon about his upcoming Pro Event.  I couldn't help but wonder how Mapple would do against the young guns.  Who better to tell the story of Day 1 than Mapple himself.  This is his warm up before the Moomba.

Ski Paradise Invitational

Posted by Andy on February 14, 2013 in Mapple Skis, andy mapple, Chris Parrish, mapple, mappleskis, Nate Smith, Ski Paradise, Will Asher

Ski Paradise Invitational

In November my friend Gordon Rathbun asked me about the possibility of putting together an invitational Pro event at Ski Paradise in Acapulco. Absolutely, there is always the possibility of success with a good plan! Anyway, it did come together with support of some past guests and some new ones.

Invited skiers….well, you want the best in the World, Nate, Chris, Will and TGas. There was also an extra invited by Gordon…yours truly! Gordon thought it great to promote the top guys today to go against Andy. Not a challenge for these guys, as they have taken slalom skiing to a new level. I am now an image of the Toby Keith song “as good as I once was” I may not be as good as I once was, BUT I am as good once as I always was. Today I had my “once” as you will see below!!

Will was already in ACA from a previous week’s coaching with Ski Paradise clients, so Nate, CP, TGas and myself flew down from FL on Saturday via private jet courtesy of David Garza, a Ski Paradise guest……thanks David.

Saturday evening was very special for me, as one of my best friends Kris LaPoint was staying over one extra night and we got to roast him and tell stories to celebrate his 60th birthday. Talk about an amazing career, determination and passion for a sport, this guy is it and still going.

Sunday, 7am we are all fired up and off to the lake. Let me tell you, this is amazing to ski with all these guys together. You put your ski on for a set, and ALL eyes are checking you out. Everyone has been on winter break..or not?? So what do you have? Lots of ski tweaking and testing of what works or not. Our guests I am sure are having ski experience of a lifetime. Hard choice to decide what coach should I have watch me this time? One set I had, I thought I would just take a few passes to just keep feeling what 36mph feels like when Nate and Will jump in the boat. That will tighten things up a little!! A honor to have them ride though.

After a couple days skiing, today came the first round of the competition. As of the time writing this, the prize pool is upwards of $27K. That is no relaxed fun tournament.

Today we headed to the lake early as usual, and we all coached the guests a set before breakfast was delivered. Around 9:30 though things seemed to get very quiet! It was getting to GO time. The order was Andy, TGas, CP, Nate and Will.

I have to say I WAS nervous, very nervous. I had no idea how an event at 36mph was going to feel, and did not want to make a fool of myself. Some day these guys will understand the meaning to “once a competitor-always a competitor” My juices and feelings were all back. Somehow I did not feel 50 years old, I had an opportunity to be one of the boys again. My first passes were awful. The boat judge said he had never seen me ski like that! I was not late through 38, but stiff and scared! Coming back in at 39 I was more relaxed and focused, which showed by a better start and controlled for most of the course, until a total rookie move at 5 ball with a “take it easy and don’t miss it”. A huge tail wheelie, slack rope and a dive into the pull for 6 ball. I was so late around 6, that with all the speed and slack, I actually went through the exit gates still only a few feet off the platform of the Nautique. No idea how I held the slack, but maybe tomorrow morning I will figure it out! After setting down and doing inventory of body parts, I had nothing to lose in really attacking the start at 41. I got a great 1 ball, better than I had expected and at 2 ball was a little in the land of unknown. By the time I figured it out, I was late on the exit and a full 3 became the goal.

Next out was TGas. Thomas has been working hard all week on ski setup. Through 38 he was looking good, and at 39 one of the best starts I have seen him do all week. Through 3 he looked right on it, but a short pull to 4 got him out of sync and narrow at 5. As a true World Champion there was no caution to this and his plan was to run the pass, but unfortunately the speed and lack of width caught him, and 4.5@39 was it.

CP next up, coming off a great previous days skiing (6@41) was ready to go. Conditions are perfect and consistent, so you know it will be big. Through 38 there was no point watching, for these guys this is cruising. Chris had been telling me the day before he was not happy with his gate approach, and I guess at 39, this became apparent again, but solid turns, no matter how he approached the buoy on both sides, there was no problem for the big guy. Was a huge 2 ball though! A reset at the end and ready to wage war on 41. Again though, he was not happy with the gate, and a slow one ball put too much pressure on 2 ball and 1.5 was what she wrote.

Nate, next on the dock. I am still not sure how this kid even holds on to the rope, and does the magic he does. Today, I saw a 39 from Nate that looked like 35 off. He has been consistent all week through 39, but just not quite dialed with starts at 41, and today was the same. A strong gate, but a delayed pull out of 1 ball put him down course into 2 ball. Nate did get a good rotation at 2, but too much to hold onto. 1.5@41.

Will, last skier out, calmly as ever, and totally focused makes his appearance on the dock. One of the strongest power to weight ratio skiers our sport has ever seen, methodically makes his way through the first passes. 39 was a lesson in timing and power. Will all week has been mid to deep 41, no matter what he was testing and tweaking. Sitting next to Nate watching, we guessed the score….Nate said 4, I said 3.5. I am not sure a Nautique 200 has ever experienced a load that Will put on it out of 1 ball. It hurt my back watching! Needless to say, a very deep 1 ball and a rocket ship to 2 ball. A turn on 2, but too far down course to take it any further, 2@41

So I ended up on top, but tomorrow will be a different day. There are two qualifying rounds, with the top 4 scores of either round get to advance to the side by side head to head. There is also a separate event for the top cumulative scores of the first two rounds.

I retired from pro skiing in 2004 and to have this opportunity to be here for a week with these guys and be even in the same event is a tremendous honor. I thank all these guys, Gordon and most of all the guests of Ski Paradise.

I will write more on the final round if I am not too sore!!

Andy

Team In Tow

Dane Mechler has skied with an In Tow handle right from the start and has conquered the slalom course to a point that now In Tow is officially his rope and handle sponsor.   Dane recently broke the Midwest Region Boys 3 record, formally held by Nate Smith and Cale Burdick, running 4@39' at a record tournament at Cory's.  He is top seed for Junior Worlds and Junior Moomba.

Dane's upcoming tournament schedule:

Junior World Championships - Mulwala, Australia - February 20-24
Mastercraft Australian Open - Stoney Park, Australia - March 2-3
Junior Moomba Masters - Melbourne, Australia - March 6-7
Moomba Masters - Melbourne, Australia - March 8-11

                                                                                                                             Brenda

                                                                            

Dane Mechler

                                                                                         

Handle Parts

Every now and then my skiers want rope to restring their handle.  Since I am not really set up to sell "parts", they purchase a jump mainline in the color of their choice.  Lake Elmo Sports is set up to sell "parts" and has rope (1/4" only), endcaps, handles, etc.  http://www.lakeelmosports.com

                                                                                         Brenda

H2OProShop.com

Terence Fogarty, of Fogman Bindings fame, now owns H2OProShop.com.  Terrance is also the owner of Fogarty's Lake Flower Marina in Saranac Lake, New York, where he reported the weather was 30 below zero.  Buurr!  The Fog of Fogman Bindings is from Fogarty.  Anyone remember where the "man" came from?
                                                                                                      Brenda

The Truth About Tom

So I have been talking with Alan Hendricks of Dallas-Ft. Worth Water Ski School and we got onto the subject of the Moomba.  Alan has gone to Australia with Tom Brantley numerous times and during their stay, in addition to Tom skiing in the Moomba, they give clinics.  Tom stated in a recent interview for his local newspaper (this article also appeared in my local newspaper and a copy is on my January 15 blog entry), "Everything is fun about it except for the plane ride which is a 16-hour direct flight from Los Angeles".  Alan joked about this because Tom sleeps the whole time.

My conversation with Alan regarding getting to the next line length will appear in my February newsletter.

                                                                                                        Brenda

Andy Mapple & Handle Size

A skier of mine recently e-mailed me that he skies with a 1.183 diameter handle.  The largest diameter I have carried in the past is a 1.125.  This season I will have diameters ranging from .888 to 1.183.  This leads me to a question I often get asked by skiers..."What diameter handle should I use?".

Andy Mapple has a new website MappleSkis.com.  Other websites to carry his name are TeamMapple.com and AndyMapple.com.  I have a page from his AndyMapple.com website that I printed out and saved titled, Handle Size - June 23, 2002.  It states, "I use a 1.092" x 12" handle" (back when I hooked up with Andy he used a 1.062" x 12" made by Custom Grip).  He talked about it not making any sense for different size guys to be using the same handle; "Their hands are just too different in size".  Andy said, "If I get too small a handle I get very sore hands, where as if I get too large a handle...it doesn't fit in my fingers.  Finding the right comfort level in your grip will greatly improve your pulling power".

                                                                                                        Brenda

Roping the World Since 1992

I took my son Jordan, age 20, to get a free flu shot.  As we were pulling into Saint Genevieve Roman Catholic Church, which happens to be located in a very poor part of town, he said, "Mom this place looks pretty sketchy.  I think the free flu shot is just a plan to get rid of the poor people".  It reminded me, in a round about way, how some people tried to get rid of me/In Tow.

I first started out stringing up and selling Performer handles.  A few years later I did it all. At an early time in my rope and handle endeavors a skier brought in In Tow slalom and jump mainlines for a tournament; I honestly cannot remember what state much less the skier's name.  I get a phone call from the tournament saying that Sherri Sloan would not ski in the tournament if they used my ropes. At the time she was sponsored by Straight Line.  Long story short they did not use my ropes.

Oh well, all's well that ends well!                                                  Brenda

Roping the world since 1992.
Yee Ha!

Me & Gordon

Gordon Rathbun & I have been having some fun talking about, "Left is right and right is wrong".  No, that's deciding which ear to sport the earring on.  Maybe it was, "Right is left and left is wrong"?  No worries...I'll have it spot on by the time of my February In Tow newsletter!  In the meantime, pass the time with this diversion.

http://minimalistgames.com  (I like the Warehouse one)

                                                                                                       Brenda

Tom Brantley In the Local News

Tom Brantley is currently preparing for the Moomba Masters as reported by my local newspaper the Las Cruces Sun News.

Tom is a 5th generation farmer in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

My History with the NFL

I was raised a Dallas Cowboy fan.  It was during the era of Tom Landry.  Fun unrelated fact:   Landry Jones, quarterback for Oklahoma who is from Artesia, New Mexico, is named after Tom Landry.  I remember names like Roger Staubach (I have his jersey), Golden Richards, Robert Newhouse (he had to have his pants specially made for his 44" thighs), Tony Dorsett, Too Tall Jones (I saw his Mercedes where the driver's seat was specially made to accommodate his height), and so many others.  I loved how the offensive line would set and reset.  I loved the balance between the running game and the passing game.  I loved the position of tight end.  I loved the defensive line.  I loved Tom Landry's trick plays.  Later in life I moved to Dallas with the intention of buying the Cowboys.  My second team was the Houston Oilers back in the days of Bum Phillips and Earl Campbell.  Both of my coaches wore hats :).  I loved the way Earl stiff armed.  When living in Dallas I went to a Dallas/Houston game.

I have not had a team for a while.  My son likes the New York Jets so I follow them.  I also follow players that I like; Brian Urlacher was a favorite of my son (Brian is from Lovington, New Mexico).  Did you know that if you wear your NFL jersey to Albertsons on Sunday during the NFL regular season you get 10% off your groceries?  I sport my son's Urlacher jersey.  This season I am a Texan's fan because I like good defenses (my son played defensive tackle/defensive end) so Go Texans!

The thing I miss most about my son graduating from high school is my football jersey...he had two jerseys, home and away, and I got to wear one to the games.

Rope Specifications: Then & Now

When I first started out making ropes and handles (about 25 years ago), the standard for slalom mainlines was 1/4" rope.  AWSA actually specified, to the best of my recollection, that the polypropylene rope for slalom mainlines had to be 12 strand, 64 filaments per strand.  When we went to the bigger 3/8" rope it was referred to by most slalom skiers as 80 strand rope.  This was a misnomer because it was still 12 strand rope, but 80 filaments per strand.  At this point, AWSA no longer specified the number of strands or filaments per strand.  So now a days most rope is 16 strand.  Not only can the number of strands differ but also the number of filaments per strand, the filament size, and how many times the strands cross per inch.

AWSA changed the rope specifications to make the average breaking point higher because pro skiers were breaking brand new tournament ropes.  I still contend the culprit was using pink rope instead of purple rope; pink rope is much weaker than purple.  Pink was an "in" color at the time (a historical moment for men) so Straight Line used pink rope for the purple section.  I'm not saying we should go back to 1/4" rope...just merely making conversation.

                                                                                                      Brenda

                                    

Who Was That Masked Man?

I'm sick.  In fact, I have been dragging butt for several days and have resorted to daytime television. Designing Women, my favorite sitcom of all time, has brought much comedic relief.  I have found my voice, so much so that my dogs have said if they have to listen to me sing the theme to The Brady Bunch one more time they will look for someone else to buy their dog food. Happy Days comes on after the four episodes of The Brady Bunch and it is at this point I'm bringing my story around to water skiing.  Fonzie "jumps the shark" on one episode.  Who really was the skier that went over the jump ramp?

Fonzie jumps the shark                                        
                                                                    Brenda

The Rope Lady

The first time I was referred to as The Rope Lady it caught me off guard enough that I laughed, but I liked it.  It was a new customer and the skier who had told him about me could not remember my name so he referred to me as The Rope Lady.  This blog will be a format for me to share my rope and handle knowledge, past, present, and future, with you.  I will not be adding any posts to my Slalom Mainline Blog, but rather will pick up here where I left off (sorta of).

The other day me and my old rope guy were talking about the rope and handle industry.  He stated that the only contribution Masterline had made to the industry was the slalom mainline training loop.  I told him this was not true that I had introduced this concept back in 1992.  It was a while after this when Masterline started marketing their slalom mainline with the training loops; they sold a mainline with extra loops between every line length.  A lot of my skiers over the years have ordered custom slalom mainlines from me with a couple of extra loops.  It will be interesting to see what skiers have to say in the forum regarding this training technique as a tool to get from one line length to the next.  In March I will be revealing another idea, pertaining to slalom mainlines, a famous skier uses at his ski school.

                                                                                                       Brenda

Another interesting blog:  Old White Woman versus New Mexico State University