Finally got back up on a ski after 10+ years. Should I take off the wing on the fin?

[rludtke]

Hi Trayson,
The truth is, I don't really stay in the full egg position long after Hit-It either. But when I was initially taught this deep-water procedure, I originally remained in the egg until I realized the ski was planing, then simply stood up. And I recommend all who are learning deep-water starts follow this procedure until they feel comfortable doing deep-water starts, which may only take a few sets. After becoming comfortable, all of us are likely to blend the procedural elements together. For instance, I stand up now much sooner, and push really hard with my legs against the rope to manage the ski's angle-of-attack and to resist being pulled over the front. I might get up a little bit earlier this way, but probably consume more energy than the Egg procedure. But I can do this because I know where my weight needs to be relative to the ski, and can tell when its moving in order to correct it before it is too late. All of this must enemtually be learned when first starting out in deep-water, and the Egg method avoids the need to until the skier gets some time in the saddle. The egg procedure is easy to teach, and easy for the student to accomplish as there is little to think about and accomplish during stress-time.

I got some water in my outer ear from a fall, which infected. My doctor called it swimmer's ear, and gave me drops to clear the infection. Because the reservoir level was down quite a bit, and the lake was very weedy this year, I felt that "Lakeweed Ear" was more apropos.