slalom off tower

[lucky7]

would pulling a slalom skiier be too much pull for a tower? i know tubes are bad..

 

[OldMercsRule]

Re: slalom off tower

Depends. I use tripod type "towers" that I call ski pilons on all my boats to pull slalom skiiers with absolutly no problem. My kids wake board behind one of my boats with a very tall tri pod that I would not want to slalom behind.

The reason tubes are dangerious when towed from tri pod ski pilons is due to the fact that the tube can dig in if the rider falls off creating a safety issue for the occupants of the boat if the tow line were to break.

Hope this helps ya. JR

 

[atver300]

Re: slalom off tower

I slalom off mine every weekend but then again we pull everything off the tower even the tube, but it is covered on both sides so no hole to get stuck in the water

 

[thedillybar]

Re: slalom off tower

Wakeboard towers are great for wakeboarding...I don't think you'll like it for water-skiing. Right around arm height (so the rope is horizontal) seems to work best. You're not jumping like on a wakeboard.

 

[shorts&chanclas]

Re: slalom off tower

its possible the height will help in a deep water start.

 

[Sondar]

Re: slalom off tower

The ski school that I used to learn to get up on a slalom did it using a pylon. I'd say it was about 6 ft from the water level.

You'd want to be sure that it was securly braced though.

 

[svahle]

Re: slalom off tower

I slalom off my tower with no problems. I think it is a little easier on my back. I'd rather pull off the ski pylon but I have a closed bow tournament tow boat and usually several passengers. If anyone is going to sit in the rear bench I have to pull off the tower. I think pulling off the tower makes turns a little more difficult because I find my hands are too high in the turns rather than at waist level. But it works just fine and I've not had any safety issues. I also don't feel like it is over stressing the tower. Just my $.02.

 

[DaveM]

Re: slalom off tower

My guess is that a properly installed tower would handle the the strain of slalom. The question would be why, though. A wakeboard tower promotes different ski movement patterns.

You can see what I mean be watching a really good slalom skier. You will notice they engage the entire ski edge as they cut and at the same time their upper body (and ski rope) approaches being low and parallel to the surface of the water. With a tower, the rope will angle up, which forces your balance more aft. The slalom cut will be using just the fin instead of the entire ski edge.

That's my $0.02.