Algunderfoot Posted November 8, 2018 Report Share Posted November 8, 2018 Big Snow Resorts will open (Blackjack), with free lift tickets on November 23rd. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted November 22, 2018 Report Share Posted November 22, 2018 Blackjack (not Indianhead) open Fri-Sat-Sun until Dec 14th when Indianhead starts daily ops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted November 27, 2018 Report Share Posted November 27, 2018 Lake effect snow is turned on inda U.P.! I might make over to Blackjack this Friday. 11/29/18 Change of plans, maybe next week. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 9, 2019 Report Share Posted January 9, 2019 Thinking of heading over to Indianhead tomorrow (Thursday). Looks like it's been snowing enough to cover the "Michigan Marble". Indianhead reported about 3" overnight and another 3-5" predicted by tomorrow morning. If it's good, I might stay for Friday too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 11, 2019 Report Share Posted January 11, 2019 About 8" fluffy new snow over the past couple days covered up all the hard stuff. Soft 1st day groom down the middle with 5-8" pow on the sides. Love how these Thirst boards go so seamlessly between the groomed mid slope and the side pow with hardly any adjustment of technique. Peeks of sun and very thin crowds! Never a lift line! Rode for 5hrs. @Algunderfoot, I saved some for ya. Met ski-carver Steve who seems to be as addicted to carving as the rest of us. ` Going back for more tomorrow. It should be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 12, 2019 Report Share Posted January 12, 2019 Overcast day, flat light. The groomed surface at Indianhead was firm and a bit bumpy, tough with the flat light (gloom and groom). Went over to the west side and found softer groom with fresh on the sides, kind of like yesterday. The west side wasn't open yesterday so not groomed til today. Ran into Al midday and we went over to Blackjack which was much better. Blackjack was open and not groomed yesterday, hence no crowds at Indianhead. Groomed today with fresh left on the sides, kind of like yesterday at Indianhead--and no crowds. A soft groom that you really sank into if you carved hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 21, 2019 Report Share Posted January 21, 2019 2" of cold lake effect snow last night on top of a much softer base than Spirit Mt. made for excellent carving conditions today at Indianhead. Lots of sun, temps crept above zero and not too crowded to ride the big board all day! First tracks of the day...I did not wax for cold and the first few runs were like trying to glide on sandpaper! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algunderfoot Posted January 22, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2019 Blackjack continues to have far better conditions, Sunday the backside has 1-2" of powder over the groom so it wasn't slow at all, some of the best carving of the season! The front was a tad sticky, needed some rub-on later in the morning over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 24, 2019 Report Share Posted January 24, 2019 Practice day for Turner Seemed like a foot of snow but but actually about 8-10" and still snowing when I left. Dry arctic fluff carried by north winds off Lake Superior! Rode from 9-2. Whiteout at times and wind kept filling in the tracks. Since Blackjack isn't open M-T-W the fresh snow accumulates for Thurs opening. They just groom a couple of passes down the center of the runs the night before, so it was deep on the sides Loving the Nitro Squash...it's there, under the snow somewhere 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 5, 2019 Report Share Posted March 5, 2019 Snow flurries in BigSnow country M-T-W and then a couple of days of rare sunshine. Thinking of heading over on Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 9, 2019 Report Share Posted March 9, 2019 Russ and I drove over to Indianhead this morning and rode from 9-1:30. We hooked up with Al for several runs. Snow was very nice making for deep trenches and we trenched the place up pretty good. Had so much fun I forgot to take pics of our best work! The first of our many tracks... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNSurfer Posted November 7, 2019 Report Share Posted November 7, 2019 Anyone know of a projected opening for this season? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted November 7, 2019 Report Share Posted November 7, 2019 The calendar on their website says Nov 29th for Blackjack...after looking at the first post above, I would suspect just Fri-Sat-Sun until mid Dec when Indianhead opens. @Algunderfoot is most likely to be in the know. In years past I've watched as lake effect has piled up several feet of snow in November, yet they seem to stick to their planned opening schedule. Their webcam shows a nice blanket of snow on the slopes and round the clock snowmaking. Giants Ridge is looking pretty nice on the webcam. Good snowmaking weather all around. Spirit has been going 24hrs a day since Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algunderfoot Posted November 7, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2019 All the big snow resorts need to make lots of snow to cover holders and terrain features, plus wait for the slope springs to freeze up before they can open. They also try to make enough snow to store for use throughout the season, before Christmas week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MNSurfer Posted November 8, 2019 Report Share Posted November 8, 2019 Good to know. Loos like I'll be in the UP a week too soon. Drat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted December 17, 2019 Report Share Posted December 17, 2019 Hey @Algunderfoot did you get out in some that powder this weekend? I heard 18" lake effect. How are things shaping up? Might get over there after New Years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algunderfoot Posted December 26, 2019 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2019 Last weekend was really good on the flatter slopes, 3 days of carving with two guys from Chicago.....this week has been warm 2 hours of rain last night mashed tators, lumps and dirt today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 Hi @Algunderfoot Thanks for the update. Nice to hear that the snow is piling up. Looks like the lake effect is turned on tonight. I'm thinking I might try to get over there tomorrow, Wednesday. What were the groomer issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algunderfoot Posted January 8, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 "A broken tiller idler bearing", sheer incompetence, and Mother Nature with PMS....but I'm hoping most of that is now behind us. Mom could get weepy anytime though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 9, 2020 Report Share Posted January 9, 2020 Day trip to daU.P. today. 3-4" fresh snow last night, most of it groomed in. Started out at -5°F and only got up to +5° in the afternoon. Forgot to bring layers and my warm jacket, but hand warmers helped. I was feeling desperate to get some turns on some soft snow for a change. Except for the cold and heavy overcast sky, the soft turns didn't disappoint. Rode for about 4 hrs. Spent half the time on my new XC (finally on some nice snow!) and half on the Super. I'll have to say my favorite is whichever one is under my feet! Mt ops guy said they plan to make more snow over on the race hills after tomorrow's warm-up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 12, 2020 Report Share Posted February 12, 2020 Woke up early this morning and thought why not drive to the Indianhead? Turned out to be a good idea! 2-3" of dry, fluffy U.P. baby pow over a soft groom Nobody there for the first several runs, just me and the lifty. Rode for 5 hours. It was hard to stop, but my knees said "no more!" and my head said, "just one more". ...in the land of milk and honey, where the snow carves like buttah. @bobble I can get a couple of $25 tickets for Indianhead. Wanna do a day trip over there this weekend while you're up here? The snow is way better than Spirit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted February 12, 2020 Report Share Posted February 12, 2020 1 hour ago, bigwavedave said: the land of milk and honey Just how old are those lifts anyway? You'd think the land of iron ore would've upgraded those at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 12, 2020 Report Share Posted February 12, 2020 1 hour ago, lonbordin said: Just how old are those lifts anyway? You'd think the land of iron ore would've upgraded those at some point. They might be older than you, definitely younger than me. The exact same chair they have at Turner! We felt right at home. It's like going back in time. Everything is old, but well maintained--just like us old carvers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted February 12, 2020 Report Share Posted February 12, 2020 13 hours ago, bigwavedave said: Woke up early this morning and thought why not drive to the Indianhead? Turned out to be a good idea! 2-3" of dry, fluffy U.P. baby pow over a soft groom Nobody there for the first several runs, just me and the lifty. Rode for 5 hours. It was hard to stop, but my knees said "no more!" and my head said, "just one more". ...in the land of milk and honey, where the snow carves like buttah. @bobble I can get a couple of $25 tickets for Indianhead. Wanna do a day trip over there this weekend while you're up here? The snow is way better than Spirit. hmmm... have to work out the logistics. ms. bobble and myself are heading up Friday evening. staying downtown. she said she'd be fine if I take the car. the hotel has shuttle service to Banal Park. trent texted that spirit will be over run with racing. will Indianhead be over run on the weekend? found out that I have Monday off for presidents day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 13, 2020 Report Share Posted February 13, 2020 10 hours ago, bobble said: hmmm... have to work out the logistics. ms. bobble and myself are heading up Friday evening. staying downtown. she said she'd be fine if I take the car. the hotel has shuttle service to Banal Park. trent texted that spirit will be over run with racing. will Indianhead be over run on the weekend? found out that I have Monday off for presidents day. Indianhead will likely have holiday crowds. The snow is so nice, it will be worth it. Make some early morning turns at Indianhead, and if it gets busy, go over to Blackjack on the same ticket. It started snowing mid morning today and is should continue into tomorrow. Snow with filtered sun. It was so good I rode from 9-3:30. Might go to Blackjack tomorrow for some pow surf. They're not open M thru W, so the snow accumulates for Thursday. 1st tracks this morning... Last track this afternoon...sun and snow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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