bigwavedave

2022-23 Race-to-the-cup NorAm races are scheduled for Feb 18+19 2023 at Giants Ridge. 2xPGS and 2xPSL.

^^^^I'm posting updated photos of snowmaking progress a few posts up^^^^ rather than use up my allotted image allowance.

@bobble It's a DJI mini 2. I held off on getting a drone for years, waiting for the price (and size) to come down on a drone that could reliably fly in some wind. This one compared well to drones costing much more, and it's small enough that you don't need a license to fly it. It was easier to fly than I expected. I don't use any of the automated fly features. I practiced flying a lot from dry land before flying from the boat. After some experimentation, I fashioned a small handle attached to the drone with Velcro and shaped to have minimal interference to flying. This allowed me to retrieve the drone by flying close enough to snatch it from mid air while sailing on a boat that's bobbing & rolling in a swell. Not for the faint of heart.

I got a drone, mainly to get some sailing videos and aerial shots of anchorages around Lake Superior this summer. But, it's just too easy to fly over to Spirit to check snowmaking progress rather than riding up on the bike. I'm getting lazy. Here's a short, low res sailing clip. I'm gonna need a faster computer to edit the hi-res stuff.

Looking better after 5-6" snow over the past few days. 11/19/22 Update: An inch or so everyday past week. Snowmaking every night and now 24/7 with the colder temps. BindleStiff appears groomed out and snowmaking moved to Skyhooker yesterday. Spirit will be open this Friday, Sat, Sun. 11/21/22 looks like they started knocking down the piles on Skyhooker and have started blowing on ScissorBill. Also looks like they're making snow in the upper park. I can see a gun over on Gandy. Otherwise there is only 4-5" of natural snow on the ground everywhere else. 11/23/22 Still blowing snow on Skyhooker & ScissorBill. Looks like BindleStiff & Skyhooker and, with luck, ScissorBill for opening day on Friday. It looks like the rope tow park is set up, so that should help with traffic on the other runs. Summit chair only. 12/7/22 BlueRuin is groomed out. Piles are mostly knocked down on 4pipe. Still blowing snow on Gandy and BigAir. I suspect Gandy, BlueRuin and 4pipe might be added this weekend. We're ahead of where we were last year at this time. 12/18/22 Night plumes below zero. blowing on DoubleJaw, TimberC, BigAir, CinderSnapper, Bear 12/20/22 Almost there. From this afternoon. Subzero temps tonight. Just the outer runs left, blowing on CinderSnapper, BigAir and TimberC with more natural snow on the way.

2022-23 Lutsen has had lake effect snow from southerly winds over the past few days. They plan to have 3 runs open on Ullr mt this weekend.

We've had a month of Indian summer since that October 14th snow. It took the gales of November to reset the weather pattern to winter. A foot of lake effect inda U.P (SnowRiver) with a dusting here at Spirit and a few inches to the north at Lutsen and GR. Spirit started making snow a couple of days ago, so a Thanksgiving opening seems plausible. One run at a time. Snowmaking happening on BindleStiff and the XC course at the bottom.

Here's a better pic... Like @Kneel, I gave Mark free rein for topsheet design after seeing some of the stuff he was doing.

But it's what's inside the box that counts... TSm2 (202cm), "Parquet Parlay" 22.5cm waist 2cm taper, softer flex and a nose shape that loves powder. I think the scr is in the 11-12 range. For those soft snow days when a stiff carving board is too aggressive, ie, soft 1st day groom after a dump when there're still powder stashes, and for those slush slarving days of spring. There are always several days each season when I wish I had a board like this. It almost looks too pretty to ride, but my experience so far with Thirsts, is that they actually ride as good as they look, often better. As Mark says, "the topsheet is just fluff, it's what's inside the board that counts."

Here's how a box looks when it hasn't been trucked all over Joisey under a crate of pork rolls. And yes, it is that big.

First snow on Friday Oct 14th

Snowriver resort (formerly BigSnow, ie Indianhead/Blackjack) has increased prices for lift tickets and season passes and no longer offers a discounted day ticket for locals. I missed buying a cheap season pass last March when they were on sale. I did get one for Lutsen. Maybe I can get Snowriver added on? Up to a foot of lake effect snow forecast for tonight and tomorrow!

Snowriver Mountain Resort More info: https://www.skigranitepeak.com/blog/a-new-era-in-the-up/ https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/2022/09/06/granite-peak-owner-buys-indianhead-blackjack-ski-resorts-michigan/7958831001/

So, I did buy a Lutsen pass on May 15th and just now heard that Lutsen is buying Indianhead & Blackjack. They have also purchased a new high speed chair to replace the Bridge lift and plan to replace the old lifts at Indianhead/Blackjack. https://www.stormskiing.com/p/granite-peaklutsen-ownership-group?s=r

I just got a message that Lutsen has purchased Indianhead & Blackjack. The deal closes in July. Funny, I missed the BigSnow season pass sale and decided to buy a Lutsen pass on sale this spring instead. If I'm lucky it'll work at BigSnow too.

Saturday, May 7th last day for Lutsen. I've moved on to summer stuff like boats and bikes, though season passes are on sale til May 15th. Tempting...

I thought the same thing when I rode a Kessler for the first time 10 yrs ago, best carving board by far and permanently displaced my previous favorite carving boards. Then I rode Donek Rev, Coiler nirvana, SG frt, Oxess, etc, as they came up to speed with Kessler and found them to be equivalent in many ways and that the difference became a matter of taste. Just look at any podium. I had a few custom Coiler and Donek Revs made with near radial sidecuts because I didn't like the race vscr for recreational carving. That was more to my taste. Then I rode a Thirst and found the perfect carving board. But, that's a story for another thread.

What's the next best carving board you've ridden?

Back in 2013 I took a couple of runs on a lightly used K168 . Conditions were frozen groom and flat light, so not the best to get a feel for what it was capable of. It didn't feel any better than my new (at the time) custom sidecut (11-12) Donek Rev 175, so I passed on buying it. Based on all the reviews from K168 enthusiasts, I recently picked up a well used one to give it another try, just to see if it really was the Kessler unicorn. Having owned a custom K180 and a couple of custom 162's in the past (and demoed others), I was familiar with the super damp ride and great edge hold. While I like the ride, especially on ice, I never really liked the multi radius sidecuts, especially in carvable snow where the whole edge engages. If you only stay on your edge for 1-2 seconds, fluidly moving weight from nose to tail through the turn (like you're in a race course), it's smooth as silk. On the other hand, when holding a carve for more than a couple of seconds making complete turns across the fall line, I can feel the nose and tail trying to make different turns causing the board to pump as the nose catches and resets. I suppose the cure for this is to shift weight aft and not engage the full length of the edge. I may keep it for riding ice as it was the dampest, most comfortable ride of all my boards on rough ice and bumpy frozen groom. ...or, maybe I should face the fact that riding ice just ain't that much fun?

Sunday Word was that it was really nice yesterday–sunny, warm, surfy. I needed a day to recover after Lutsen Friday, so didn't make it to Indianhead til today. Started out with frozen groom, so I got to try several different ice board configurations while waiting for it to warm up. Early afternoon brought some sun and 50° temps that finally softened the ice base under 3-4" of slush to make for nice carving and deep trenches. Also, warm enough to get sticky wet and need to reapply wax. I think i can see my tracks... Al & Beth showed up but just didn't like the frozen morning groom, especially after having such a perfect day yesterday. day 79 last lift served day for me and likely last day for the season.

Friday Maybe 6-7" of wet snow at Lutsen from the storm. Icy groom on Eagle Mt, but much better on Moose Mt. We got sun rather than the forecast clouds. It warmed up to 45° for surfy slush slarving and deep trenches with no ice base! Gusty 35kt winds kept the gondola down and later shut down 2 more chairs. I need to remind myself to go straight over to Moose in the future, even if I have to use that 2 mi cat track access trail when the gondola is down. The snow softens earlier in the sun there and the runs are nice and wide. Without the gondola, everyone had to use the Moose return cat track that has some uphill sections you have to walk up. Then, with the Bridge chair shut down, we had to ride back to the main lodge in a sleigh towed by a cat. It was a fun day. Lottsa snow on the hill still. Not crowded either.

But of course, Easter, the hill arises for one more weekend. Oh me of little faith!

Thinking about this weekend, closing days. Could be good if the forecast lake effect whips up on the tail of this storm. Going to Lutsen Friday.

I'm heading up to Lutsen on Friday, after the storm.