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bigwavedave

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Everything posted by bigwavedave

  1. Since I've been called out here, I will have to say that the Thirst TSm² (202cm TankerSpanker) is my favorite powder carver (and I have both of Mark's swallowtail PC offerings, a 181 & 169). I have owned and ridden several other boards that have claimed to both carve & float in powder. The carving performance was always disappointing, but not with Thirsts. The X model EM177 is a scaled down TSm² and might be better for your size. The PCjv 169 or CC+ might be a better choice if you really want maneuverability in tight trees and moguls. @Keenan is kinda close to you and also a Thirst connoisseur. Might have something you could demo?
  2. Just bought my pass for next year. New age categories. Senior now starts at 80 yrs old. The "mountain message" says they are planning 7 days/ week next year!
  3. Saturday 35-40° and sunny Met up with Ken for the first ride up at opening. 1-2" of nicely groomed slush-cone snow over a slightly softened crunchy ice base. Fairly decent carving with DoubleJaw having the best conditions. There are thin and bare spots poking through here and there. It makes one wonder how many days we have left at Spirit. Word is that GR has been nice. Might try to get up there soon. Also, keeping an eye on Snowriver, as it's not uncommon for significant lake-effect snow in March. Plus, slush carving there is fun. Oooh, and can't forget Lutsen for some spring slush fun. Remember that Spirit has shortened spring hours after tomorrow--Closed Mon & Tues and first chair at 11am. 45
  4. Thinking I'll be on the hill 1st thing tomorrow.
  5. Friday 32° and up 50° and above by noon. Sunny, windy. Rode from 1st tracks til about noon. Snow groomed out to a more consistent surface today, more like a typical MN firm--kinda hard, a little crunchy, trenches ½" deep or so. Rode with Al & Beth. Stopped for a break and a beer around noon and sat in the warm sun at the bottom. The snow turned super sticky by the time we got back on the hill. I had a good crash when my board came to a halt in sticky snow going into a heelside turn, slammed onto my back knocking the wind out of me and sliding helplessly headfirst downhill. You know it was a good crash when people stop to see if you're okay. Day over for me . I was so looking forward to an afternoon of spring slush carving, but I'm feeling pretty stiff and sore. It was nice to be able to ride up all together on the new 6 person chair. It was almost 60° on the drive home. There are warm temps and rain in the near forecast. 5
  6. Thursday 10° with flat light that got brighter as it warmed up to 25° in the afternoon. With the new snow groomed in, conditions were variable--isolated ice patches, gravely & crusty groom with a few soft groomer passes that were nice for carving. Enough to get a nice bounce in turns. The slopes got softer as it warmed up. 3 runs--Alpenglow, Superior and Voyager, had the best snow. The bottom steep section was icy. Got a room at the hill. Hoping for nice spring carving conditions tomorrow. Supposed to be sunny and 45°+. Rode the XC and Super, both with my mini 3 toad gecko variants. Made riding today's variable and rough terrain more tolerable. Spent some time tweaking stance & angles on the plates, using shallower angles to optimize control on icy and variable conditions. 52° front and 47° rear with a slight outward cant on the rear foot seems to be working nicely. Hopefully, I can still avoid booting out with those angles while being raised on the plates. Rode about 4 hrs including several tweak breaks. Looks like there will be some ski races here Fri-Sat-Sun. P.S. @Algunderfoot & Beth were here first thing this morning, but bailed early hoping for better conditions tomorrow. I had to ride due to my self imposed "ride-at-least-as-long-as-spent-driving-there" rule. P.P.S. There will be about 70 racers on FIS tomorrow and maybe more Saturday and Sunday. (and they might be on the hill before 9am). MRL (Midwest Race League) championships.
  7. Thinking of heading over to JCS (aka Indianhead) tomorrow. 4-6" of lake effect last night and they're making snow.
  8. Wed 2° , windy, sunny only a dusting of snow overnight I expected icy conditions, but went up to check it out anyway. What if it was perfect Minnesota firm and I missed it? The grooming looked excellent from the chair. The reality was crusty, frozen groom, lucky if your edge penetrated the surface and when it did, it only went in ½" to the bottom of the grooves of the corduroy. At least it was smooth, so sorta carvable. Went over to the BigAir park where the groom is always softer, but it was closed for grooming. Might be nice later when they're finished. 1 hour and done. I stopped to check out the new Ski Hut which opened Monday. Great location on the Munger bike trail and across from the ski hill. They will have bikes and skis for sale and rent, full tuning and repair shop plus everything else ski and bike related. There is a creamery opening a restaurant next door serving cheese, wood fired pizza and I guess ice cream? He reminded me that the XC national championships and Supertour finals will be here March 21-26, which means alpine access (parking) will be at the top of the hill.
  9. Tuesday 50° yesterday, stayed above freezing overnight, 40° and sunny at start today. Drove up for 1st tracks. A couple of runs with the 9sw testing stance and angles. 4Pipe was mostly crunchy, some icy and some soft slush-cone. Switched to the 175 Rev w/ F-plate and was able to carve everywhere. The sun started softening everything. JugglerJoe, DoubleJaw were great, SkyHooker was variable, like 4Pipe. Finished the day over in the BigAir park where the groom was el supremo... There are thin and bare spots appearing on the hill along with patches of tilled up dirt. The beginning of the end unless we get some snow. Rode for 2½ hours until the north winds and dark clouds started moving in. Temps are supposed to drop 40° tonight, and with luck, bring some snow.
  10. Making 1st tracks yesterday...interesting insta360 camera software glitch Getting acquainted with my new 195cm Thirst 9sw. Like nothing I've ever ridden before! A little scary, a lot of fun.
  11. Sunday overnight temps above freezing, sunny and temps into the mid 40's 1st tracks on the 9sw ...snow was great! The 360 camera was playing tricks... Still tweaking my stance. I believe I prefer how F2 Race Titaniums feel on this board over td3sw. It's the biggest scr I've ever ridden and I'm still acclimating to the speed and more so, misjudging how tight I'm (not) able to crank a turn. Those chair lift pylons come up fast! The hard snow doesn't help matters. Rode for 2 ½ hours. Switched to the 175 Super after a few runs as it got busy. Snow was nice everywhere, yet the ice base is still there, especially once it gets tracked out. Untracked groom over in the BigAir park was particularly sweet. Met a "Knapton" style SB carver from Chicago, doing those forearm dragging, toeside slarve turns. 42
  12. Saturday sunny, 22° heading towards 40° 1st tracks. Seemed like the new snow got compacted down to ½". The surface groom was xtra firm. ½" deep trenches got you down to a crunchy, gravely base. The groomer must have used minimal tiller depth. Carvable, but not pleasurable. Best snow was found in the BigAir park. Rode for 2 hours when weekend crowds materialized. As per their Facebook page, Spirit is cutting back hours in March. https://www.facebook.com/SpiritMtDuluth/ Strapping in for a weather roller-coaster ride.
  13. Friday 4-5" of lake effect snow burst in the wee hours, unforecasted, total surprise! Most of the snow fell after the hill had been groomed. The new snow was dry, powdery. Some groom was exposed by the wind and was frozen hard. Groom under the blanket of new snow remained soft & wet and made the glide sticky slow. The express chair was down for the 1st hour. On ScissorBill... Started on the Super and switched to the 202 TankerSpanker which had better glide and smoothed out tracks & ruts. Rode all morning from 1st tracks, home for lunch at noon and back for more later with the camera. As you can see, it was real busy. Could be good tomorrow.
  14. Thursday Another warm one....50° It feels and looks more like the end of March. Made 1st tracks on the big board (9sw) and then a few more, until I felt the need to downsize. This thing is so fast that I overtake everyone despite trying to leave more space than usual. The groomed slush over the ice base is getting thinner. The ice base got soft after an hour or so and made for nice carving all over the hill. And then it got sticky, wet and slow. Rode the 8rw and then the Geckoed Super. Had fun carving soft untracked groom in the park after noon... Russ was there...working somewhere. Didn't get to ride together.
  15. Well the duck stance was a bad idea ( @Algunderfoot the Thirst quiver sensei ) ...so I settled with the radical posi/posi stance of 65°/60°. With these angles I felt the need for a slight lateral (outward) cant on my rear foot. Thinking I might try the f2 race ti on there just for comparison. Rode this gentle giant for a couple of hours today on slush covered, sun-softened ice in 45° temps. I started out on a 175 Superconductor and 171 XC, both with my Gecko-ish plates before taking out this big boy...and boy oh boy...smoothest ride of the bunch. Super high speed, huge turns, requiring lots of room (a wide green run was perfect) and little traffic. So much fun!
  16. Wed getting warmer. Barely below freezing overnight and up to 45° or higher today. Waited til noon for the sun to come out and for the kids to go in for lunch (Duluth schools are off this week). Not much slush on top of the washboard ice base. I sought out the few small patches of untracked groom for smooth-as-silk turns. Otherwise there was a lot of ice base contact between slush piles. My recommendation is to get out early for 1st tracks on the fresh groom (it's been real nice lately) before it breaks down to the ice after a couple of hours. Did some testing and comparing, riding 3 boards. Rode the XC and Super with my 3 toad geckos, 1-2 runs each, then pulled out the 9sw to see how my stance felt. I haven't ridden an 18cm wide board with steep angles (65°/60°) for many years. Felt like I needed a little lateral cant on the rear foot. Well, the 9sw was the smoothest ride of all, hardly even felt the ice. Super fast though, making big turns requiring a lot of room. Rode the 9sw for another hour or so until more kids started coming out on the hill. P.S. $5 lift tickets for Duluth residents tomorrow and Sunday. Might be a little busier than usual.
  17. Thirst 9sw 195cm 18cm waist scr bigly Rode @Algunderfoot's skwal-ish (17cm waist) 9sw last spring and ordered one for myself straight away, but a little wider at 18cm. That and a black top with red sidewalls were my only requests. Mark did the rest and it looks amazing. Thinking I might try that duck stance I've been reading so much about.
  18. Tuesday Mostly sunny, 40°+ by afternoon. Same, yet better. Near purrfect groom. 1st tracks had me hollerin' as I went down a wide open empty slope and under the folks riding the 1st chairs going up. 4Pipe was best. Gandy was finally carvable, as was most everything else, but with a crunchy underlayment. Rode the Super all morning and went back up in the afternoon after the new board arrived. For a test ride. 9sw Oh, and there was a jolson sighting.
  19. My center to center measurement is about ½" narrower than the actual distance once I've centered heels and toes over the board. I am measuring from toe block to toe block. The offset is different with different bindings and boards.
  20. I use my MS 100's with both td3sw and f2 race titaniums. No issues. P.S. Bought the f2's new a few years ago. Don't know if older F2's are different.
  21. Monday Presidents day sunny & warm showed up ½ hour early to make the 1st track... and hiked up for the 2nd track and a photo. Purrrfect groom, mo betta than the day before, and the day before that. Not too busy either. Only out for the 1st hour today, but I could tell it was going to get down to the washboard ice later, once the 3" or so of surface groom was cut up and scraped down. I was already starting to feel it on my last run. Otherwise, it was as close as it gets to blissful carving. Rode the Superconductor with my modified 3 toad gecko-ish plates. Doesn't noticeably modify the flex or feel of the board, but mutes out bumps.
  22. Sunday 25-32° sunny 1st tracks...one picture says it all... ...mostly. Hero groom, Minnesota firm style. A smooth and consistent groom that you could push into and get a rebound while making only 1-2" deep trenches. It wasn't long until it was busier than yesterday. In a couple of hours the hill was carved up and scraped down til you were carving on the ice underlayment, about 3" under the surface groom. Rode 2 boards in 2 hours; the 175 SuperConductor (with buffer plates) and once it got busy, the Geckoed Contra 166. Overall, a fun, albeit short day.
  23. President's day weekend, Saturday 17° sunny SW wind 15-30kts Drove up for 1st tracks. Arrived 15 min before opening and realized I forgot my helmet & goggles. Rather than miss making 1st tracks, I rode with sunglasses and a thin balaclava, feeling naked and vulnerable. Turned out to be well worth it though, as it was a beautiful "Minnesota firm" groom--smooth, consistent, <1" trenches. A bit on the hard side, so it was still nice to have a plate under foot to mute out bumps. As luck would have it, while waiting for the chair lift to start loading at the bottom, I found a kid-sized helmet in the lost & found and borrowed it. Rode for another hour or so until the crowds started building. When leaving, I saw a big line waiting for lift tickets, which may explain why so few people were on the hill for the first hour. Planning on 1st thing tomorrow, before the crowds.
  24. Friday 7° and sunny, windy, 15° by noon. Drove to the top for first tracks and found some hero groom near the bottom of 4pipe... ...although, most of the hill is a carvable hard groom for <1" deep trenches. Frozen crusty groom still found in some areas. Overall, a pretty fun day of carving. Snowmaking continues. They've refreshed DoubleJaw, 4Pipe, BindleStiff, Gandy and Bear so far this week. The grooming continues to be quite good and virtually seamless. The BigAir park has several berms built down the left side that made fun carving features. It got a little busy with school groups today and the snow seemed to get firmer and chunky after the first couple of hours. Planning on 1st tracks tomorrow.
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