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bigwavedave
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Everything posted by bigwavedave
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day 9 Can I say best day yet, again? Same 3 runs open and freshly groomed this morning. It was as plush as man made snow gets. Really got the endorphins flowin'. Never a lift line, easy to find a clear run. Russ was there. Rode for about 3 hours. I called it a day after I accidently went off the edge of a run after glancing uphill for traffic. By the time I looked back, I couldn't make the turn before dropping off the groomed trail into one of those rollercoaster side tracks the youngsters make. You know, where there's a jump at the end that sends you back up onto the trail. Luckily, I stuck the landing, but took the experience as a sign to quit while I was ahead. It was hard to stop cause it's gonna rain tomorrow. The groomers were out pushing down the snow piles on 4pipe and DoubleJaw. It's supposed to get cold enough for snowmaking after the rain. Might be out again on Thursday.
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Justin Reiter. Went on to coach Ester Ledecka. Bummer that PSL is no longer in the Olympics.
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Sunday Best day so far. Same 3 runs open, but with only the express lift spinning, there were more people riding the chair than on the slopes. Rode for 1½ hrs making about 8-9 runs. The lift line started getting long, but once at the top, more often than not, I found an empty run. The groom was softer today and got softer as it warmed up. No snowmaking last night. Looks like they need more snow to get 4pipe open. DoubleJaw looks close. First tracks... Be back Tuesday...
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Sounds like fun! Thanks for the report. I have an old Burton Fish for sale. I bought it NOS a few years ago and rode it a few times. It's great in deep powder, not great if you have to ride on groomers to get to the powder. Has a big setback and taper. For that once every year or two Buck pow day I have other powder carver boards, so not likely to use this again. For you, we make special deal.
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I believe there's an origin story for Fintecs. Spawned by an Intec failure? I don't know the details. It was before my time here.
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Saturday 5 runs and done today for me. BindleStiff had a couple of fresh groomer passes from top to bottom this morning, so it had the best groom. Skyhooker & ScissorBill had an impenetrably hard & irregular groom, so a challenge to carve turns. Saw Ken & Jane, and Colin (bretting14). It got busy pretty quickly and became more of a challenge to get an unfettered run down BindleStiff. When I don't have room to make C shaped carved turns, I'm not having enough fun to keep doing it. The first turns in the fresh groom were nice...riding the 166 Contra "ice"... I plan to be there for a few runs first thing tomorrow.
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As I am getting ready to go up to Spirit this morning, I'm watching the Buck webcam waiting for @bobble to make those first tracks. I'm seeing reports of 17" from the storm! We didn't get any snow from this storm, but I was up at the hill yesterday and the groomers were working the slopes for today and the surface felt plush.
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The toes on my Zips are so thin and stretchy I was able to fit hand warmers in there last year when we had sub-zero temps. Worked great. -
Looks like they got the big groomers repaired, yea! They were out knocking down the piles of man-made snow today. This weekend they expect to have 3 runs open (Bindle Stiff, SkyHooker and ScissorBill) and running the summit chair and express lift. Also, starting regular winter hours next week, Tuesday-Sunday. Probably won't be hiking up until next spring, except when we get a powder Monday. I plan to be out 1st thing Sat & Sun and will leave once it starts getting too busy.
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Snowmaking still going. The whole hill was lost in a giant cloud of snow lifting 100's of feet in the air last night. Went up this morning for a couple of hike & rides. Walked up BindleStiff which was primarily groomed by snowmobile traffic, so a little rough, but still fun. On the way up I talked to the mechanic who informed me that both the 600 & 400 (park groomer) Pistonbullys were broken down and they're waiting for parts. So, huge piles of quality subzero man-made snow and there's no way to groom it. They have 2 smaller groomers, a 100 Pistonbully (XC trail groomer/tracksetter) and a small Bombardier cat with a blade and a lift bucket, no tiller. Both too small to knock down those big snow piles. Also talked to the park groomer driver. When I told him we like to go in there and carve down that left side, he laughed--knew exactly who we were! Carvers!! I planted the seed of an alternative idea of leaving the left side mostly open and making some banks to carve turns on. He seemed to like the idea. We'll see.
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That's my dream job Bob, but in the meantime I continue to volunteer my services for snow & grooming quality control. pretty sure they wouldn't let me drive the groomer anyway. Buck is looking good. Are you going to make some turns today?
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Biked up to check out Bindle Stiff from the bottom. There was one groomer pass down the middle with fluff on the sides. Came back with the baby swallowtail and by the time I walked up to the bottom of Bindlestiff, the groomer had made 2 more passes and groomed out most of the fluff. Now I wished I'd brought the 162 SF instead, but continued on to the top anyway and found the groom soft enough for the swallowtail to get a grip. We should have a few more runs available by the weekend; ScissorBill for sure, very likely SkyHooker, DoubleJaw & 4Pipe look close as well. Should be non-stop snowmaking til then. Here's some snow porn for you... 9 seconds of snowmaking on SkyHooker and the bottom of the groomed BindleStiff (sounds dirty, but it's not)...
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Figured I'd start this off before Bob starts posting pictures of tracks in the grass on the golf course hiked up to make a few turns with the baby swallowtail today... Lifts only spinning on weekends til they get some more runs covered.
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Monday Only about 5-6" total at Spirit from this storm. Giants Ridge, Lutsen and Indianhead all reporting a foot or more and the lake effect is turned on at Indianhead today. Nonstop snow making everywhere with these low temps. Instant winter! Hiked up this afternoon and made some turns riding the 169 swallowtail. Yeah, it was only ½ foot of powder and -11° windchill, but it was fun to make some turns (from DoubleJaw to 4Pipe). They're still blowing snow on SkyHooker, done with ScissorBill and now working on 4Pipe. The lower third of DoubleJaw, JugglerJoe and 4Pipe were snow covered previously for the XC races.
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@hknzI think Bobby is talking about the black rubber on the plastic cuff of the Zip liner, not the spoiler on the MS shell. @Bobby Buggs the black textured rubber stuff on the Zipfit liner cuff is for traction so there is no slip between it and the shell. The black stuff is paper thin, not sure what removing it would accomplish. The thicker plastic under that black stuff should not be removed as the leather lower boot doesn't extend above that point. Earlier in this same thread I posted pics where I did some surgery on my Zip liners to increase forward flex:
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Sunday Nonstop snowmaking for the past 36hrs and the potential of several more inches of natural snow through tomorrow morning. 2-3" on the ground this morning and still snowing. Rope tow park and BindleStiff are still the only 2 runs listed as open, EXCEPT, that when I arrived at the top the Summit chair was out of service. With the XC races at the bottom, there was no option to use the express chair. They wouldn't allow me to take a run and walk back up either. I've been taking daily fatbike rides to the hill. There are XC race teams from all over the country here. It is apparently a qualifier for the Olympics. I saw teams from NY, Utah, Colorado (SSWSC) and a guy from Venezuela. update: turns out the Summit chair was running with the brake on all day yesterday. Apparently there was a funny smell and no one figured it out til the end of the day--oops.
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If you haven't checked their website recently, models have changed. https://www.zipfit.com/
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Biked up to the hill today and rode the DWP. Big XC race this weekend. Much of Spirit's focus and energy has been on getting the trails ready for this event. They have put snow on the bottom of 4Pipe, DoubleJaw, JugglerJoe and Downhill Musher to the Express lift, all part of the XC race course. So, it looks like it will just be BindleStiff open this weekend for downhill sliding. Maybe, with a bit of luck, ScissorBill too. It has a lot of snow from last week. Though, little or no snowmaking this week. We got a few inches of natural snow which later melted, but I don't think we lost much of the base. Hopefully they will be able to fire up the guns Friday night and keep'em going into next week. I suspect there will be quite a crowd for the XC races. It's likely the only snow covered XC trails within several hundred miles. And it's looking good for some snow this weekend. Thinking I should put my snow tires on.
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I'm using the Grand Prix/Freeride ZipFits in MountainSlope .951 boots. My feet measure 27.5 (one is slightly larger), and I went with the 28.5 to allow room for footbeds. I even modified the liner to allow for more flex. I have an old knee injury that prefers a softer, easier flex. There's a sidewinder version of the Freeride that is stiffer and is likely prefered by more aggressive riders. There's a new model coming out in December called the GFT designed for AT boots, in other words more forward flex. I'd be interested in those myself. I wouldn't be surprised if they were partly the result of input from this thread which was started by ZIPFIT asking for input for a carve specific liner. One of the features requested was more forward flex compared to a ski boot specific liner. Zips already had excellent heel hold. If you're able to try the different models in person, then get the one that fits best and allows the flex you desire. Can't go wrong that way.
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Can't you get another pair of the stock liners that worked so well for you? @MountainSlope?
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Interesting how similar the Turkish style is to the "Bunker" built by a couple of Swedes in Cloquet, MN circa 1917. Also steam bent and using a trailing stick and rope off the nose. They have a couple of these "Bunkers" in the collection at the Ski & Snowboard museum in Vail, CO. https://www.snowboarder.com/videos/the-very-first-snowboard/
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@Jack M Funny, I wrote a response yesterday suggesting you try the next size up (28.5), but it got lost. I must not have saved it. After Slapos response I just checked my Zips, and they are also 28.5 in a C shell. My foot measures 27.5, but I use footbeds and maybe that's how I ended up with 28.5's. I don't remember exactly how I arrived at that size. I depended on advice from here and the Zip dealer and a bit of faith, as I was not able to try them first.
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When ever I've looked into flights in & out of Duluth they often have a layover at MSP anyway, which negates much of the convenience with fewer fights to choose from and more $. I like that it will be at GR. I will definitely go up there if I get the call to help out.
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I'm sure that was it Who does she think she is, anyway? Actually, I don't know the reason, but I suspect it was so they could add the GS event. Since there is no PSL in the Beijing Olympics, this may draw more competitors looking for PGS points. The 1st year Jessica brought RTTC to MN, they held it at GR. After that, they moved it to Buck because it was more convenient for racers traveling to the race. It was close to the airport, no need to rent a van and drive 3½ hrs, plus the added benefit of traveling light, not having to lug both GS and SL boards. Racers are so lazy
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They look too small for your lower leg. Maybe try the next size up. When laced up, the cuff on mine completely encircles my leg and almost meets over the tongue.
