bigwavedave

2021-22 Looks like Race To the Cup has moved from Buck Hill to Giants Ridge this winter. Scheduled for Jan 21 & 22 and will include both PGS & PSL. Organized by Jessica Zalusky of the GTeam. This is one of 2 stops in the US for the North American championship series for alpine snowboard racing. Whereas Buck Hill only had enough hill for a PSL course, GR's race hill is big enough to accomodate a PGS course as well. And they've got the snow! https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/event-details.html?sectorcode=SB&eventid=50979&seasoncode=2022

Drove to the top for first tracks again this morning. The clouds have moved off, the sun is out. A much firmer groom today, where you barely cut through the ridges of the corduroy. I only made 4 runs before it started getting too busy for one narrow trail. It was hard to leave, as the sun was softening the snow and it was getting nicer with each run. Snowmaking has come to a halt. Hopefully they can make snow during the cold nights ahead and get more runs open for next weekend.

Saturday Drove up for 1st tracks this morning and the snow was purrfect. A nice plush groom. Enough room to get my carve on--3 turns in and everything was groovy. I made 3 runs before it got too busy for me. Only had to pull over once to let someone safely pass half way down BindleStiff. Felt really good to make some turns, but it took discipline to call it quits. It's always nice to finish after a good run. Still just BindleStiff open. Riding the compliant and turny Contra 166 for my first turns of the year.

BTW,@BLOODTYPEZX10R makes one of the best powder carvers I've ever ridden, though it is more on the the exotic end than what you're looking for. This is a pcjv 169 with an effective edge 151cm and scr of very turny. An effortless ride in powder. This one not for sale though.

or you could go over to @b0ardski's blowout garage sale and get one of his cigar shaped pow boards and do this to it...

I came across this nice powder surfing video. Not hardboots, not even bindings, but it's pretty sweet.

Nice to see all the opening day reports today! Being very cold with flat light this morning motivated me to finish installing new handlebars on my bike rather than heading right up to the hill. When I looked at the webcam, the express chair wasn't even spinning at 10:10. When I checked a little later I realized they were using the Summit chair (#3). So, after a test ride on the bike up to the hill to check things out, I drove to the top with my kit to pick up my pass and maybe make some turns. I made one run. Just BindleStiff open. It was mostly screaming kids bombing the hill, so few carved turns were made descending BindleStiff. The snow was pretty nice for early season. Of course, BindleStiff had been scraped down to a hard icy crust, but there were piles of light, loose snow all around. Was very carvable, but for the screaming bombers. From the top of the Summit chair all the "features" were on skier's right, which attracted most of the traffic, so I was able to find room to make some carved turns down the left side back to the parking lot. ScissorBill and DoubleJaw look close to ready. They've made great piles of snow in the rope tow park too. Hopefully that will be ready by next weekend to isolate all the "hazards". I'll be very tempted to go back up for first tracks tomorrow and Sunday. I think the fresh morning groom will be good. This cold weather has made for some of the best quality early season snow I've seen in awhile. Not having rain after snowmaking helps a lot! Hours are 10-5 this weekend.

Good snowmaking weather. Getting into single digit temps. They appear to be done with BindleStiff and they're on to ScissorBill and DoubleJaw and maybe SkyHooker too. I wouldn't be surprised if they get more than just BindleStiff open by Sat or Sun. They're still working on covering the XC trails in the woods. I rode the fat bike up the DWP, and they have a lot of snow on the trails up in there. Not sure if I'll make some turns tomorrow, but I'll surely go check it out. Better bring my stuff just in case.

Hope they fit Jack. Zips are the first liner that I forgot I was wearing them. Highly recommend using a heated boot bag. Happy feet! Your post made me check out their new website and they apparently have developed another new model that might work for us less aggressive none-racing carvers. The GFT, designed with more forward flex to work with AT boots. It's also low volume to start. You can add cork to increase volume. They're not available until December. https://www.zipfit.com/ski-boot-liners/gft-ski-boot-liners/

Rode up to the base of the hill today. They've been concentrating snowmaking from the top of the express to BindleStiff and also covering a XC loop through the woods and the bottom of 4Pipe. I wouldn't be surprised if they're also working on the rope tow park at the top. Guns shut off this morning when it warmed up. Should be favorable snowmaking conditions after tomorrow. If they open Friday it will likely be one run. Very little natural snow so far...

Looks like good snowmaking conditions will continue into next week. That's a picture of Bindlestiff above. There are snow sticks set up on 4Pipe & DoubleJaw. Maybe we'll get to make some turns after Thanksgiving!

From Spirit's website it looks like there will be no snowmobile races over opening weekend, so no distraction of efforts to get the hill open. Snowmaking has been going strong and if it keeps up they should have terrain open by Thanksgiving. New hours of operation posted. They've added Tuesday back, so it's Tuesday-Saturday 10-8 and Sunday 10-5. Likely only weekends during the early season while snowmaking is needed. Looks like Giants Ridge and Indianhead/BJ are making good progress too.

A fresh blanket of 2+ inches overnight here. The snow guns fired up on the hill last night and are still going this morning. The U.P. got several inches of lake effect snow.

Time to start this up. After a long and mild autumn (nice for biking, hiking and paddling), we have finally turned the corner toward winter. It's raining hard down here by the river, but I can see snowflakes on the webcam at the top of the hill roughly 1000' above me! ...and up on the range, Giant's Ridge has a few inches on the ground. Our little hill in all its autumn glory exactly 1 month ago. Update 11/12 Rode up to Spirit to find snow guns set up on the lower XC trails and BindleStiff. Then headed west on the DWP and saw another extension of the Duluth Traverse single track being built along the south side of the DWP....then the sky started spitting sleet & snow.

F2 Race Titanium, medium $100 shipped ***SOLD*** As pictured with mounting screws and 6 canted shims, no lifts.

156 Kessler SL Alpine, 19cm waist, ptex top $550 shipped (lower 48 US) (will ship elsewhere if buyer pays the difference) This is a 2013-14 custom board (serial #12166). Used as a back-up board, not raced. Maybe a total of 15 days of riding on it. It's virtually a new board. There are a couple of very shallow gouges in the base that will likely disappear with a base grind. Plenty of edge left. Comes with F2 edge/base protection sleeve.

I asked Mark what boards he might have available (I was asking for a friend). He sent me a couple of pics of that new X, so I thought I'd share them here. It's 177 with a 22cm waist. Calls it the Every Mountain (EM). Man, it looks really nice with those red sidewalls. And I love that nose shape. Looks similar to the nose on the PC swallowtail carvers he made for me. No nose flip-flopping around while carving, yet still lifts over the soft stuff the way you want. He also has the original "X" with a 21cm waist up for sale at a ridiculously low price.

One of the most helpful tips I received was to focus 2-3 gates ahead, not at the next gate. That really helped me find a good carved line. That said, racers often use some sliding/drifting technic to adjust their track more directly through the course. For them, it's not all about carving, but finding the fastest way to the finish. The main benefit of plates (assuming by "risers", you mean plates (it gets confusing because hardboot bindings used to be referred to as plate bindings)) is that they smooth out your ride through a rutted up race course. The best way to start would be with something like these Carve Geckos. They smooth things out a bit with less loss of board feel. You hardly know they're under your feet except that you don't feel the ruts as much. ...or talk to Sean at Donek about his F-plate. That would be a step up from the Geckos in muting out the ruts. It should work nice on your 163fc. My understanding is that they are not as stiff as the similar Vist plate. Consider entering some upper midwest USASA races where you'll be surrounded by lots of alpine riders and equipment. And you might pick up some good tips and advise. If you're really serious about upping your game, see if the G-Team has any opportunity to sit in on some on-the-hill training sessions. Even though they're geared toward youngsters, the G-Team alpine program is one of the best in the country. I have a couple of boards set up with plates, Geckos on one and a Bomber Boilerplate on another. You're welcome to give them a test ride this winter if you like.

Norway looks awesome! Maybe not what the OP was looking for...no groomer carving in this video, but if you put your $$$ into the schooner you can go wherever you want. https://www.furbergsnowboards.com/news/split-sail-norther-norway

Maine coast Wolf? Among many projects, I've been catching up on some long neglected varnish work on my 32' double-ended cutter. Last spring I tackled a daunting project (for me) and replaced the 45 yr old diesel myself. The list of projects on a cruising sailboat are neverending, but I'm catching up with them in my retirement. It's amazing how much gets done when you don't have a job to get in the way The north shore of Lake Superior reminds me of the coast of Maine, but it's off limits til the border opens up, so I"ll just keep ticking projects off the list til I can't stand the heat anymore. I built a tiny house to live in after retiring a couple of years ago. Moved it into the marina, which just happens to be a stone's throw from the base of Spirit Mt. I put a steel roof on it and don't expect I'll have to do another roof, ever.

Man, I pretty much stopped riding on roads with traffic years ago. Too many close calls with distracted or just plain rude drivers took all the pleasure out of it for me. For awhile I just rode early mornings on back roads and now I mostly ride trails. I did some long distance treks with camping gear back in the '70's, and looking at your location @barryj , it reminded me of a very memorable ride I had in your neighborhood flying down the Kancamagus highway with fully loaded panniers and passing cars on the switchbacks. (trying not to overheat my rims and have a blowout) The flashing light on that camera looks like a good idea. The camera seems of limited value.

Duluth mayor has proposed 24 million investment in Spirit Mt including a new lift and chalet renovation and to then lease hill operations out. We'll see if this goes anywhere.

If you're a hardbooter, you should really look at a Thirst PC (powdercarver). A no compromise, true swallowtail powderboard designed to be ridden with hardboots and custom made to your specs.

I would like to make a reservation for Mr Miller to demo that 202 so he's inspired when he builds mine this summer Rumour has it that summer builds will be discounted and that prices may go up next winter (read it on the Thirst Facebook page. Get'em while it's hot)

I had both the Reactor and Furnace, essentially the same boot. They were a great fit for me right off the shelf. Super comfy and no heel lift. They felt taller than UPZ's or Deeluxe. I rode them in walk mode most of the time, except for racing or carving aggressive steeps. They only had a short forward flex spring and none for heelside. I think if you found a new unused pair, they would be great if you could retrofit them with a better spring setup.