bigwavedave

Just took a walk around the bottom of the Spirit. Nice soft slushy snow several inches deep. The ice base is either gone, or has gone soft. Their were some folks in the parking lot putting skins on their skis. Thinking I might go hike up tomorrow around mid-day. @rwmaron ? @khoward ?

It's not my board. That's the photo Mark sent me before he shipped it to the U.P. It was supposed to be available for me to demo. It's a CC+, a modification of his CC design, optimized for handling softer snow and powder, but still being a good carver. Very similar specs; 165 length with a powder nose, 23.5 waist and 10-ish scr.

Mark was working on a similar design for me to try, but it didn't make it out to the U.P. before the Corona shut down. An all terrain for soft or hard boots...

It should be perfect! I only got about 5 runs, mostly on firm, crusty groom with some ice and using my hard set-up (don't tell Bruce).. I had to make some turns on it before the season ended, even though it wasn't the conditions it was designed for. I was able to carve pretty hard with great edge hold, even on the icy patches. I rode the 185 version in about 6" of fresh over soft groom and I think it's gonna be pretty nice in deeper, softer stuff. The first time I saw 2001 at the "Cinerama", it kind of freaked me out when Hal started talking to me. Even that blue version makes me feel a little uneasy.

A coterie à trois ?...not practicing social distancing at Indianhead yesterday...guess we'll have to quarantine these Thirsts til next season. As of today Indianhead and Lutsen have succumbed to the viral closure.

Well, Russ & I rode like it was the last day of the season, which, of course, it turned out to be. And that means we rode til we could hardly walk. Didn't quite make it to last chair, well, partly because there's night skiing tonight. It was a firm, somewhat crunchy groom, great for carving! Hung with Al & Beth in the afternoon. Everyone practicing social distancing within arms reach of hand sanitizer. Never more than a few people in any lift line. Al said we didn't miss much yesterday, so, today was the day... ...a couple of parting shots from the first run of the last day.... There's Russ just above my toe! Damn him and his step-in bindings--beat me to 1st tracks! If we get significant new snow, we will be earning our turns, but the short term weather forecast is looking more like spring with more rain than snow.

@Algunderfoot I hope your getting some of that today. Looks like winter on the webcams! Planning on Sat & Sun, Weather dependent. Looking like some rain/snow on Sunday now. Update Friday 6pm: Indianhead has announced Sunday will be last day of the season. Russ, we might have to ride 1st chair to last tomorrow.

Happy first day of spring Russ & I are keeping an eye on the weather as this develops. Sat-Sun-Mon are on the table.

It ain't over yet inda U.P.

Spirit closed for season.

March 17, 2020 Lutsen and BigSnow (Indianhead) plan to remain open and have posted covid-19 statements. Basically they've cancelled music events and reduced indoor food service. Social distancing=more room to carve. I'd avoid the Lutsen gondola.

Closed for the season as of today.

Spirit just announced hill only open next 2 weekends. No weekdays. Saturday, 3/28 last day.

Indianhead (bigsnow) getting some too. $15 lift tickets M-W if ordered online. Definitely open. I was there yesterday and planning tomorrow with rwmarron. More snow forecast for Wed, then Thurs/Fri, so might be pretty good by this weekend. Rumor that Al might have a posse of out-of-town carvers visiting this weekend. Keep your mittens on, stay outside and don't touch your face. Sorry, don't know what Lutsen's like lately. I suspect they had the same rain and melting last week. Looks open on the webcam today.

I can't see it!

Rode from before the lift started at 9, til 3 when overwhelming fatigue set in. Nothing that a beer and wasabi tuna steak couldn't cure. Sun & blue sky all day. Temps started at 9° and warmed up to about 35° softening a firm morning groom. There were some crunchy spots left from last week's rain, but overall carving conditions were pretty good. Not crowded either. Rode with Al & Beth in the afternoon. Heard no talk of closing either ^Late morning tracks of the Superconductor on Leelinaw^

Nice! Post a pic of the view from the top. I did a bit of sailing on Penobscot Bay. The Camden hills were a prominent feature from the water. Always figured the view was nice from the other direction too.

Shhhh...no gatherings over 250 allowed, per order of the gov'na. We should be good. I've gone from the thinking stage to planning. Quiver in the car, alarm set, hit the road at 6am. If you hit the road now, you can be there too! Just don't touch your face! The Porkies closed for the season. Spirit remains open.

Nice! Thanks for the report. I was thinking about tomorrow.

At first I thought that this cryptic post needed a photo to make sense, but this explains a lot... https://www.denverpost.com/2020/03/11/coronavirus-aspen-australians/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

My favorite part...Though, I'm usually trying to use my telepathic powers to will the erasers (ski sliders) away from my pristine, artfully crafted tracks.

♫....don't need no ticket, you just get on board...♫ just do it Barry! Okay, back to selling some great boards....

Indianhead offering $15 lift tickets M-W if purchased at least one day ahead. Maybe @Algunderfoot will file a condition report if he's up there this weekend. We all got a good dose of rain yesterday.

Watch out for poles skiers drop in the snow. Can really ruin your day if you don't see it. I've seen them groomed into the snow at my local hill, but the more likely danger is when they drop one in fresh snow. My daughter broke her hand hitting one that sank into 4" of fresh over groom while taking a warm-up run before a race.

Went out a little before noon when it was getting warm & slushy. Ran into Ken right away. Did a few runs on the express side, then over to the park for some real slush slarving. Generally, it felt softer everywhere today. It was warmer. ...or maybe it was the new board.... Rode the new 165 Contra AT. Seemed better at surfing on top of the snow-cone slush instead of slicing through to that rough ice base like the carving board yesterday. Ken said he was getting a rough ride contacting the ice base a lot today on his Nirvana.