bigwavedave

I heard a rumor that JCS purchased an old chair to replace the T-bar (now removed) on the west side of the main hill. I rode that old T-bar only once. It was so steep I found it really hard on a snowboard--barely made it to the top.

Sunday Day 3 at Snowriver. Made 2 runs at JCS first thing this morning. Super windy, flat light and hard groom with seams, not fun. Decided to make the 10 min drive to BRB (BlackRiverBasin) and found shelter from the wind. The grooming was way better, softer, near perfect! ...and the sun came out. No crowds, no traffic on the hill, lots of untracked groom, even after noon. Feeling the quality of the groom while measuring the depth of trenches... riding the 171 XC Rode for a few hours. Didn't have much left in my legs.

Saturday Day 2 at JCS. Had another 4" overnight, most of it got groomed in with 1-2" of fluff on top. Made 1st tracks in light snow/fog in near zero temps. The sun came out after awhile and temps got up to 8. A most beautiful day! Met up with Al & Beth. It got busy after another hour or so. Rode the TSm² most of the day. Nice airy packed powder with a pillowy bounce in the turns. By afternoon, things were getting choppy/moguly and hard on the legs. Rode for 3+ hours. Gonna save some legs for tomorrow.

If you find yourself near Duluth, I ride most days at Spirit Mt. I'd be happy to take a look at your setup and help get you going. There are some ex-racers and coaches that ride down around the twin cities, Buck, Afton, Welch? Find the hill you ride at in the "ride board" and try posting there.

Hello winter!! its been awhile Jackson Creek Summit Clouds of snow streaming in off the lake since yesterday. Temps near zero. 4-6" of fine polar powder overnight with deeper pockets and it's still snowing. There's a good base on the main runs. The east & west ends of the mountain are not open yet. Fun day...the new high speed 6pac chair is nice. None of the new chair pylons landed on a trail and with the old ones gone the hill feels more open. Rode the 202cm (TSm²) tanker-spanker all day!

Thurs 3° above, no wind, dim sun, not enough to make a shadow. Rode for 1½ hrs. Russ was there. Scissorbill and JugglerJoe had the nicest snow. 4Pipe had hard, crusty, chunky first day manmade groom. Never got over to Gandy. Skyhooker was getting it's first grooming after the manmade refresh yesterday. Things should be in nice shape in time for the next warm-up. Crazy winter. I'm heading over to the UP for a few days. They're getting some nice lake effect today through Saturday.

Wed +2°, sunny and very little wind!! Skyhooker and 4Pipe closed for snowmaking. Scissorbill had the best snow having some arctic powder drifting over from 4Pipe making for the softest turns anywhere on the hill. It would still qualify as Minnesota Firm (1-2" deep trenches), but noticeably gentler on the knees than the hard stuff on all the other runs. JugglerJoe is groomed smooth (no humps) and wide enough for a GS board. Ready to quit after 1½ hours, I ran into Ken, so made a few more runs. And Jane showed up too! Scissorbill after a couple of runs... ...probably the most fun carving so far this winter.

Tuesday Another subzero night. Waited till early afternoon when temps got above 0°. Filtered sun, enough to make a slight shadow and a gusty west wind in your face on the chair. Less than 10 cars in the parking lot and low and behold there's Ken carving down a wide open and empty 4pipe. Just a handful of people on the hill. Snow was better then yesterday. The best carving was found on 4pipe, making ½-1" deep trenches in nearly seamless groom. Rode for an hour. Gandy and BindleStiff closed for snow making today. 4Pipe and Skyhooker will be closed tomorrow for snowmaking. Nice to see them take advantage of the cold weather to freshen up the slopes.

Best to get the old wax off first. It will last longer when applied directly to the base.

Yes, that's the size I used them for. According to the website they fit 22.5m - 31.5m

MLK Monday -5°F & sunny with 15-15kt west wind. The windchill was off the charts riding the express chair into it. Late start for me (forgot that Spirit was open on holiday Mondays). Didn't matter, as nobody was there anyway due to the cold temps. Snow was hard everywhere, so hard that seemingly insignificant seams between groomer passes made carving across the hill a joint-jarring ride. "Trenches" were merely grooves, ¼-½" deep at best. GandyDancer still had the softest snow, but not by much... Rode 2 plated boards. A longer effective edge helped smooth out the ride, but a tighter sidecut was nice for controlling speed because the hard snow was so fast. Still making snow.

I gave up regularly ironing on wax about 10 yrs ago. I might do one treatment at the beginning of the season and then simply maintain by rubbing wax on and using a cork to rub it in. I'd use any "polar" wax for below zero. I tried Fast Stik "wax" about 4 years ago. I've been using the same chapstick size to maintain 10 boards. It's rated for neg 10° to 32°. We ride in well below zero F° several days each season and it works well enough at 20 below. I just ordered more so I don't run out. Simple, easy. No more regular wax for me. After using it regularly, it seems to last longer on the base. Not that it builds up, but maybe becomes embedded in and bonded to the base.

Saturday No new snow for you (Snowriver got all the lake effect, 12" and counting) Cold (2°F), windy and sunny!! Drove to the top for 1st tracks. Express chair was down for the first ½ hour, so I was directed down SkyHooker to the Gandy chair. Caught the 1st chair up and made the first tracks down the GandyDancer. Gandy had the best snow anywhere on the hill due to fresh snow blowing over from the snowmaking on CinderSnapper and BigAir. Nice packed powder made for 1-2" deep trenches. Then racers showed up setting 2 courses on BlueRuin and making big lines for the Gandy chair. Snow was harder everywhere else--½" deep trenches. Still, great carving was had...the best day ever....yet....so far...this winter. Scissorbill was pretty good, but even skiers complained about the groom being hard. So, it wasn't just me! Rode for 2½ hours, plated boards...171 XC and 166 Contra.

Friday 2°F and filtered sun. Firm seamless groom (1-2" deep trenches), hard in places, but no more crusty/crunchy yellow/brown snow. They're still blowing snow on outer runs and we should have some lake enhanced snow in the next couple of days...along with subzero temps. Could be some big lake effect pow for the UP this weekend.

Thursday Another inch or so overnight, mid 20's and light snow falling this morning. Drove up for 1st tracks. The wet snow yesterday groomed up firm with a ½" fresh on top. Legs are a bit tired from yesterday, so only rode for 2 hours. Russ was there, but on duty at the H.S. XC races at the bottom. We did one run together. No Pogo stick sightings today. Rode the 171 XC and the 185 8rw. The XC was really slaying it with the 3 toed Geckos taking the edge off the bumps and ruts.

Wed Snowing, temps in the mid 20's. Freezing drizzle drove me inside for a coffee break after the first hour and then it turned to big snowflakes. We had a couple of inches by 2pm and it's still snowing. Carving was the best yet this season. Hardly any crunchy man-made anywhere. Gandy was good, Blue Ruin had the only crunchy made-made, yet still quite carvable. Virtually empty slopes too. Crowds never materialized. Wait, what's this you say. Another freak on the hill? Spotted Wess (from Idaho) first thing this morning riding his 270-ish? Pogo swallowtail in softboots. He was quite the head-turning sensation. He drove overnight from North Dakota and is here for 2 days. ...and it's supposed to keep snowing through Saturday. Rode for 4 hours today and thinking of going back out for more later. Should be nice tomorrow!

Tuesday Another ½" yesterday. Overcast & flat light today. They're almost done blowing snow on JugglerJoe, CinderSnappper & big air. Everything else is open. It's an interesting mix of man-made and natural snow that is nice for carving... ....but there are still crunchy, ice gravelly areas of fresh, man-made yellow snow that are not so nice for carving. Rode for 2½ hours. Light traffic and lots of room to carve. btw, the grooming has been exceptional and seamless so far this season. Really appreciated on these flat light days.

Yes!

Sunday Another ½" overnight. Drove to the top for 1st tracks. Snow was nice for carving, despite having flat light and moist snow that groomed up firmer than yesterday. Ken was on it. The ratio between pleasurable carving vs crowds & flat light tipped after about 1½ hours, so a short day, but not bad for a weekend.

Saturday Wow! 4" of wet snow overnight. The first 1-2" were groomed in with 2-3" on top of the groom. Best day yet this season, really feels like winter. And, yes it's funny to be excited about a few inches of snow, but it was enough to soften the hill for some beautiful carving. Rode for 2 hours. It got busy, but no big lift lines. 32° with light snow, dim sun and fog at the top. Wet snow and soft groom underneath made for deep ruts that were quite firm when you hit them later. I did find the ice base in a carve later in the day once things were scraped off and carved up by all the traffic. There was a USSA ski race that got cancelled, so a lot of racers free-skiing the hill today. Rode 2 boards today, 181 PC swallowtail and the 202 TS Powdercarver. Lots of comments on the big board. Both were a blast. The 202 really smooths out all the bumps and ruts, like riding in a cloud.

I got some from Frank at Virus when I was making my own modified version of Geckos last year. Please post here if you find out the original supplier from Kim.

Thurs Overcast with flurries again, still not enough to accumulate. Russ was there. DoubleJaw had the best carving snow. Still crusty, gravely, icy patches in the groom on 4Pipe & SkyHooker. Didn't check Gandy. Good snowmaking temps and they're making new piles on ScissorBill. Rode for 2½ hrs. Not too busy on the slopes. There was a big high school XC race at the bottom. Parking was full of cars & buses and warming tents.

Wed Yesterday the forecast called for clear and sunny today. It ended up being overcast with flat light and light flurries all day. No accumulation. It was above freezing late yesterday, so the groom today was frozen and crusty. Found some nice turns on DoubleJaw, but it was still sketchy. A short day for me. Hoping the forecast sun appears tomorrow and there's snow on the horizon! Welcome back winter! ps: Snowriver got 4-5 inches.

Tuesday Getting better each day... Had sum sun for the first hour. Still blowing snow on outer runs. I rode SkyHooker, ScissorBill and 4Pipe, all pretty good. Far fewer icy patches than yesterday. Gandy and DoubleJaw have all man-made snow, blown after the meltdown. Word was Gandy was good. Rode 3 boards with plates: 171 XC (w/modified Gecko style), 175 Rev (F-plate), 166 Contra (full Gecko). Since the plates allow for more clearance, I'm trying more relaxed angles on the plated boards for more edge pressure. Moving from 62° front & 57° rear, to ~55° front & ~50° rear. I'll be out tomorrow