bigwavedave

Just looked at Buck's webcam. It looks like they put a mogul field between Cross & Milk just south of the chair.

Beautiful day! Sun, blue sky, a bit cold (started out about -15F and warmed up to about zero), but no wind, 1" of fresh snow softened up the groom nicely. Only about 4 other people on the hill for the first couple of hours and never got crowded. Rode with Russ all day. A nice plume of lake effect snow visible all day out over the lake working its way toward the U.P. (gotta plan a trip to Indianhead!)

Heading up to Spirit tomorrow, Thursday.

Looks like the U.P. has been getting a steady daily dose of lake effect snow during our cold snap, over 3 feet in the past couple of weeks! ─So much snow that Al can't get the word out. Thinking of getting over there sometime in January.

Great riding with you guys today. Great carving from Double Jaw to Sky Hooker. Ran into boarder-patroller Don over on the Gandy side where the groom was hard. Russ would be impressed that I rode the same board all day! Sun, no crowds, riding big boards and watching lake Superior make snow and sending it to the U.P. Gorgeous full moon rise on drive home!

The first tracks of 2018!

Yea, edge to edge, right up to the trees. Following Russ down Bindle Stiff teaches you to take your time and enjoy the view (I think he says "smell the roses"), but one also discovers that the best snow for carving is often way over on the edge of the trail. Jeez, a high of zero forecast for New Year's Day, no wind, clear and sunny skies, possible overnight flurries, and they've moved opening time from noon back to 10AM. Could be a nice start to the new year! Just might have to drive north tomorrow. Picture this... Happy new year!

Other than "tight", do know what the scr actually is?

Spirit closed tomorrow, New Year's eve.

Who was out there carving today? I could see on the webcam that they were still making snow on the north slope (bunny hill) and the wind was carrying a cloud of snow over Cross/milk where there were some nice trenches visible. Do you guys still do a New Year's Day early bird session at Buck? Looks like Buck doesn't open til noon tomorrow.

Is your Rev the Ptex topped version? That would make it a mellower ride. Of course the 2cm difference in width may account for nervousness vs stable. Sounds like the MK's "secret" scr is not as open in the tail. I had an SG 163, which does not come with a ptex top, so it was a very lively board that could pop you in the air in transitions and could turn so tight that it felt like my hand on the snow was the pivot point of the turn. It took some effort to keep weight forward if you wanted to keep the turns tight. As much as I liked that board I was wanting something that would be more willing to complete turns, rather than so easily go off down the fall line. Might be fun to try DonPablo's MK, although I've really grown to like the stable stance and heel/toe edge pressure advantage of a slightly wider board ~20cm. I suppose the incorporation of decamber has made edge to edge transitions easier in a wider board.

Oh baby, it’s cold outside, but the snow is so good.!

Thinking there's a good chance Spirit might suspend ops on Saturday with the forecast cold & wind, I'm planning to come up tomorrow (Friday).

That could be fun. I picked up a used white 162 Kessler last spring that I've only ridden once. Might be fun compare. Are you planning to go to the annual New Year's day session at Buck?

Has anyone ever ridden a MK back to back with a Kessler and/or SG slalom. I've owned and ridden both (Kessler 162 & SG 163 SL), and everything I'm hearing about the MK one could say about the mind-blowing ride of either of these other boards, except that they have a wider waist (~20cm).

Liner update: 2015-16 (light blue) UPZ rc10; size 28; 1½ finger space ─When my stock (Flow) liners became painful I found a pair of Intuition Alpine Wraps on sale at a local ski shop. I think they were 27m, but they fit the shells nicely and my toes barely touched the front and the boot fitter thought they'd be okay as they pulled away when I flexed. I molded them myself creating extra space in the toe area. After riding for one day in comfort, the next time I put my feet in the boots, my toes were painfully cramped, as if the foam had expanded in the toe area. I re-molded the toe area, but then I had the same experience this season─after one day in comfort, the toe area seemed to shrink causing great pain. In desperation (at the ski hill on day 2) I took a knife to them and made a horizontal slit in the toe area, which gave instant relief. This whole issue may be due to fact that I went with a size 27 liner rather than a 28, but the toe design in the wrap is less roomy. Also, with the wrap liner design I find I need to tighten the top 2 buckles an extra notch or I start to develop shin bang. No hint of shin bang since I installed DGSS. The Alpine Wrap seems to have a similar or possibly slightly softer flex than the stock Flow liners.They do have great heel hold. ─I decided to order a pair of size 28, medium volume, Intuition Luxury liners, thinking that a lace-up liner with a tongue might prevent shin-bang and my toes might be happier with the roomier box toe design. I haven't ridden with them yet, but they have a bit more volume than the Alpines, the uppers are thicker and stiffer and combined with the tongue, take up more space, requiring lengthening of the buckle adjustment. The flex feels a bit stiffer and they are noticeably taller (~½ inch) and with the uppers being thicker and stiffer all around, it feels like they provide more lateral support as well. I used the hot rice method to mold them to my feet and additionally heated the shells to mold the liners to the shells. I'm also using custom molded orthotics (footbeds). Update: Found the Alpine liners more comfortable than the Luxury, especially in the calf area, and easier to get into. I had to remove the Luxury liner from the shell to get my foot in and out─even with the new UPZ swing-away tongue! And the Alpines seem more responsive─like I have a more direct connection to the board.

The first turns of Christmas! Turned into a sunny day and never got really busy. Rode til 2pm. Snow was very good, very firm. Saw two other hardbooters on the hill─never caught up with either of them. One looked like a young girl on a Donek with the pink flamingo topsheet and the other a guy in a blue jacket on a black board. Also met the new boarder-patroller who's interested in checking out a hardboot set-up. I told him Russ was the man. Hope to be back up on Thurs and/or Friday.

I'm heading up tomorrow, Saturday. Planning to be on the hill at opening (10am) and ride as long as it's not too crowded or until my legs give out.

Thought you guys might find this interesting, while looking at the Indianhead website I found they offer $30 lift tickets for St Louis Co (MN) residents. Must purchase online 2 days in advance, good Sun-Thurs only, no holidays. I'm on the fence about coming up tomorrow. I'm expecting some new liners delivered tomorrow, so might wait and come up early Sat morning.

Very tempted to come out and play on Friday afternoon. Looks like it might be clearing skies after a bit of snow. I suppose it could be busy. Otherwise I can't get away til Thurs/Fri next week.

You can only go downwind with that setup. If he had ski boot skates (or long blades or even skis with very sharp edges) he could sail back to where he started. The sail looks like a SkimBat, which is a good sail, just a bit more complex and expensive than necessary. Made to appeal to windsurfers. My homemade sail works just as well yet is far simpler, plus one sails on the backside of the sail protected from cold wind. Here is an old video from 1990 on mirror ice in about 15mph wind on Lake Mille Lacs, reaching back and forth, tacking upwind and jibing downwind...

And now on the webcam, mid-day grooming. Often, the host resort makes an extra effort to make course conditions optimal for the racers when it's a North American competition where racers are competing for points to qualify to race in the World Cup. The racers like it HARD. WC venues are required to groom the course a few days before the race and then rope it off and let it settle for a couple of days. Hope the hill is in better shape tomorrow. Maybe I'll see you out there. Man, I hate this overcast. I'm not looking forward to riding in flat light on my first day out.

Just looked at Bucks webcam, and there are carvers all over the hill!

Hit pause, and here we are 1 month later with winter restart. Sure miss the days when we had winter from Thanksgiving to Easter! It's been snowing up north: Spirit starts daily ops this weekend with about 75% terrain open and reporting several inches of new snow this week. Hoping Russ or Ken report in. Indianhead started daily ops last week and have been been getting a daily dose of lake effect snows, over 2 feet in the past 2 weeks. Most of the best carving runs are open and Blackjack opens tomorrow. Maybe Al will give us 1st hand report soon. Lutsen and Giants Ridge also starting daily ops this weekend. My first time on the snow this year will be tomorrow at Buck, helping out with the races. I've been down for several days with whatever crud has been going around

Expect to see a lot more carving on the hill next week! Buck and Gteam host the NorAm series Race to the Cup. 3 days of SL races starting Friday afternoon, Saturday & Sunday. Training days; Wed eve, Thur afternoon and Fri morning. Usually about 75 of the top riders from US and Canada competing and often a few Japanese and Korean riders too. Of course it means there will be less terrain available for free carving. I hope to get out on snow for the first time on Monday morning at Buck. Counting on you guys to smooth out all the rough patches this weekend And I plan to be out on the hill helping with the races next weekend.