bigwavedave

Switcheroo... Russ and I made a last minute decision to go to Giants Ridge today instead of Indianhead as planned. 3-4 inches of snow has fallen in the past couple of days around Duluth, but had turned to rain and fog over at Indianhead, looking pretty grim on the webcam. Giants Ridge only had a dusting last night, but several inches a couple of days ago, so conditions were surprisingly good. Good coverage, no bare spots or dirt showing, and even still about 8-10 inches off in the woods. Started with overcast, but not flat light, and gradually cleared by noon. Firm groom gradually softened through the day. Rode the REV til the last few runs and switched to the Incline. $10 lift tickets with a Spirit pass! A happy Easter! off to Lutsen tomorrow with Ken!

Last tracks of the day...

The question was "what terrain do you ride in hard boots?". Many people on this forum only have hard boots and ride them everywhere, so I wonder if you meant what terrain does one prefer to ride in hard boots? Seems to me untracked groom and untracked powder have a similar nirvana quotient. If having a choice, I would choose either one over bumps and chopped up snow. Preferences for boots in deep powder seem to be split between hard and soft boots (or softer hard boots), while hard boots seem to be the choice for groom, especially firm to icy groom. Where we live and ride affects the answer regarding what conditions we prefer, regardless of footwear. Grooming (and man made snow) is much more universally available, whereas powder (mother nature's grooming) is not ..."any cat can make cord, only God can make powder"... So, it's carving groomers on an alpine board with hard boots for me.

Pretty nice day sunny and temps just above freezing, 3-4 inches of soft fine granular over an ice base─recipe for careful surfy carves using good form─no hero carving today, except maybe the first run. Good uniform snow coverage, appeared to be about 1-1½ feet, but some brown spots were visible later. One run on the Coiler and then switched to the older Incline, my rock board, just in case. Not a scratch on either board at the end of the day. The usual suspects were assembled... First tracks, just before noon opening today... Last tracks of the day... ...and maybe the last of the season for me at Spirit...unless there's a significant post season snow fall to lure me back for a hike & ride session.

March 2016 Time for the annual spring visit to Lutsen. I've heard the conditions have been really good. Planning to be up there on Monday. Easter egg hunt anyone?

Russ and I are plotting one more trip to Indianhead/Blackjack this Sunday. Looks like Indianhead closed for the season yesterday...3/30... Giant Ridge and Lutsen are left.

I'll be up tomorrow, Thursday. Maybe Saturday too, if the weather's not too bad.

While surfing the web I came across this photo on Downwindsports website in U.P. Michigan. Early winter snow storm, when the water is still "warm", surfing mother Superior. Gives "cold surf" a whole new meaning! The biggest stuff I ever windsurfed in was an early summer day on Lake Superior, north of Duluth, with winds gusting NE 50mph and 20'+ waves...survival stuff, but memorable!

Indianhead webcam this morning...

Just when you thought the season was over, it sucks you back in again... and to think, I almost started putting on the storage wax! Looks like snow is piling up from Indianhead to Giants Ridge. If this forecast becomes reality, I might be up to Spirit Sunday for closing day and then maybe another trip to Indianhead and/or Giants Ridge later.

Hi Ron, I have a 164cm (24cm waist) Nomad, but not much powder riding. Great board with a big soft nose that seems best in SOFT powder and on soft groomers, okay in crud. It's similar in shape/flex to the Landlord (although I haven't ridden one, just compared in a shop), but of course you can get the Nomad with custom width/length/flex. I have two narrow waist (23.5cm) Donek Inclines, a 164cm and 180cm. When conditions are such that the Nomad's nose is bouncing and flopping around in crud, the longer Incline is my preferred crud buster, and also my first choice for spring slush, heavy wet snow, or groom that's too soft for a carver. The extra length smooths out the bumpiness of crud. Although it's an adequate board in soft, deep powder and on firm groom (not my first choice), it is the best all around board I've ridden; ie, ATV, 3800, metal AX and others. Dave

I'm surprised you haven't gotten a zillion responses. Being altitudinally challenged, I like to acclimate for the first day or two at Buttermilk because almost everything is good carving and under 10,000'. For warm up runs in the morning I like Ridge Trail to Midway or Lower Savio, or on the Tiehack side, Buckskin. The sun lines up with the west Buttermilk runs about mid day and the runs over there are shorter so I don't have to stop and re-oxygenate. Aspen Mt (Ajax), Ruthies is a favorite. Also, nice blue carvers from the Ajax express chair. Highlands has nice nice carving on runs under the Exhibition chair and Cloud Nine chair. Snowmass is probably best on a weekday because it seems it can be more crowded than the other mts. Great wide open carving runs off the Big Burn chair and Sheer Bliss. Take the gondola over to the runs served by the Elk Camp chair and the run back under the Gondola is pretty good too.

It's the new owner of Bomber, Jim Callen.

Really like that last shot, Bob. You should have a show at the Aspen art museum! End of season slarving tracks from the past two days at Giants Ridge and Spirit mt... crossed tracks

Some of you might remember Jim Rothman from USASA races years ago (he used to kick my butt regularly). He and his son Dave used to help out with Gteam alpine coaching. He lives nearby and I run into him almost every time I go up to Giants Ridge. The reason this septuagenarian has got a big smile─he recently got his first "modern" board , a custom Coiler....and he was ripping it up yesterday in great carving conditions!

Slarving in soft slushy snow making trenches...

Could be the last day at Spirit for us. Rumor is that they will close for a few days after after Sunday and hope to survive til the return of normal temps later next week. We rode from about 8:30 to 11:30. Had to keep your eye out for a few thin spots, but for the most part pretty fun. Everything was nicely groomed making the first several runs sublime─warm sun and a smooth surfy groom. Not too crowded either, but by late morning, things were pretty chopped up with deep trenches that were rough on the knees. Rode with Russ, Ken and Don. A clutch of Inclines, all with hardboots.

Rode 7 hours 9-3:45 (skipped the last run). Bright sun all day, started out below freezing and got well above by mid day. Started out on the 179 Coiler and finished the day on the 180 Incline. Good snow coverage everywhere (still about 10" on the ground in the surrounding woods) and only a bit of the yellow man-made snow beginning to show on some runs. Met up with Jim Rothman on his new Coiler. A great day 1st tracks of the morning... found some untracked snow for last runs in the soft stuff on the Incline... Spirit tomorrow

How was Spirit? I'm heading up to Giants Ridge tomorrow, and may catch some runs at Spirit Saturday morning.

Giants Ridge 2016 Thinking of heading up to Giants Ridge tomorrow, Friday.

I haven't had binding suck on any board since I started loosening the binding screws before hot waxing. Seems to be the main cause of base suck.

Looks like giants Ridge will get a deeper freeze/thaw cycle than Spirit over the next few days. Good for making corn snow. I'm thinking about maybe trying to get up to GR on Friday. How was Giants Ridge last week? Wed 03/09 Please file a conditions report if you go today, although the weather doesn't look so good. I'm now thinking of maybe just coming up to Giants Ridge on Friday. The hills down here don't look like they'll survive the next week of warmth. The Buck web-cam shows large areas of bare spots and dirty snow─rock board conditions. Huttner is hinting at a cold snap for the last half of March, so there may be hope for the hills that survive this next week of warmth and rain. I still have a couple of tickets for Indianhead that I'ld love to use.

Spirit has converted Juggular Joe to a terrain park open to fat bikes. Which makes me want to say that I'm not happy with the direction Spirit has been going the past couple of years, littering more runs with hazardous "features" (edge beveling junk buried in the snow) effectively reducing terrain available for carving each year. More resources going into parks seems to mean less available for maintaining snow quality on the rest of the hill. They seem to spend several weeks building, and then the better part of many weekdays, sculpting and rearranging features in the terrain parks. Would love to see that kind of attention to refreshing icy slopes occasionally mid season! I like the direction Indianhead is going. They removed the features from a run that turned out to be one of the more fun runs for carving , and apparently are keeping all the terrain parks over at Blackjack. Isn't Chester Bowl also owned by the city of Duluth? Maybe they could do something similar before turning half of Spirit into a terrain park. Another "fun" feature yesterday was having several snowmobiles racing up and down the hill towing riders up to compete in a rail jam. Thanks to redneckropetow.com On a better note, Spirit has partnered with Indianhead and Mt Bohemia for 2 day tickets for the price of one.

Yea, kinda figured that when I saw the sled on Double Jaw, but wondered why I didn't see you afterwards. Did someone go into the trees? Have fun out there today. Could be one of the last days of the season. Looks like conditions could go downhill fast over the next week, but still some potential for freeze/thaw cycles to make corn snow, especially inland at Giants Ridge.

Had a great couple of days riding at Indianhead. Thanks for sharing your hill with us Al. It was fun to be in the whirlwind of your celebration. 1st tracks Friday morning was pretty sweet. A minute and a half down Old Flambeau... This run used to be covered with rails and jumps making carving tricky. Apparently they have moved all the hazards and obstructions to free carving over to Blackjack. A good move in my opinion.