bigwavedave

Lake effect is kicking in!

I was thinking about Sunday also...clearing skies after some new snow, sub zero temps to keep the crowds home to watch the football. Could be a good day for carvers.

Wild Mt today... the work of an artist? or insane butcher? ...you decide...

Before... Ego Ally And after... on Expressway Today at Wild, rode from 10-2:30. Good snow and coverage (best I've seen this year) , some crunchy spots, no ice. Lots of sun and few people, until about 2:15, when after-schoolers started arriving by the busload and setting up for races. A good day for carving!

I used all the add-on pads (heel & instep) that came with my boots to improve the fit. Maybe some answers here: http://forums.bomberonline.com/index.php?/topic/41870-upz-boots/

I had issues with "shin bang" when I first started with UPZ's. Found I had to really tighten the top buckles to eliminate any shin movement within the boot to eliminate the shin bang pain. Not sure if this was your problem, but apparently is common with UPZ's─easily fixed. I've heard that most people replace the stock liners although they work fine for me. UPZ's fit my feet way better than the Deeluxe where my heel slipped and my toes were squished. They're much closer to, but not as good, as the fit of my old Burton Furnace/Reactors. Sorry, can't help with finding a boot fitter.

Hopefully Al will give us a first hand report. Most places around here now have decent carving conditions─still not 100% open, but cold enough to make snow and lake effect is starting to kick in. rwmaron and I are planning a midweek Indianhead trip sometime in January. We will file a report then. Long range forecasts are looking good for the next couple of weeks. Lake effect dropped about 5" snow near Marquette yesterday (only about 1" near Indianhead) according to the web snow reports. Someone once posted that Marquette Mt was a good place to carve. I've never been there, but the lake effect seems consistently stronger in that area. You should check it out on your way to Indianhead and give us a comparison report.

Thinking about heading over to Wild for ½price Tuesday. With the online coupon a lift ticket is $24.50. They claim to be 100% open. Forecast calls for sun and I'm hoping for runs free of holiday crowds.

I heard Jeremy Jones being interviewed on NPR New Years Day talking about weather, snowfall, climate change etc... I found this 1996 Rossi brochure─the caption says it's Mr Jones himself demonstrating proper form on a Throttle.

First tracks in sunshine before the lifts fired up and hiked halfway up for 2nd tracks. Rode with Russ for about an hour or so until it started to get busy, switched to the short radius board, took a coffee break, got interviewed by local TV station (KDLH, film at six), rode til about 3pm (4½hrs total). Not a bad way to start the new year...and the snow was good, although some ice base on Bindle Stiff and Sky Hooker, which had rails and jumps on the right side .

First tracks of the new year!

I plan to come up New Year's day to start the new year off on the right track. Spirit doesn't open til 11AM, but I plan to take that first run from the top before the lifts start up. Hopefully there will be more runs open to disperse the masses and give us some room to carve for a couple of hours...and the sun should be out! Last year it was so nice I had to hike up and take second run before the lifts fired up

Headed up to Spirit early this morning. Lots more snow evident on the drive up: Got first tracks at 8:45. The sun and moon were out and the snow was good. A firm (not icy) surface made for 1" deep "trenches" at best and you could really lay into your turns! . Nicest carving day so far for me this year. Hooked up with Russ (rwmaron) for several runs. ScissorBill, 4pipe and DoubleJaw were best. Later as legs were getting tired and the hill was getting crowded for a clean run (carvus interuptus), decided to quit around 1PM. ...and there's more snow heading our way!

Thinking of coming up tomorrow. Looks like Spirit got several inches and the sun will be out! It will likely be busy so arriving early. Hope somebody got out today.

Merry Christmas! Here comes snow!

I got to take a few runs on this board last weekend at Buck Hill. It was less than ideal carving conditions, so I didn't get a really good sense of what it can do. I was curious because you don't see a lot of 168's on the used market. I have owned 162 and 180 Kesslers in the past. With a 8-12m scr and waist width of 20.2cm and recommended rider wt 65-95kg, I suspect that the 168 might be intended as an all-around recreational carver. I didn't buy the board, as it's too similar to my current set-up, but I promised to make some comments for having the opportunity to ride it . I can say the board looks new, pristine─not a scratch on it. The nick on the nose is much smaller than it looks in the photo. If you weren't looking for it, you might miss it and it could easily be erased with a file.

Was thinking about coming up tomorrow and/or Thursday. Anybody get out over the past few days that can give a condition update? Freezing drizzle in tomorrow's updated forecast makes it less appealing now, maybe Thurs.

You can avoid the crowds out west, all depends on where and when you go, avoiding holidays, school vacations and resorts close to large populations. A split would be a great idea at Bohemia, as there is enough time before the lift starts at 10am to make fresh tracks. Just need to turn on the lake effect snow! Hey Al, if you're reading this, can you flick on the lake effect switch while you're up there?

Buck really came through with the snow. Lots of people on the hill, in addition to the racers, with somewhat limited real estate. New man-made snow is not the most fun stuff with alternating hard and soft spots. Should get better with age and repeated grooming. No complaints from the racers though...

Don't use a file, except to first set the bevels or clean up damage, it removes too much of the edge to be used regularly. Use a fine diamond stone to maintain. Like Mario said, after your initial hot wax, just "crayon" wax on when the base appears dry, usually along the edge, and you can use a cork to friction rub it in. If you're not riding on icy slopes, you don't really need to worry about side bevel and sharp edges that much. Some base bevel is recommended (.5-1 degree) regardless of where you ride. It keeps the edge from engaging unpredictably. Edge bevel and degree of sharpness is much more noticeable on hard and icy slopes. In that case start with 1° and increase it if needed.

Buck has been pumping out the snow since last night! Should be good for the NorAm races this weekend, although a little less real estate available for recreational carvers. Last year we were able to blend in with the racers and coaches to get on the hill at 8am for first tracks, although the hill gets butchered in short order. More carvers than you can shake a stick at! Looks like there will be training on Friday at Buck as well. http://medias4.fis-ski.com/pdf/2016/SB/7452/2016SB7452INVI.pdf

All they need is a north or NW wind and they get lake effect snow, but it also needs to be cold enough to snow! Last year the UP had about 6 feet of snow by this time. Do a combined trip to Indianhead , which is probably the best carving hill in the midwest (midweek to avoid crowds) , and head up to the Porkies and/or Bohemia if and when the lake effect is kicking in. I was at Bohemia after a big dump and was surprised how many people were there. The Porkies were less crowded and they have a rope tow at the top to get you up more remote tree runs. Don't think I'd say it's better than out west though.

Hi Bob, Yea I used to make and sell them (skate sails) way back in the 1980's. It was my back-up plan for low-snow years. It was also my gateway drug into windsurfing, which was the gateway drug into carving (which also worked for low snow years, what with ski areas making snow). I built the "ski-boot skates" (18" blades) as well, but ice skates (ideally long blades) worked well. On snow, we used skis, but needed more wind to overcome the extra friction. In ideal conditions we could go about 2½ times the wind speed. (I was clocked by radar at 52mph on ice skates!) Here's a clip from 12/25/11 sailing in about 5mph wind. I'm sailing on the "backside" of sail (protected from the wind), and leaning into it to balance the pressure of the wind. Same day, in an ice boat going about 6X the wind speed. Great way to spend Christmas day!

Ester!! Citius, Altius, Fortius snowmaticus, infimus, vergrandis!

Normally those guys are out chasing us off the new ice at this time of year. 12/25/11