Lower Penninsula carvers unite!

[pebu]

So far I only know of 1 other carver besides myself in the area, but I thought I'd put out the feelers again. If anybody is in the northern to mid lower peninsula area, lemme know. I normally go to Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville (45 minutes away) and I live only half an hour away from Caberfae Peaks. I might end up going to either one of the boynes or nubs knob at some point this winter. So give me a shout and maybe we'll get to learn from each other. Who knows, maybe we even get together a MES (Michigan Expression Session). :)

[ike]

I'm lower western michigan (Kalamazoo).

[carverchick]

Pebu,

Al and I are in Wisconsin but get up to the UP quite often. Have you every considered going to Indianhead at all? Besides ourselves, I think there are three other hardbooters that comes up. Perhaps you should check it out this winter, you'd have a lot of fun.

Cheers,

Pebbles

[pebu]

I've never been to Indianhead, where is that? I went to college in houghton and my grandmother lives in Iron River. The UP ski hills I've been to are SkiBrule, Mt. Bohemia and Mont Ripley. Unfortunately I don't think I'm gonna get much time off this winter so it'd be nothing more than a weekend.

[carverchick]

Pebu,

Indianhead is in Wakefield, MI. It gets decent snow each year and they also do a great job of blowing snow when necessary.

We've never been to Mount Bohemia, but if mother nature cooperates this year, we will be spending Christmas thru New Years there.

[pebu]

Mount Bohemia is so far tied for first place with Searchmont. Then again I've never been out west (yet, February, here I come...) so I don't have alot to compare to. The trees are tight and the snow is michigan pow, but it is a flippin blast. Bring a board that you don't mind if it gets dinged up a bit. You're probably not gonna want to bring hardboots and don't bother with a pow board unless there is a real dump. It gets cruddy fast and you really need to be on your toes if you want to stay on your feet.

[pebu]

Holy crap, just looked up Wakefield... It's another hour and 45 past my grandma's house... Holy crap!

I'm assuming you're northwest WI?

[knoch]

Pebu, I'll be at Crystal now and then this year i think. Most of my time will be spent up around Michigan tech though because ill be going to school there come January. I'm sure I'll run into you again somewhere. Be sure to let me know when you're heading north if you do.

Rob

[pebu]

Cool Knoch. Engineering by any chance?

I've never been hard booting at Mt. Ripley, but I bet it's pretty good for it. I didn't particularly like it on soft gear. And be sure to hit up Mt. Bohemia, but bring a rock board if you got it. Never know what you'll find under the snow.

[midwestspeedster]

Pebu,

I grew up in Petoskey and riding Nubs and Boyne. There are booters around but numbers are declining.

CarverChick

I am moving to Waukesha from the Madison area. I have been racing at Tyrol for the last few years and am now looking to race at Alpine on Monday nights. Do you ride at Alpine? How is it?

-Tim

[pebu]

Yeah, I wish I could get up to boyne or nubs more often (ie, more than once a year). I heard Nubs has the best grooming around. Last year when I went to Boyne for the first time it was very hardpack and I only had an xvas, which is stiff for me, so the only way I could get down the hill was to push it so hard and so fast that I was scaring myself. I didn't particularly like their groom and the hill was so-so... Never been to nubs or the highlands yet.

[Sharkey]

I'm from Grand Haven, but usually go to Bittersweet during the week and Crystal or Boyne on the weekends if we head up. We're up at Boyne 12/21-23 so hopefully there's some snow! If you see an F2 Siberfeil it's probably me.

I heard a rumor yesterday from some old friends that Sugarloaf might have a buyer. Let's cross our fingers. Even if you don't go that far north, it would surely shorten the lift lines at Crystal.

Ken

[Carp]

I'll be over at Powderhorn from the 27th through the 31st of December along with 1 other carver. If I didn't have my family with me I'd love to head over to Indianhead and ride. Good times there last trip. If you want to ride some different terrain head over. It's only about 10-15 minutes away from Indianhead.

414-731-8400 is my cell.

[carverchick]

Hey Tim,

That's awesome you're moving to Waukesha, it will be good to have another hardbooter in Waukesha County :). My boyfriend and I have ridden at Alpine but it really depends on the conditions. For the money and the conditions they have, Cascade Mountain is where I will go if I'm not traveling out west or up in the UP. When are you relocating to Waukesha?

Email me and let's keep in contact, I'm always looking for someone to ride with when Al is traveling for work. abrneyedbabe2@yahoo.com

Cheers,

Pebbles

Pebu,

I grew up in Petoskey and riding Nubs and Boyne. There are booters around but numbers are declining.

CarverChick

I am moving to Waukesha from the Madison area. I have been racing at Tyrol for the last few years and am now looking to race at Alpine on Monday nights. Do you ride at Alpine? How is it?

-Tim

[pebu]

http://www.crystalmountain.com/winter/index.cfm?fuseaction=skireport

I swear earlyer today it said they were hoping for a thanksgiving weekend opening... Highly unlikely. But now they say the weekend after... I still find that unlikely, unfortunatly.

SO ready to board!

Probably gonna go pick up my pass one of these days so I don't have to wait in line on my first day.

[BShaw]

We should set something up for Boyne Highlands / Nubs Nob area sometime in January.

[pebu]

So it's looking like I'm going to be at Crystal Mtn. on opening day (Saturday 12/01). I'm not expecting very good conditions however I am expecting a crowd. I won't be alone. I intend on boarding with the wife and kids of a guy I work with, as the guy I work with along with every other skier I know is going out of town. The son is a skier, but he's on the ski team, so he's not all bad, and he really likes to flat out carve, so he's real fun to go with. So if you're out there and you see a bomber (probably on my soft board, a rossi budweiser board) and a skier cuttin it up, lemme know you're there.

[Trenchman]

I heard a rumor yesterday from some old friends that Sugarloaf might have a buyer. Let's cross our fingers. Even if you don't go that far north, it would surely shorten the lift lines at Crystal.

Ken

Sugar Loaf deal reached

Brad Lutz of Omena has signed an option to purchase Sugar Loaf Resort from Kate Wickstrom.

Lutz told the Enterprise just before press time on Wednesday that Wickstrom had signed the agreement early this week.

Terms of the pending sale were not disclosed, but the news was being hailed in the county.

The resort has been closed for skiing since March 2000. Lutz offered no timetable for reopening the resort, but made it clear that he expects the return of skiing at Sugar Loaf to be “a central focus” of his efforts. The condition of ski lifts and other facilities at Sugar Loaf Resort is such that no skiing will be possible there this ski season.

“Of course, we want skiing to return,” Lutz said. “Sugar Loaf has some of the best runs anywhere in the Midwest.”

But, Lutz added, he is “going into this deal with some fear and trepidation” and is well aware that he may be facing many obstacles.

“I’ve heard people in Leelanau County say they’ll believe it when they see it when it comes to Sugar Loaf,” Lutz said. “Actually, that’s just about the right attitude to have in this case. I’m enthusiastic, I’m local, and I believe in Leelanau County – but I have no illusions. This will not be simple or easy.”

Wickstrom has owned Sugar Loaf Resort since March 2005 when she purchased it from from a Florida-based corporation known as SL 2002. Corporate documents indicate that SL 2002 was controlled by the wife of Remo Polselli, the head of a company that formerly owned Sugar Loaf, the Pacific XIX Corporation. Polselli was spending time in a federal penitentary on a tax evasion conviction in connection with a downstate Michigan property he owned when ownership transferred from Pacific XIX to SL 2002.

After she purchased Sugar Loaf, Wickstrom unveiled plans to turn the resort into a “board sports mecca” including snowboarding and skateboarding – but never followed through.

In July 2007, Wickstrom was notified by the Benzie-Leelanau District Health Department that the lodge at Sugar Loaf Resort had been declared “unfit for human habitation” because it had no sewer service. Wickstrom and the previous owners of Sugar Loaf Resort had long been at odds with owners of a private wastewater treatment plant that provides sewer service for the resort and nearby residential neighborhoods, the Sugar Loaf Service Company.

Wickstrom and the Sugar Loaf Service Company last year were embroiled in a lawsuit over Wickstrom’s alleged non-payment of a sewer bill which was settled on Dec. 12, 2007.

Settlement of the case last month is believed to have helped pave the way for Wickstrom to sign an agreement to sell the resort to Lutz this month.

The owners of Sugar Loaf Service Company, Brian Sculthorp of Florida and Ed Fleis of Leelanau County, also own the Sleeping Bear Golf Course adjacent to Sugar Loaf Resort, and last year were forced to relinquish ownership of the nearby King’s Challenge Golf Course to a corporation that formerly owned the resort, both golf courses and the sewage treatment plant. The split-up of those elements in 1997 when Polselli purchased the resort further complicated efforts to make the resort economically viable.

“I’ll be willing to work with anyone to make this happen,” Lutz told the Enterprise. In addition to working with private investors, Lutz said he hoped to work with Leelanau County’s Economic Development Corporation and the county’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to bring Sugar Loaf Resort back to life.

Sugar Loaf Resort is located in Cleveland Township’s “recreation district.” Township trustee and Planning Commission member Cindy Shimek was among those who last year labored on a zoning ordinance amendment at Wickstrom’s request that was designed to streamline approval of Wickstrom’s plans to revive the resort. Wickstrom’s plans were never submitted for approval, however.

“I’m thrilled for Mr. Lutz and the possibilities for Sugar Loaf and our township,” Shimek said. “If there is anything we can do as a community to help, I know there are many people who would be pleased to do so.”

Shimek said she wishes Lutz “good luck,” but added that she wished the same for Wickstrom.

Andrew MacFarlane of Leland offered only one initial comment upon learning that Lutz was buying Sugar Loaf Resort from Wickstrom: “Yee-Hah!”

The owner of “leelanau.com” which for years hosted an online discussion forum about Sugar Loaf, MacFarlane said he was hopeful that Lutz would succeed.

“The impact of not having Sugar Loaf open here in the wintertime has just been crushing for Leelanau County,” MacFarlane said. “He sure has a lot of hard work ahead, but I know there are a lot of people willing to lend a hand.”

[Guest deuxdiesel]

There are still a few of us riding hard boots at Brighton, but with the grooming there so poor (all they focus on is the park- the pipe is a joke), riding a race board is a hit or miss proposition.