bigwavedave Posted January 4, 2014 Report Share Posted January 4, 2014 You should have fun tomorrow; 1-3" snow tonight, mostly sunny tomorrow, low 13, high 13, although windy and temp drop in the pm. Maybe Tuesday will be my day? Again sunny, but cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted January 5, 2014 Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 1/4/14 - flat light and 13F at the start, but the sun broke through within a half hour; 1-2 inches of fresh on a firm groom surface made for excellent carving conditions! Ran into an old acquaintance on the hill (he goes by 'bumpyride' on this forum); and took a couple of runs together. Oddly enough, it seems that most folks avoid the Double Jaw lift, so Four Pipe was less busy than usual for a Saturday morning. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 5, 2014 Report Share Posted January 5, 2014 (edited) Sounds like a great day! We had freezing rain, and about an inch of sleet/snow last night. With sun and mild temps today, carving conditions were still very good at Buck where we had about 50 racers and carvers rippin it up. In between being a gate judge I got to carve with the locals; Bobble, thebionicman and DonPablo on the south half of Milkrun, otherwise known as Crossroads. All expressed the desire to head north and ride with us at Spirit when it warms up, including Scuff (Karl) who was there to watch the race action. Maybe I'll get up there on Thursday when it gets above zero. Edited January 5, 2014 by bigwavedave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted January 7, 2014 Report Share Posted January 7, 2014 (edited) Progress! - from today's Duluth paper: "Spirit Mountain also was blind-sided by the failure of a 14-month-old electric motor in its recently rebuilt lift. The Spirit Express II was completely refurbished during a $3.5 million upgrade in 2012, and Mattson said the lift still is covered under a two-year warranty.....the 5,000-pound Finnish motor has been shipped to a machine shop in Wausau, Wis., where mechanics are working around the clock to rebuild it.......If all goes according to plan, the rebuilt motor should arrive back in Duluth by this Thursday, and the lift should be back in action by this weekend". Russ Edited January 7, 2014 by rwmaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 .....the 5,000-pound Finnish motor has been shipped to a machine shop in Wausau, Wis., where mechanics are working around the clock to rebuild it.......If all goes according to plan, the rebuilt motor should arrive back in Duluth by this Thursday, and the lift should be back in action by this weekend".Russ Thanks for the update. Maybe Finns ought-ta stick to saunas. The forecast still looks decent for Thursday, temps above zero! Should I bring a wrench? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 You can bring a wrench if you like, but a big forklift might be more appropriate....... Just as a 'heads-up': there is a high school race on Thursday that will be using runs 6 (Gandy) and 7 (Blue Ruin). I may be able to take lunch on the hill. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 8, 2014 Report Share Posted January 8, 2014 Just as a 'heads-up': there is a high school race on Thursday that will be using runs 6 (Gandy) and 7 (Blue Ruin). I may be able to take lunch on the hill. Russ Sounds good. I can live without 2 runs tomorrow. I suspect there will be pent-up demand with the warm-up this weekend, plus ski race courses to avoid, but I'm still thinking Saturday looks like the better day (weather-wise) this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 Mild temps today, nice firm groom (we left 2" deep trenches, which is pretty good for MN) mostly flat light. Rode from 9-3, Russ joined me for a couple of hours mid-day. No sign of the new lift motor arriving, although I passed a suspicious over-sized truck load heading north on I35. Frizzle in the forecast for tonight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 I'm planning to be out Saturday morning, though suspect it will be busy. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 I'll be there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted January 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 Planning 1st chair...rumor of 4Pipe lift running, but we'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted January 11, 2014 Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 He's Back!!! Ken joined Dave and I this morning - good to see him out again. Despite the flat light, it was an excellent morning for ripping turns, plus the expected masses didn't materialize. We're going to give it another go tomorrow morning for a couple of hours! Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 (edited) Hi, my name is Bigwavedave, and I'm a carving junkie...after about 5 hours I was starting to feel it in my right knee, just a little bit, maybe just a couple of more runs...The sun kept peeking out and enticing one more run. It kept getting busier and I had a couple of close calls, so decided to quit before my last run. Great day! I feel good now, but know I'll be looking for my next fix soon. Edited January 12, 2014 by bigwavedave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 1-12-14 Frain (as opposed to Frizzle).... Started with a few raindrops on the windshield on the way out this morning, then fell steadily enough that the seats on the Express lift would have a new layer of ice each time around. Ken braved it for an hour and I left after a couple of more runs. I wanted to get my phone out to take a picture of the ice crust on the chair, but my jacket zipper was too iced up to work. Rain had let up and it was starting to brighten as I walked to my car but by then the world was one big skating rink. Saw a fender bender right behind me as I crept down from the employee lot to the highway. Oh yeah, did I mention that visibility was lousy too? Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Sounds like fun...saw this on the news...sidewalk surfer sans board, in Duluth yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted January 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2014 Sounds like fun...saw this on the news...sidewalk surfer sans board, in Duluth yesterday. Sunday was challenging...mostly after leaving Spirit. The first challenge was trying to release the clip on my leash encased in ice. Grand Ave. was glare ice. I did a backside 180 with the Subaru by the Lester River Bridge, but didn't hit anything or put it in the ditch. Others weren't so lucky. On the bright side, the Spirit Express Lift is running By 10PM on Friday January 10th, we received the motor back from the repair shop. By 11:00PM, the motor was lifted into the terminal. Weight 4500-5000 lbs. By 2:00AM, The motor was installed The problem was a 'manufacturer's defect' Congratulations to our great staff at Spirit Mountain :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Considering coming up tomorrow even though there's a bit of wind and snow in the forecast. Had 4" of snow yesterday, so took a run down a gentle hill in the park nearby through a grove of oak trees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted January 15, 2014 Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 (edited) Considering coming up tomorrow even though there's a bit of wind and snow in the forecast. I was out Monday evening for a toboggan training session and the combination of rain and warm temps Sunday afternoon left our (up to then) hero snow conditions but a fond memory. We're back to typical mid-winter very firm conditions. The upside was a warm (24F) and full moon lit evening looking out over the lights of the city. I'm booked for tomorrow but am planning to stop by Friday morning for a couple of hours. Russ Edited January 15, 2014 by rwmaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Friday's forecast looks nice--sun! Unfortunately I can't make it. Hopefully a few inches of new snow over the next couple of days will soften up the slopes. The U.P continues to get lake effect snow, we should think about a trip to Indianhead. I may come up Sunday too (sunny forecast!), despite the likely MLK weekend crowds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Did a few runs this evening. About an inch of powder on the crust...till the winds kicked up. Thursday and Friday evenings also look pretty tough. The weekend looks better. Spirit Mountain Board meeting tomorrow evening so may have permission to write more about the lift problem after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Snowfall totals show several inches for the north shore from Spirit to Lutsen since yesterday! That should freshen things up even with the high winds. I chickened out today, and didn't come up. Tomorrow looks pretty nice, enjoy! I'm still thinking of coming up Sunday, early, and try to get some runs on Sissorbill before they shut it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 (edited) Possibility of several inches of snow tonight into Saturday! Gets me thinking about coming up to play in some of that fresh snow tomorrow. Updated forecast now predicts snow heading more south of Duluth. Not as excited to come up tomorrow, so probably wait til Sunday. Lutsen reports 13" snow from that last storm. Edited January 17, 2014 by bigwavedave updated forecast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted January 19, 2014 Report Share Posted January 19, 2014 (edited) January 18/19 Patrol duty, so I had no choice but to ride both days....... Bright sun and delicious groom at the start on Saturday; Ken and I rode for a little over two hours without having any wait for the Express lift. I'm coming to believe that riding with Ken is like having a rabbit's foot in your pocket - over and over we'd crest the knoll at the top of the D lift and find our way clear on Four Pipe. Sunday morning was overcast and despite the forecast, the light never really improved. The upside was that pretty much the whole clan got in the act: Jim, Dave, Ken and Jane, Gary, and Ryan and his daughter. Fairly busy, but never the holiday weekend frenzy that was expected. We had a couple of different variations of carvers filling up the quad chair over the course of the day. Ken, Dave, and Gary: Big cool down predicted for the next couple of days, so I'm planning to recuperate for a bit. Russ Edited January 19, 2014 by rwmaron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Jeez, what's with this weather? I really wanted to come up tomorrow but with temps dipping close to -20 by morning and only getting up to -5 by mid-day...maybe Saturday when it supposed to hover near zero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted January 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Friday afternoon/evening would be a better bet. I'm planning a Friday evening session after work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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