bigwavedave Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 Anyone been up there recently? Wondering how the snow conditions are. Thinking about going up this weekend, maybe Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 Just heard from Jim Rothman regarding conditions at GR: "The conditions are great. After the warm weather last week, they do change some from day to day, and throughout the day, but overall, really good. Plenty of snow left on the hill." I'm still thinking about going Sunday. Should have something new to ride! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 Decided to head up tomorrow, Saturday and maybe stay over for Sun if conditions are good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 (edited) The snow at GR is pretty good--No ice, no bare spots. Some runs had a crusty groom from the night before when it was still warm, but runs that were groomed later were good carving. One major problem was that the 2 main chair lifts that served the best carving runs broke down first thing this morning , so I left about noon because they still weren't running. Plan to go up tomorrow providing the lifts are working. The groom should be really good as it didn't get above freezing today. Ran across Jim Rothman and hiked up one of the runs with him. ...and rode down on the new safari Coiler... Edited March 23, 2015 by bigwavedave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 Sunday March 22 Drove up from Duluth with Russ this morning making sure to call ahead to see that lift was repaired. Just a handful of people on the hill all day. Snow was very nice for carving, a firm packed sugary groom with temps below freezing most of the day and clear blue skies. One of the nicer days this season! I'll let the pictures do the talking... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 Short video in slo-mo from yesterday at Giant's Ridge. 1st ride on the new 180 13-14scr safari Coiler Revelation 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Giants Ridge 2016 Thinking of heading up to Giants Ridge tomorrow, Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2016 (edited) 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! Edited March 14, 2016 by bigwavedave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2016 (edited) 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! Edited March 27, 2016 by bigwavedave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted April 3, 2016 Report Share Posted April 3, 2016 Made one of those 'spur of the moment' decisions and headed up to GR this morning; we had about 4" of light, fluffy snow at my house yesterday morning and even though the forecast was for clouds and a high near 30F, I thought the new snow might freshen things up a bit. Instead I found a firm, well groomed, granular cover over a hard base and a few exposed icy spots. As BWD would say, conditions demanded a light touch on the turns. The sun made one effort to emerge around 11 but gave up soon after. But my pass only cost me $10.94 and I got in some fast turns. Left after 3 hours when some of the end-of-season revelers started riding the lift with their drinks in hand...... Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted April 4, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 Thought you might do that. I thought about going too, as I was putting a summer coat of parrafin wax on my little quiver of boards last night. I figured that should guarantee a big dump in April. Rich is going up to Lutsen tomorrow. Looks like they are getting winter temps and snow all week. I'm thinking about boats and stuff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted March 16, 2017 Report Share Posted March 16, 2017 (edited) Went to Giants Ridge today. Remote resort with really nice new chalets, great food and drink, some carvable trails and old lifts. They'll get two new lifts, one express by next season. Had a really fun day until 1500. My backup boots were just getting looser all day. The shells are too big and the liners were packing out. I took at speed toeside turn and the soft snow blew out. The resulting chattering slide/crash tweaked my ankle. I'm likely done for the season. Pretty sore and swollen right now. Man the theft of my UPZs was a bigger deal than I realized. This crash wouldn't have even bothered me in my old boots. Whatever doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger or some other empty platitude. Edit- They had Surly Todd the Axe Man on tap... Fantastic beer. Edited March 16, 2017 by lonbordin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 39 minutes ago, lonbordin said: Whatever doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger or some other empty platitude. around 2005/6, went to giants ridge for opening day. on third run i got decked from behind by another snowboarder. i impacted the ground on my left hip. when i finally stood up i could feel my hip swelling. i could barely make it down the run. i could barely walk to the room. i was in a lot of pain. the other snowboarder got the wind knocked out of him. i was the first one of the season to be admitted to emergency room in hoyt lakes. no broken bones just a massive hematoma of the hip. haven't been back since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 2 minutes ago, bobble said: Haven't been back since. You should go back. Today the slopes were empty all day. I parked the car in the front row. The burnt onion has some tasty eats and they had several distinct brews on tap. Groom was very nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 (edited) Hope you ankle feels better today (hope you iced it). Looks like all snow at Spirit last night! Had the french onion soup and a Surly when I was up there a couple of weeks ago... The new lifts go here... My favorite carving runs are Sarajevo, Squaw Valley to Helsinki Race, and late in the day I always find untracked groom on Cortina, but you have to pay for it with a long, flat run back to Sarajevo chair. Placid and Melbourne are nice for some relaxed, lazy turns. Otherwise, you need a small radius board for a lot of the other narrow and steeper (especially north side) runs. Edited March 17, 2017 by bigwavedave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 1 hour ago, bigwavedave said: Hope you ankle feels better today (hope you iced it). Looks like all snow at Spirit last night! It's OK. I was an EMT back in the day... so long ago. Doing R,I.C.E. right now. Don't think I'll be back on the snow before we go. I spent most of my runs around the Helsinki lift and Sarajevo. When they get those new lifts that will rid them of any deficiency they have... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 Hmm, I'm considering coming to Giant's Ridge next season for a weekend, or maybe a mid-week trip if weekends are crazy. It's a 6-hour drive vs. the 4-hour drive to the 500' hill I'm heading to this weekend. Not bad... It looks like you have a small but dedicated crew, which would be fun compared to my usual solo riding! I notice that the vertical is conspicuously absent from the website, which usually isn't a good thing. Opinions from the locals if it's worth a 6-hour drive? Riding with other hardboot freaks will be nice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 25 minutes ago, corey_dyck said: Hmm, I'm considering coming to Giant's Ridge next season for a weekend, or maybe a mid-week trip if weekends are crazy. It's a 6-hour drive vs. the 4-hour drive to the 500' hill I'm heading to this weekend. Not bad... It looks like you have a small but dedicated crew, which would be fun compared to my usual solo riding! I notice that the vertical is conspicuously absent from the website, which usually isn't a good thing. Opinions from the locals if it's worth a 6-hour drive? Riding with other hardboot freaks will be nice. Spirit Mountain in Duluth has a dedicated crew. Giant's Ridge does not. That said if you can convince the locals to meet you could have a small crew. BTW... I was looking at Google maps when at GR and saw Winnipeg up in the far right corner... I was like well there's Corey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 46 minutes ago, corey_dyck said: Hmm, I'm considering coming to Giant's Ridge next season for a weekend, or maybe a mid-week trip if weekends are crazy. It's a 6-hour drive vs. the 4-hour drive to the 500' hill I'm heading to this weekend. Not bad... It looks like you have a small but dedicated crew, which would be fun compared to my usual solo riding! I notice that the vertical is conspicuously absent from the website, which usually isn't a good thing. Opinions from the locals if it's worth a 6-hour drive? Riding with other hardboot freaks will be nice. If you're willing to consider adding 1½-2 hrs to that drive you have two more options with more carve friendly terrain─Spirit (600' vert-mostly mellow runs-all good for carving) and Lutsen (about 800' vert on Moose mt). Both have a Superior view, which adds to experience for me. Weekends aren't crazy busy, unless there's a race or other events (check their calendars), but it would be worth coming midweek where you'll often have the place to yourself. Giants Ridge is more like 500' vertical drop, maybe not much better than your hill except that we would definitely make the effort to join you when you come. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 Hmm, go big or go home, right? ;) Neat, I'll have to consider those options in the fall! Choices: 1. Aspen. Not really a choice, I write that trip in my calendar in pen. 2. Some of the guys were telling me how awesome the steeps of Schweizer in Idaho are. I like steeps. 3. ECES. Would like to meet a bunch of the East coast folks, have heard that it's mostly only locals. 4. Nakiska. Have been there multiple times, very cool crew and great carving with the steepest groomed run I've seen to date. 5. Something in MN. A little closer/cheaper than the other options. Talk about first-world problems! Poor me with all these great choices... ;) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 Lutsen has the steep stuff, the most expensive lift ticket and the most runs, but half of the runs are not great carving, unless you like steep and narrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted March 17, 2017 Report Share Posted March 17, 2017 Found an awesome steep groomer at Sun Peaks called "Spillway", unfortunately it's a slow two-chair ride if you want to lap it. Lots of good blue carving there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2017 Since we're moving this to Canada...anyone been to Sunshine Village. My daughter said it was one of her favorite places for carving. I've never been there, but never hear much about it on the forum either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted March 18, 2017 Report Share Posted March 18, 2017 Sunshine is a great hill but I would not consider it a carving hill. There are definitely some good carving spots there though. Banff in general is gorgeous, you should go if you've never been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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