bigwavedave Posted February 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2016 Thinking of coming up to Spirit tomorrow, Tuesday. Russ, are you out in Montana? I meant to post this pic of a Buttermilk fat bike optimized for downhill rides. He went up on the chair and I saw him come down. Didn't look like he had much control. Most bikes around town had studded 1.75" tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 Yes, I'm out of town (on the Ski Hut trip to Bozeman, MT); I won't be back until late next Sunday. Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 (edited) Surface groom! I think after 2-3 yrs it's officially part of the lexicon for Minnesota conditions. Yes, it's an ice base layer just under the "surface groom", nice until it starts to get scraped off by the skidders....and there were lots of them out there today─bus loads. Apparently some schools are out this week. At least there was an inch or two of fresh snow mixed into the surface groom, and with bright sun, the carving was great for a few hours (thanks to metal ice board technology). Also, it was nice to see a number of the soft boot kids making some nice carving turns today. Not looking forward to the weather warm-up later this week. Hope winter has a resurgence. Edited February 17, 2016 by bigwavedave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolson Posted February 20, 2016 Report Share Posted February 20, 2016 Made a rare appearance today and conditions were absolute crap......expected as much with rain and warm temps but was fairly let-down anyway. Switched boards after an hour just to try and make it all better but no-go........saw Ken doing well though on my second to last run and never caught up with him as I bunched it early. Hope to catch up with the two wanderers to out-state fun and hear all about their trips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted February 21, 2016 Report Share Posted February 21, 2016 The groom wasn't that bad considering the rain and sleet. Rode on the Gandy side after it got busy on Four Pipe. Had Cinder Snapper all to myself for about 10 runs. Kinda nice rollers there this year. Blue Ruin was a bit chopped up by earlier ski team practice. Probably will be bulletproof cord Sunday after the temperature drops overnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Thinking of coming up Thursday. Hopefully a little fresh snow is accumulating today to freshen up the slopes. Like last year, I came home from ATC with a infection, although not the fun kind. Caught in the cross fire of the Snowmass 1st tracks paparazzi... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted February 24, 2016 Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 I was out Monday evening for a patrol shift - pretty stiff surface from the weekend thaw/freeze cycle but we got a couple of inches of new yesterday. Patroller Don and I are planning to make a few turns Thursday morning too! Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2016 Sounds great! I'm also thinking about a trip to Indianhead before full-on spring conditions set in...maybe next Thursday and possibly Friday too (could move over to Blackjack if Indianhead gets busy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 (edited) There's a lot more snow on the ground north of Hinckley. Spirit had a few inches in the past few days to freshen up the slopes. Kind of a fine granular (sugar snow) made a very fast and carvable carpet of corduroy over the ever-present ice base, which made it's presence known after a few hours. Sunshine until about noon-thirty, then overcast with flurries and more people. Left about 2:00. Rode with Russ all morning and a few runs with Ken in the afternoon. Took a couple of runs down Sky Hooker after my break─the snow seemed really nice, but I wished I had gone over there while the sun was still out─I was lost in the flat light! Edited February 26, 2016 by bigwavedave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 A bit of Board Porn - the new Coiler Nirvana file:///Users/securefolder/Downloads/Coiler.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 A bit of Board Porn - the new Coiler Nirvana file:///Users/securefolder/Downloads/Coiler.jpg Your link doesn't work. Try using "more reply options" and then "choose files" to upload your photos. Spirit posted this fat bike video... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted February 26, 2016 Report Share Posted February 26, 2016 Try the Board Porn again. Rode it out for four hours today. Beautiful blue sky day and great groom. Felt dialed in after 4 runs - real easy to ride. A lot of traffic on the Four Pipe side so mostly rode Gandy and Cinder Snapper. Giants Ridge tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 I was a few minutes late getting out this morning (patrol room duty) and found several sets of sweeping arcs already on Four Pipe by the time I got there at 9:15. Who could this interloper be? Non other than JOlson! We had a grand old time under the bright sun in the soft snow laying down as many arcs as we could. Not quite as busy as a usual Saturday. I stayed on after Jim left; by a little after noon, the snow was starting to get sticky from the sun and pretty cut up. Overall a much better morning that I had expected. Russ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpyride Posted February 28, 2016 Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 (edited) We've had a lack of snow out here for a week or so. Peak was icy and chunks. Decided to take out the 1998 Ultra Prime 162 and do some groomers. Wasn't going to hit the bumps, but couldn't resist. Slices and Dices. Anyway hit Mr. K. on the way down and ran into the paparazzi. Edited February 28, 2016 by bumpyride Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 Thinking of coming up to Spirit tomorrow. Looks like there was a little new snow since the warm-up. Looking good for Indianhead Thursday, they're reporting several inches new snow in the past few days. ...and another warm-up coming next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted March 1, 2016 Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I was out tonight for a patrol shift - a few scattered spots of soft snow, but otherwise as hard as a rock. It's gonna take a lot of grooming to make this carveable....... Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I was out tonight for a patrol shift - a few scattered spots of soft snow, but otherwise as hard as a rock. It's gonna take a lot of grooming to make this carveable....... Russ Thanks for the heads up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 3-4 inches of new snow yesterday, groomed in this morning, changes everything. Lots of "events" on the hill today, but we still managed to find space to carve some deep trenches all morning on everything from Cinder Snapper to Double Jaw. Gandy Dancer and Sky Hooker were in nice shape. Before leaving at 2 I finally resorted to paying a buck to take a run down the Scissor Bill Nastar course to have a run to myself. Not sure if they appreciated that I just free-carved and skipped going around the gates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted March 6, 2016 Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 Dave - I got called to an accident just as we were leaving the top of the Express after our break (in case you were wondering where I went); by the time we were done transporting the guest and getting equipment back in place things had gotten busy again so I 'pulled the pin' to borrow an expression from Al. I'm going to ride for a couple of hours tomorrow morning before it warms up too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 (edited) 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. Edited March 6, 2016 by bigwavedave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2016 (edited) 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. Edited March 7, 2016 by bigwavedave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 I got in about two hours of 'carve-a-licous' riding this morning before the bright sun slowed things down (quite dramatically). My hunch is that we'll be hard pressed to find reasonable conditions anywhere for the remainder of this season..... On another note it sounds like we'll need to spend more time in the U.P. next year - I've got no problem with that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Spirit's been closed Monday and today and was supposed to open Wednesday noon. Latest post on the Spirit website has the hill closed Wednesday and opening on noon Thursday. I'm tentatively planning a road trip to Giants Ridge tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 (edited) Spirit's been closed Monday and today and was supposed to open Wednesday noon. Latest post on the Spirit website has the hill closed Wednesday and opening on noon Thursday. I'm tentatively planning a road trip to Giants Ridge tomorrow. 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. Edited March 9, 2016 by bigwavedave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khoward Posted March 9, 2016 Report Share Posted March 9, 2016 Got on the hill at GR at 10AM, frozen corduroy on Sarajvo with flat light and air temp 34. Otherwise, the hill's in very good shape. No bare areas and not dirty, but no corn snow. The groom softened up by noon and was actually quite good for carving, especially the more exposed Lower Squaw Valley. High temp was about 37 and never saw any sun, but a lot beter than the rain and fog in Duluth. I suspect it will be quite crusty for first chair tomorrow, but forecast is for about 40 by noon with better light. I'll probably try Spirit tomorrow, but it may be grim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.