bigwavedave Posted February 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2023 I might come out tomorrow to see this plush groom you speak of. Had a brake caliper seize up on my car yesterday. Got it fixed today! Forced me to get out on the fat bike to ride back & forth to the shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2023 Sun A mix of sun & cloud and mild temps. Lots of people in line for the first chair up. Ken and I managed to get into a gap in the masses and had a few good runs. There was about 1½-2" of groomed granular over the ice base. Nice, as long as you didn't carve too hard, otherwise there was a rude awakening when you suddenly ran aground on the rough ice base. Finally, new snow in the forecast over the next several days!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 20, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2023 Didn't go up today, looked crowded, overcast with flat light and not enough new snow yet to fix the hill. Sauna and chiro appt today. Riding on all that hard stuff is hard on the old body. Looking forward to some softer snow. Barely an inch so far at 4pm. I plan to go up tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2023 Tues Only 1½" total new snow, blown around overnight by big wind. The hill was a wee bit softer today with some wind drifted soft spots and slightly better grooming. Still getting bounced around by hard seams and later our own ruts. Ken & Russ were on it. Ominous dark clouds (the good kind) are moving in from the SW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted February 21, 2023 Report Share Posted February 21, 2023 FWIW - they’ve removed the rails at the top of the big terrain park making for your carving pleasure ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2023 Wed No new snow overnight Lake effect kicked in this morning, light at first and then some heavier bursts started coming through. Nearly perfect Minnesota firm today with no noticeable groomer features. 1" deep trenches and no bottoming out on the ice base. No plate required or desired. A mix of sun and dim-sun, then verging on whiteout conditions when the wind and lake effect intensified. Lake effect is really cool because it rolls in so low you often have filtered sun and snow at the same time. I guess similar to being in the upper cloud layer in the mountains. Anyway, the real storm is supposed to arrive later tonight. Should be fun tomorrow. P.S. Both U.P. and north shore (Lutsen) reported ½-1 foot of snow from yesterday's clipper . P.P.S. I'm not loading any powder boards into the car tonight so as not to jinx it. P.P.P.S really looking forward to Friday, 1st day groom plus sun AND below zero start to keep the crowds down. Carvers paradise, the day after a pow day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 22, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2023 $5 lift tickets tomorrow and Sunday for Duluth residents. Don't tell anyone, it might get busier than a typical pow day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobble Posted February 23, 2023 Report Share Posted February 23, 2023 12 hours ago, bigwavedave said: $5 lift tickets tomorrow and Sunday for Duluth residents. Don't tell anyone, it might get busier than a typical pow day. what's the wait time at the bottom chalet? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2023 On 2/23/2023 at 6:40 AM, bobble said: what's the wait time at the bottom chalet? I don't think it's any better, but I think the weather will make a lot of folks late anyway. Thurs Looks like we had 4-6" overnight, much of it from lake effect. A little hard to tell with all the blowing & drifting. The bulk of the storm is at our doorstep and will continue through most of the day. Should be fun. I just have to see if I can get out of here through the snow drifts. *update on snow depths (~6") after a test drive out. There are a few big drifts (2-3 feet) that are impassable, but I'm able to get around another way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2023 Thursday 02-23-23 10°F and dropping, diminishing 15-20kt north winds. What a day!! Another wave of snow moved through during the morning. We pretty much had the hill to ourselves, no lift lines, no bodys on the hill. Wide open with 6" of wind blown, drifted fluff over soft, surfy groom. Dim sun by noon and a few more people started to trickle onto the hill. Rode for 4½hrs, mostly with Russ. Made 1st tracks before opening, rode both the swallowtails and the last couple of hrs riding the 202cm TankerSpanker. Oh my, the most fun I've had on a board in a long time. It had me hollering on the way down. Big, high speed across-the-slope turns. Amazing board! Deep trenches were made. See ya tomorrow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 Friday 0° at the start and up to 8° above. Sunny, no wind. Made 1st tracks then made some more with Ken. In one day we are already back to Minnesota Firm* (no soft 1st day groom for us), 1" deep trenches, somewhat inconsistent grooming with occasional surprise features like ridges & hollows at seams and more ungroomed areas than typical. a berm with a soft spot, one of the first turns near the top... Still thinking about how good it was yesterday and how I'm a little tired today. A couple of hours and done. Home-school Friday. Lots of kids on the hill. Parallel SL races for fat bikes, skis and boards tomorrow. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 Sat 1" of dry fluff overnight, single digit temps to start, and sunny! Plus, fat bike races today. Best carving day in quite a while! Goodbye minnesota firm, hello soft Aspen plush. BindleStiff, ScissorBill, 4Pipe and DoubleJaw all great. I still found 5" high hard curbs between groomer passes on SkyHooker. Uncarvable! Rode the Super for 3 hours (no board changes!) and kept finding clear runs. The carving was so good! Despite being a weekend, it wasn't that crowded, but loading fat bikes made the lift lines much slower. The express was running at half speed and many chairs were going up empty due to the confusion of trying to load bikes and people at the same time. Ken was there, but with the lift line issues, it was every man for himself in the singles line and we rarely got the same chair up. Day 50 at Spirit. Tomorrow's another day and another track... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 26, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2023 Sunday Single digit temps, sunny up to 15° by noon and no wind―almost balmy. The upper lot was nearly full 45 min before opening. $5 lift tickets & rentals for locals today plus junior races on Gandy and BlueRuin. Made the 1st track. A little firmer today. You could push your edge in and get some rebound and leave 2" deep trenches. Not quite minnestoa firm, but it's getting there. Rode with Ken today. It got busy fast. 2 hours and done. 2nd busiest day so far, based on parking. The B lot was full when I left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted February 28, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2023 Tues 1pm opening We had a good coat of freezing rain yesterday and then about an inch of snow. Made the 1st track this afternoon. Nice smooth groom, but quite firm making only ¼" deep trenches. Despite being sunny & warm with temps to the mid 30's, it wasn't enough to soften the ice 1" under the groom. It was a rough ride once the surface groom was carved up. Conditions seem to go from one extreme to another one day to the next. Get it while you can. Expecting snow tonight and tomorrow! P.S. all the usual suspects were there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2023 Wed Holy moly! Snow! Wind! Refreshed tracks every run. Nobody around. Every run a clear run, no such thing as a lift line. Lifties playing surf music and doin' a snow dance. Lake effect snow is enhancing this storm. 202cm of heavenly joy. Might be my new favorite board! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 2, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2023 Thurs 1st track on 1st day groom It was soft, almost too soft I'm not complaining, but I rode up with a couple of ski carvers that did. They were from Afton Alps and know @trent . I see them up here often. Ken was on it today. It was also monoski day. Finally made a few runs on Gandy which was soft enough to make the irregular grooming less of an issue. The 202cm TSm² was killing it today! Bigger really is better. Smooths out the rough stuff and leaves a big trench... I rode my 180 CoilerRev with Virus isolator plates for a few runs and it wasn't as smooth as the 202cm TankerSpanker with td3sw. Started out on the 8rw and switched to the TS after a few runs just to compare. The TS didn't sink in as deep as the 8rw, though I would be happy on either board in these conditions. P.S. oh yeah, we ended up with about 8-9" yesterday. Nice dry fluffy stuff. It should be good tomorrow. 2nd day groom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelsonboat Posted March 3, 2023 Report Share Posted March 3, 2023 Dave, the rain Monday destroyed the snow down here in the cities. We’re coming up there Wednesday and Thursday, hope to see you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 3, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2023 Fri Skipped 1st tracks today, but caught 1st chair. Nice 2nd day groom made for great carving despite being unable to see in flat light. Found some soft 1st day groom under the chair... Monoski-ism day 2 and home school friday. No sign of Ken. Around noon everyone disappeared for lunch just as the sun came out. I switched from the Super to the TSm² and went over to the Gandy side after a few warm up runs on the big beast. Gandy still has curbs and valleys on the groomer seams. A very bumpy ride when you happen across them. I found Jane riding over in the BigAir park which was really fun carving today. All the rails and hardware have been moved to the far right side, so the left was wide open all the way! 3½hrs today. This weekend USASA has a boarder cross race on CinderSnapper and a rail jam (likely on those relocated bigair rails). @nelsonboatthe conditions are the best of the season right now, plus more snow on the way Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 4, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2023 Saturday dim sun and near freezing & warmish day 3 for the monoski-ists , BX race on CinderSnapper , ski races on Gandy and BlueRuin. Had to arrive an hour early to get 1st tracks. Rode 1st chair with Ken. Snow and grooming were excellent (soft minnesota firm?) 1½" deep trenches. It got busy fast. Went over to the Gandy side and found long lift lines there too and only the bigair park with enough room to carve. Only 2 hours today. No lunch break lull in the crowds today, just kept getting busier. A top 3 in busiest days of the year. Thinking of heading up to Lutsen tomorrow. Looks like everything is open. I've never been there when the Timberwolf chair is running. P.S. The season pass sale moved from March 6th back to the 4th at JCS, so I might head to the U.P. tomorrow instead. Plus their forecast calls for more sun than clouds. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 7, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2023 Tuesday 1pm opening Sunny and temps above freezing We had 4" of wet snow yesterday and it groomed out real nice for today. There are still bouncy groomer seams on Gandy and SkyHooker, but the Express side was great and so was the bigair park (I'm just in it for the groom). Ken and Russ were on it. Jane said she found soft ungroomed on CinderSnapper. 2½ hrs for me today. No lift lines and wide open runs. When the west coast gets 5 feet, we get 5 inches from the same storm. Come on @barryj, stop hogging all the snow! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted March 8, 2023 Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 I got to hang out with a snowboarding legend today: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 8, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2023 Wed Dim sun and intermittent flat light. Just above freezing. Snow not here yet. Met up with@nelsonboat and wife at the bottom of the express. The first turns were the smoothest, but they got a bit crunchy and rutty later on. There are still pop-up grooming "features" scattered around the hill. 4Pipe had the nicest carving, as usual. I narrowly avoided a large seam crevice on DoubleJaw and dropped off a 6" high seam curb on SkyHooker (unseen when the light went flat). Otherwise it was pretty good. While these new groomeer drivers are learning, you really need to be prepared for accidental grooming features that can trip you up. We went over to Gandy later, which was better than it has been. It was well tracked by the time we got there, but like Zorro, we left our mark... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 9, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 From 1st track last Tuesday... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted March 9, 2023 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 Thursday Same as yesterday, but windier with less sun and a softer, granular snow. Riding with Dan and Dianne again today. Russ was patrolling the hill with his softboot set-up demonstrating that it was good for softboot carving too. It was not crowded and virtually no lift lines. However, there were a couple of bus loads of kids scattered around the hill. Every few runs there'd be an interesting in-motion carving course to navigate, often requiring split second course corrections. Temps hovered around freezing all day, so the snow was both slushy and crunchy. Really fun carving with no surprise grooming features! We stayed on the express side mainly due to wind and visibility. I rode the big boards, the 8rw and the TSm². Dan and I traded boards for a bit. His Oxess RXR172 for my 8rw. day 59 at Spirit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwmaron Posted March 9, 2023 Report Share Posted March 9, 2023 Today’s players - Dianne and Dan Nelson ( @nelsonboat), @bigwavedave, and yours truly: Russ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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