Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums banner

The Official Michigan Winter Thread

491K views 8K replies 153 participants last post by  sabatoa 
#1 ·
Alright everyone since Summer is over, fall has just begun and we've already had our first rail jam of the year, it's time to start a new thread for the 10/11 winter.

Last year we had the "Southeast" michigan thread, but I think we should do all of Michigan. Sure, most of population lives in S/E michigan but we all ride the same resorts in the LP and even the UP if we get a chance, so we should have one thread to bring everyone together.

Cheers everyone we're probably only like 70 days from open resorts!
 
#5,152 ·
Yeah, thought as much. I have to skip work for a pm session. :dunno:

What about Sat or Sun this weekend? I can do Holly or PK whichever you prefer. Lmk if you might b up for that. (...maybe drag Leo's imaginary, disappearing ass out as well!) ;) lol!
 
#5,155 ·
sounds painful dave, nothing a few more 24 oz's can't cure. i am finishing off one last beverage before i hit the sack. have a few buddies already up at crystal where it reached almost 50 degrees! :huh: they said it was a bit mashy but they were having fun. high is 38 tomorrow than gets cold on Wednesday only 18. will be there till friday, if anyone is heading up, let me know.

added a pair of lime green quattro's to the machete. hopefully if anything else, it will save a seriously bruised ass...
 
#5,156 · (Edited)
Pineknob, 44°, totally deserted, snow is groomed and soft as hell! :)
Hard to complain about a day that starts with conditions like this and a couple hours of snowboarding before work. :yahoo:

Tomorrow sounds like it'll be a little miserable with the 30+ mph wind even with the fresh snow! :dunno: I'll probably take a pass tomorrow, but Thursday,.....? :yahoo::yahoo: :thumbsup:
 
#5,157 ·
Got another buttering move pretty well down today,

I'm not sure if it has a name,... Basically doing a nose press ( regular and switch ) and rotating the board 90° to the slope. Sliding on the heelside tip of the board while holding the press at 90° to the fall line.

If I was doing this on a box or rail it would be a "boardslide?" Is that right? Is it called anything particular when done just sliding down the groomer? Or is it JAB? (...Just Another Butter?) :dunno:

I only managed twice to get a tiny (...lame) little ollie out to straight, but I was holding the pressed 90° rotated position for quite a fair distance. :D
 
#5,159 ·
Was weighing the option of possibly riding tomorrow but after this rain it's gonna be shit until the snow is done falling, and I can probably only get out in the morning. Knee still recovering but up around the 75% mark today, so probably should just hold off for Friday and Sunday.

I'm not sure if it has a name,... Basically doing a nose press ( regular and switch ) and rotating the board 90° to the slope. Sliding on the heelside tip of the board while holding the press at 90° to the fall line.

If I was doing this on a box or rail it would be a "boardslide?" Is that right? Is it called anything particular when done just sliding down the groomer? Or is it JAB? (...Just Another Butter?) :dunno:

I only managed twice to get a tiny (...lame) little ollie out to straight, but I was holding the pressed 90° rotated position for quite a fair distance. :D
Indeed, yeah it would be a boardslide or a noseslide. On the ground IDK what I'd call it... if you did a 180 over the nose then it's a nose roll 180 or something like that, but I know what you're saying just tweaking on the nose. In longboarding I think they call that a nose blunt, maybe same on snow I'm not sure. But whatever you call it...

If you are just rolling back to revert in to your normal forward stance, here's your next steps:

Now you can take that whatever-you-wanna-call-it and "pop" a revert out of it , or pop the remaining 90 degrees to your switch stance (both of these are fairly easy) or more advanced step is to pop 270 out of it. I actually just learned that the other day, and then took that to the boxes so it became boardslide 270 out.

but they're fun. Just be warned: you can definitely catch an edge on the flat land tricks. :) (and you thought those days were behind you!)
 
#5,160 ·
Damn!!! Sitting here waiting to start work and decided to check the PK web cams. Absolutely nobody on the runs. The park however was crowded as fuck??? :dunno: (...naturally, large gaggles of kids sitting on their asses at the top!) :blink:


Anybody gonna head out tomorrow? (...Tonight?). I'm thinking I might go for another am sesh before the weekend warm up. Website is reporting 7-8 inches of new snow. It'll all be ridden n groomed flat by tomorrow, but it's enough new stuff to sufficiently cover the block of ice that will be the base after the deep freeze tonight.

It'll be good to ride some fresh firm groomers before getting back to the slush.
 
#5,161 · (Edited)
Crystal was 45 degrees Tuesday and after 50 degrees monday, you can imagine ... it was soft and mashy until the temps started falling then it turned to corn. Mixed feelings on these conditions because everything is a lot slower but also softer so landing on my ass didn't hurt nearly as much. Trying to 50/50 any boxes was a bit disappointing because after a few speed checks, I felt like a was never going to reach the end.

Today, temps were in the low teens, with bluebird skies. After the first few runs on hard pack, it started to loosen up a bit. Managed with decent speed to 50/50 the dance floor, 50/50 the short ride on fun box then half assed a board slide on the long/down box all in one run. Caveat - board slide was purely accidental as my approach kinda sucked and I found myself almost 90 degrees, put all my weight to my front foot and pin my board to it. Sometimes accidents are pretty cool! Then my youngest son Maddox, does the same thing on a pair skis with much more speed and style than me and makes me look like an @$$...

the best line of the day "dad your trying really hard, but you need more speed. don't kill yourself though, because you are getting' kind of old." To Maddox, my 7 year old who has huge brass balls i wish i had, a 2 finger, double barrel salute.

also managed to work on switch riding, 180 front/backside flats on the backside of the mountain. some nice blues that turn into greens with no one around so when I bail, no harm done. can now ride switch at a good clip down blues pretty much in total control.

reports are we got between 6-10" of fresh at home, any truth to that? never thought I would be up north at crystal and be jealous of riding pk, Brighton or holly'

we love this place! mtf
 
#5,162 ·
the best line of the day "dad your trying really hard, but you need more speed. don't kill yourself though, because you are getting' kind of old." To Maddox, my 7 year old who has huge brass balls i wish i had, a 2 finger, double barrel salute.

also managed to work on switch riding, 180 front/backside flats on the backside of the mountain. some nice blues that turn into greens with no one around so when I bail, no harm done. can now ride switch at a good clip down blues pretty much in total control.

reports are we got between 6-10" of fresh at home, any truth to that? never thought I would be up north at crystal and be jealous of riding pk, Brighton or holly'

we love this place! mtf
I always have a good time at CM.

Yes, speed is your friend. Goes against your instincts, but the faster you're going, the less time you need to maintain any precarious balance, etc., which actually makes it less likely that you'll fall. Keep working on those 180 ollies on flats/etc. next thing you know you'll be taking those off side hits and little bumps and over stumps, etc. Honestly that sort of "skateboarding on snow" type of riding is as much fun as just about anything I can think of.

I don't think we got 6" here in Royal Oak area. But there is a good amount of snow. It is a beautiful afternoon right now, bluebird, but most of the day was horribly overcast and blowing snow. It is still pretty windy I think, but the snow is done.

Jealous? Not sure. My impression (from my living room, and from what I shoveled this morning) is that conditions were likely to be sheet ice underneath 3-5" of heavy, wet, springtime snow. Hardly ideal.
 
#5,168 · (Edited)
Yeah, and to be fair. As small and narrow as the runs are there? It doesn't take much traffic to pack it all down solid and then cut it to crap. Of course that doesn't lend itself to feeling any luv for the place either. :dunno:

I don't mean to be ragging on, or shitting all over anybodies go to, or fav little hill. I'm sure lots of folks have fond memories of riding there, But Dave, honestly,.. If you didn't ride park? Would you even think twice about going to B?

...and I honestly do wish it was better for just general lapping the runs. It's so close. Only 20 min away. It would make getting a few more midweek sessions so much easier. I could sleep later and It would still give me an extra hour to ride. I gotta drive an hour or more for PK or Holly. (...and I hate the traffic on Telegraph & 75!) ;)

-sigh-
.....sorry guys! I guess having most of my goals and plans for this season derailed has me in a bit of a whiny mood! ;) Waaaaaaahhh!


I really need a couple days of riding some decent (if not excellent) conditions to put everything right with the world again! :dunno: :D
 
#5,170 ·
Hit up Brighton with Joe this morning. Snow was spring conditions for sure and on the slower side. As the sun stayed out and the day warmed up, conditions started to deteriorate in to that dreaded "wet carpet" suction snow. By 1230, a good part of the park was unrideable -- the "suction" feeling on the approach ramp to a rail, for example, is a killer. Throws off your speed, balance, everything. They need to get some kids out there throwing rock salt down on all the lips...
 
#5,171 ·
Damn! Just found out tonight that next sun. the 23rd is Highlands last day open. I probably can't get next fri. Off either. I'm bummed!

It's snowing a bunch up there right now too from what I can see on their web cam.
 
#5,173 ·
F'ing job!! Now not only r Fri's unavailable mar n apr. they can't give me mon's either. Im supposed to use my remaining weeks vacation tues thru thurs. WTF!


Im gonna catch a nasty bug next thurs and head up for entire weekend! Fuk'em!!! :thumbsup:
 
#5,175 ·
I thought about you when I saw that this morning. TWC has it @ 70%. Here's hoping LE doubles that for ya! ;)
 
#5,177 ·
Good luck! :thumbsup:

Of course we'll be expecting video you know? ;). Have a great trip!


I am not going to get my vacation days for either this fri or next mon. So,.. I believe I will be coming down with a nasty stomach bug thur morning. If I chicken out, it means driving solo for an overniter and riding sat n sun all sleep deprived n tired.

Sounds like a good way to get hurt to me. (..on the slope or on the road!) :dunno:
 
#5,178 ·
I hope I can get some video. There are only two of us going. It's such a pain in the ass to take video especially if you're trying to get natural terrain/glades -- so much setup to get good shots.. I guess I can lug my GoPro pole around for a few hours though. Something better than nothing.

I accidentally ordered some new goggles to go along with a new jacket that I'll probably never wear. They should be here tomorrow. Video or not, at least I will look good :D
 

Attachments

#5,179 ·
boots on the ground tell me Marquette has 4" already... still calling for totals in the 5-10" range for most of the Keewenaw, and snow to fall persistently until late tomorrow night.

Looks like no matter what, tomorrow is going to be a better day than Thursday but I'm hoping that being midweek like this, that all 550 acres of Bohemia don't get tracked out tomorrow. Save a *little* bit of powder for me and Joe!!!
 
#5,181 ·
Got my fingers crossed for ya!!! Hope you make it up to Highlands. Got my bag packed and my gear ready to load into the car. Also getting my story details down for when I call in sick tomorrow n fri. ;) -cough-cough-sniff! :giggle:
 
#5,185 ·
Quick and dirty report:

Left Clarkston around 10pm on Wednesday, arrived at Mt. Bohemia about 730am on Thursday. Tried to find some coffee, no dice. Napped in the car for a minute. Went back to the general store down the road and scored some coffee. Rode all day. Good conditions especially for spring; 4-5" of fresh snow. Sun was out, mid-30's by mid-afternoon so it was getting heavy and tracked. But it was a beautiful day and we had our pow in the AM as it was. Friday AM, real chunky the first few laps, but again sun came out and softened it up, so Saturday was more of a spring conditions with heavier wet snow, no big deal. A few more inches (hoping for 5-7" but got maybe 3") on Friday night which was just enough to stay for a few extra hours. Not perfect conditions but all things considered and for this time of year it was OK by me. The weather all three days was mostly sunny, good views from the summit, it's basically a 360 view and the mountain property covers all sides of the hill. Amazing views of Superior and Lac La Belle, and the mountain itself is also spectacular compared to anything else in the mitten.

Lives up to the hype. That mountain really is unlike anywhere else I've ridden. Hard to describe, it is probably the most challenging terrain overall (there may be individual trails in Jackson Hole, etc. that are more difficult, but on average, Bohemia is more challenging).

With only 2 chairlifts, every run is "top to bottom" and at about 800-900' per run, the trails are long enough to get a great workout. My guesstimate was about 30 runs and somewhere in the 22-25k vert range for the day. My GPS shit out on my when I ran in to a tree, and I lost half the day's tracks, but during the second half of the day it tallied 12 runs and 10k vertical feet so I think my guesstimate was on point.

Most of the "trails" are gladed areas. Of the 95 marked trails, they have maybe a dozen that I would consider "trails". In good or decent conditions, these would be accessible for most of you guys, but they tend to track out pretty quickly, and you'd probably be bored if you stuck only to these few trails. These are peppered with natural terrain variations like banks, some small drops, hairpins, etc., and you can always duck in to the woods just about anywhere, from just about any trail.

Some of the glades are fairly mellow and a little more navigable (I think this was Pirate Cove/Parrot/etc. but I'd have to check the trail map) but for the most part they are moderately to very steep.

There are cliffs and rock drops of various sizes from a few feet to probably a 30-footer we could see from the road but were not able to find (not that we would have hit it... ). They are not *everywhere* but there are enough of them and they are easy enough to find if you don't mind traversing some glades looking for them. We hit a few though and Joe actually did go off a pretty big one.

Overall, the drive there sucked but it was worth it for sure, and I would do it again. There is no doubt in my mind that nothing in the Midwest compares to this place, and like I said to be honest, if you want to be challenged by terrain, you won't be disappointed even compared to most Western resorts.
 

Attachments

Top