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The Official Michigan Winter Thread

490K 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!
 
#5,110 ·
Normally I hate these voting contests but the pic of Tyler dominating this kinked/elbow rail is pretty legit, and they have a good shot at winning or at least coming in the top 3, which gets them a trip to Park City.

So, if you're so inclined go cast a vote for Tyler & Dom's pic here:

Woobox Offer
 

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#5,118 ·
I'll be there this weekend!! (...hopefully tomorrow AM too!)
 
#5,119 · (Edited)
Mt. Brighton was good today, the sun was out quite a bit which was nice, and it's not nearly as cold today as it has been most of this winter :) Snow was good, hardpack/packed powder conditions, not too slow. I don't think I made any runs outside of the park. It was probably the single best "solo" session that I've had in about as long as I can remember.

A lot of times when I ride solo it's kinda ho-hum, just to get out there and make some turns or a few park laps, but today I really made some good progress in the park -- which I almost never do well at when I'm solo. In the past I have gone through spurts where I will pick up a new trick, but never really get comfortable with it, and the next thing I know, I am afraid to even try it, and then I essentially "lose" it.

Today was not one of those days!! I took boardslides on down boxes (this might be a first, or at least first in a long time), lipslides on down boxes (first), tailslides on down boxes (first), tailslide on flat-down (first), lipslides on flat-down (first), lipslides on the flat round tube (just learned this on Sunday at Hawk) and lipslide on a down tube (first). Felt super good -- I really needed a day like today!!

The setup is really good for progression. I mean, it is a good park for probably 90% of people. I was able to start on really short ride-on features and a butter box, get a good feel for the sideways slides again, and then progress to the bigger boxes which I am already comfortable with 50/50, 180's on, tail press, etc. If I felt shaky on the bigger features, I'd just hit the small ones again on the next lap and get my comfort back. By the end of the session I had no need for the ride-on stuff anymore :D

Almost tried a few times to tailslide a gap to down box but never committed to that LOL.

Ended up staying a lot longer than I had intended, but I was just feeling it and didn't want to leave until my legs started tiring out around 130.
 
#5,121 ·
I was going to try to make it to that event but wife has plans on Saturday and since I rode yesterday, today, and I'm going to Holly tomorrow night, probably can't swing it.

Have you heard they are also planning an "old school" competition? If so, do you know when that might be? I'm thinking maybe next weekend but haven't heard any confirmation from Mike yet.
 
#5,122 ·
I'll b at Holly Sat. Morning. Dont know if I'll be staying late enough to catch that jam. If I am, I'll post it here.

I'm planning on meeting up with another MI regional member that day. Anybody else going to be at Holly first thing Sat?


On a side note, today at PK I was experiencing something a little strange riding the groomers this morning. It's hard to describe exactly what was going on, but for lack of a better word my Proto felt really squirrelly today. The rear of the board felt loose especially toe side, and I don't know why.

It's set up just as I had it at Boyne last week and it didn't feel that way at all when I was there. I was getting some of my fastest runs and feeling very locked in and confident about my board control at speed. Today It was almost as if the rocker portion of it's profile was keeping the board riding high? Keeping the rear contact points from engaging properly? :dunno: I know that probably sounds odd, and it may well have just been me? (...lord knows I don't want to be "That Guy!" Blaming his gear! Lol. It's just that the whole mornings ride, I didn't feel dialed in. And I was bombing shit last week at Boyne, so it's not cuz I'm rusty.

The conditions were hard(ish) courd, but not frozen solid or icy. Just very firm hardpack.

Anyone else have this happen to them? Or am I really becoming "That Guy?" :laugh:
 
#5,123 ·
It always takes me a few runs to adjust fully to conditions for the day, even if I don't make any tweaks to my gear. Having it last all day like that? I can't say that I've experienced that.
 
#5,124 ·
Yeah, it was strange. Checked my bindings several times. Everything seemed right. Nothing loose or out of the ordinary. If I don't run into the same thing Sat. at Holly I'll just have to assume it was an "off day!" :dunno: :laugh:

Can't remember the board feeling so squirrelly before. Even early this season when I discovered I'd been riding with my front high back loose and rotated out of alignment with my heel edge. Sabatoa might remember I mentioned that my riding felt off when the season started.

Can't blame this on that! Everything's tight! :dunno:
 
#5,129 ·
??? Last years snow totals up that way sucked ass. Yet I have the receipts from a weekend trip to Boyne for 4/24/13. ....and I don't go there for the Golfing! IIR, they were talking about possibly stretching the weekend only season into May if the snow lasted. It didn't but,.. they didn't have an 80 in. base last year either.

I really would expect the snow & the season to last later this year unless it's the seasonal employees & such that are what determines when they close down?


I'M NOT READY FOR THIS TO BE OVER YET!!!!!! :(
 
#5,133 ·
still rocking the machete dave. taking good care of it for you too! noticed an echelon 152 in your quiver. how do you like it? i imagine it is much easier in the park, but how does it hold an edge? looking at getting something a bit shorter for more freestyle, but any other boards for fellas our size w/big clods and we are into a 158 wide and even that seems to be pushing it.
 
#5,134 ·
That little board is pretty fun, and it's kind of designed like the Burton Nug being a little bit wider/etc. so it is supposed to be ridden 6-8cm shorter than you would normally ride. It is mostly a park board and while it handles speed decently well, it's not exactly going to excel at high speed carving.

Here's the full review:

2014 Echelon Killbox Review | agnarchy.com

It's a good price at only $330 and a pretty fun board. Only caveat is that moving from a 161 to a 152 is going to be very noticeable even though it's designed to be ridden "short", and may be too big of a change.

Probably you're looking for something like a 156W or 157W. 58W maybe. I have a 58 that I ride everywhere from groomers to pow to park that's kind of a middle ground that I'm happy with. For pure park 56/57 is good, and if all I'm doing is ripping groomers/etc then probably more like a 60-62.
 
#5,136 · (Edited)
No just a regular 58 of this board (which they also make in a 58W), but I only wear size 11s. Since I got rid of the Machete I have really favored regular width boards anymore, I feel like I don't need the "wide" and it does make them marginally more sluggish. I had last year an Arbor Blacklist, which was a 57W. I loved that board but when I'm riding it I can definitely tell it's wider than normal.
 
#5,137 ·
Holy Shit Batman!! Conditions at Holly suck ass. Feels n looks like they groomed with a pickup truck. Flat as hell light and unseen blocks of slab ice everywhere. Highspeed was down too.


Fukit! Goin to PK!
 
#5,139 ·
Can't say about later but I'm here right now and it's not the least bit crowded snows a lot better condition than Holly to
 
#5,141 ·
Got to holly around 2pm, sun had been poking out on an off before that abd finally came out for a few hours. Must've softened it up because from our perspective conditions were really good. Definitely a few sheets of icy patches but fir the most part it was loose granular bordering on slush (but definitely less wet/slush than yesterday). We rode most until 530 except a beer break after I took a pretty hard fall in thepark. Knee swollen up but I iced it and self medicated with 24oz suds and all good just a little tender but I had no problem riding on it.

We didn't see much of the comp, actuary didn't pay any attention to it until the big air. I wish I could've stayed longer but it was running behind schedule and I was alredy pushing my luck at 750 when I finally left. The sun had gone diwn and the snow v had firmed up a bit by then which was great for the jump. Nobody was having trouble clearing it-- it was about a 50-footer. Biggest jump I've ever seen Holly push.

Park was in good shape but still had thst ghetto holly touch lol. Tons of features, pretty flowable but it got pretty patchy after the rail jam.

Did some good riding and drank a few beers. All in all a really good day on the slopes.
 
#5,142 ·
Highlands was really nice today. No fresh but bluebird sky, warm weather and fast soft groomers made for a really fun day. Finally getting more comfortable hitting small kickers too. Hit about a dozen today and landed every one. No big deal I know but for me it was the most progression I've had in that type of riding.
 
#5,144 ·
Well, looking at the 10 day forecast for here and up north, it looks like it's time to expect more springlike conditions for riding the remainder of the season. Everyplace is looking at, at least a few days of well above freezing temps to muck up the snow.

I don't mind soft spring slush or corned, but I'm just not ready to be looking at the end of good snow! :( definitely depressing to think about it. Those 4-5 weeks of missed riding during prime conditions really threw a wrench into my hopes for this season.

Find myself trying to figure out how I could afford a trip to somewhere that might still be in for some powder. :dunno:
 
#5,146 ·
Powder in March? Go West, young man....

.....the tax man is gonna want money...

Kinda freaking out tbh. I hope I haven't had my last tour up there.

Yeah,... I'd love to. Only got about $6-700 in cash and the CC's have taken a hit heading up north. I don't know whether or not to split that up into 2-3-4 more trips north, or blowit all, and then some, on a last minute late season trip west! (....or even far north!) :dunno:

Neither option guarantees to deliver on the snow I'd like to get, so,...? :dunno:

...Guess I'm just lamenting the fast approaching EOS and fantasizing over a way to keep it going!
 
#5,147 ·
I hear ya brother.

We talked this morning and we're gonna curtail our expensive eating out habit and save up for Petoskey the weekend of March 21-23. Hopefully they don't get too much meltoff between now and then.

I didn't get as many days as I would have liked this season but I'm thankful to have gotten a full season, and 3 legit epic pow days (does it count as epic if it happens 3 times??). Can't say there was any progression this season, I rode conservatively (for me) to keep my back fine (still failed somehow lol) but I still had a lot of fun.

I wish I could have gotten more days in riding with friends. I think I got one day with Chomps, 4 with Trapper, 2 with Leo (which is crazy low) and none with Dave what the heck.

Sooo, gonna really try and get a mid-week in if I see you guys head out somewhere.
 
#5,150 ·
I hear ya brother.

We talked this morning and we're gonna curtail our expensive eating out habit and save up for Petoskey the weekend of March 21-23. Hopefully they don't get too much meltoff between now and then.
Looking at the 10 day for Harbor Springs, they're looking at 1-3 days of slightly above freezing, with good low nightime temps, and the rest of that period is below freezing. That's up to the 19th. So don't see any problem with available snow. Now, the condition of said snow? That's another question. But TBH, if it's there late this season? I'll ride it. Whatever shape it's in. :dunno:


Sooo, gonna really try and get a mid-week in if I see you guys head out somewhere.

...Any chance of you getting out this way for something in the am this week? If not, there's always the weekend shitshow at Holly or PK.
 
#5,148 ·
I don't even believe Leo still exists. Haven't seen him since BFD this summer.

Well if Bohemia doesn't pan out the weekend of 3/21 then I will probably see you guys up in Petoskey area, I'd most likely end up at Nubs for Super Fun Park though.

I hear a lot of chirping birds this morning... and while I'm never a fan of warmups, the timing could not be better. My knee is pretty fucked right now, swollen maybe 2x normal. I mean, I think I can ride on it but mobility is limited a bit. The other knee isn't swollen but walking *down* stairs is a little funky.

I am remembering last year right about this time I got back from CO for the second time, headed up to Crystal Mountain, and then came back home to two weekends of bonus snowboarding at MTH/PK as well as all of April at Hawk Island. But TBH the last 3 weeks or so I was hurting, just the cumulative wear and tear of a season was taking its toll. There were days when I was like "Ahhh fuck do I really want to do this again..." and I think when I finally packed up my shit in late April, it was the first time in a long time that I was kind of relieved that the season was over. I don't have that feeling yet, about this year, but if this knee doesn't heal up quick it's gonna be an encore performance of just struggling through the last few weeks.
 
#5,154 ·
Ahhhh... they had this flat-down box at the top of slopestyle course. The ramp to it was a little bit lippier than I'd prefer but I'd been hitting it on Friday and on Saturday and it wasn't a big deal. Decided to gap the flat portion which is not a big deal for me, there is a much bigger flat-down that I gap at Brighton occasionally, and one about this size at Pine Knob.

Near as I can recollect, I rode out the entire (or nearly the entire) box. My board must've slipped out towards the end.

Jon was following me. He said it looked like I came up short on the gap, which might explain it. If my tail hit the flat part instead of the down part, board probably wobbled a bit instead of setting down nice and even on the box, I probably tried tocompensate for it and just slipped out.

Honestly I had no idea what happened, I thought I was in the clear it but next thing I know, yeah, both knees and hands and probably face hit the snow.
 
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