We all went to Nubs instead, even though I have a pass to Mountain it was worth the $40 to go north where the snow was. Nubs was fully open except for the glades.
I'll say this- I don't know if it was the fresh snow that fell or what but Nubs lived up to the reputation they have for grooming. The snow was incredible. At Highlands I would have expected washboard hard corduroy, which is fine because I have no issues riding smooth icy conditions...but the snow at Nubs was like sugar. So smooth, so soft, so perfect.
I noticed that their snowmobiles tow around little grooming grates to cover their tracks. Such a little touch, but it showed me that they care about conditions.
Hell, I might as well post my review now.
I was asked if Highlands is still my favorite hill in Michigan. I had to pause before I answered, but my answer was ultimately "Yes, but..."
I think overall Highlands wins because there's more terrain and in general the runs are longer with more side hit opportunities. Nubs has steeper terrain though, and the steeps at Nubs are longer than the steeps at Highlands. On top of that, the grooming was just incredible. When you consider that the steep runs are longer and better groomed, it's no surprise that I hit 51 mph on my second run of the morning. I could have made a run at 55mph but I took my foot off the gas after meeting my goal. Nubs kills Highlands for gladed runs based on what I saw from the lift. Pintail Peak was full of short runs, shorter than the runs off of Interconnect at Highlands...but probably similar to the runs off of the back of Crystal Mountain. In hindsight, I wish that I spent more time exploring trails off of the orange lift because that may have changed my opinion of the length overall at Nubs.
I can't really judge parks, because I'm not a park rider, but I'll say that it seemed like Nubs had a variety of features. It's hard to say this late in the season. Highlands has like 3 park areas in peak season, plus halfpipe, plus a few jump lines. I just don't know what Nubs has during the season.