The Official Michigan Winter Thread

[chomps1211]

Hey Dave,

What source are you using to get that weekend forecast? I'm thinking of trying to get up to Boyne & maybe Nubs this weekend & I'm not seeing any forecast calling for much snow.

If you think you might feel like up to heading an hour further north this weekend,..


Quote: oefdevilvet Anyone going to be at Mount Bohemia this week?

I was wondering what it is like @ Bohemia? I understand it's probably beyond my skill level just yet, (...in my first full season riding) but I would still like to hear from someone who's actually boarded there!

[david_z]

Source: Thompsonville 15-Day Weather - AccuWeather Forecast for MI49683

Nah, Boyne is too far of a drive with the nephew. he can really only ride for a few hours and is not old enough to be left unsupervised, I will be driving up Saturday AM and probably home (or at least back to his place in Lansing suburbs) that evening. Crystal is even pushing it for me, but I can't justify 8 hours in a car for only 3.5 hours of riding

Plus, I have a season pass at Crystal that I've gotta get my money's worth out of...

[oefdevilvet]

Originally Posted by chomps1211

I was wondering what it is like @ Bohemia? I understand it's probably beyond my skill level just yet, (...in my first full season riding) but I would still like to hear from someone who's actually boarded there!

It's really an anomaly for the midwest, definitely a place that is more geared towards advanced riders/skiers. The majority of the hill gets pretty bumped up but that's just more natural forming moguls and they are rough in some places and not bad in others, good number of steeps too but the real mindblowing shit there is the trees and they are nearly everywhere but they cut a good bit of the smaller shit, but in the Outer Limits and Hidden Valley as well as the EBC you could end up in some pretty dense woods. As far as skill, don't measure yourself in years riding measure it in what you feel comfortable doing on the hill. However, it seems to me that everyone going there has a good time but most of the people I see there with less than 4-5 years riding/skiing time don't have the skills to really make the most of it. You could probably handle it if you can manage a black with some bumps but the trees/cliffs/drops there are where the fun is and if your not able to ride that terrain at full steam, you might feel like you didn't get the full effect.

Also weather plays a big factor there, by early-mid January they typically already have a really thick base(which they NEVER groom), so that's when you start looking to get up there during a snowstorm or a lake effect cycle. It's those days when they have a foot of fresh snow when it is at it's best, otherwise if all the fresh stuff gets packed it's still pretty good unless the temps are hovering above and below the freezing point for a few days(that's when you see people leaving the hill and going to Porkies for the day). When they have good conditions up there it's really the best place in the midwest IMO.

[SMDSkata]

Dave,

I haven't been on in sometime, but you how guys handling this winter downstate? People said the boarding was excellent in the UP; I could swear I'm still riding at PK .

Originally Posted by oefdevilvet

The majority of the hill gets pretty bumped up but that's just more natural forming moguls.

This year, its terrible. LES hasn't dropped anything extreme so it's super moguled out and patchy. I'm dieing to go on my first trip to Boho, but conditions haven't been right.

[david_z]

Originally Posted by SMDSkata

Dave,

I haven't been on in sometime, but you how guys handling this winter downstate? People said the boarding was excellent in the UP; I could swear I'm still riding at PK .

Yeah it has been a bad winter everywhere. Even guys in MN are saying it's been 40 degrees every day and no measurable snowfall, etc. Sucks. I was going to go to the UP in a few weeks but I don't think I'm going to bother with it.

We have been having a somewhat rough season, lots of rain, but somehow our little hills are struggling through it. Pine Knob and MTH are still doing pretty well as of Sunday but Alpine was in really bad shape last week. I think they will be done first week in March unless we get some freak snowstorm (unlikely).

[SMDSkata]

Originally Posted by turbospartan

One of the tallest (if not the tallest) peaks at almost 2k feet - not too shabby for flat ass michigan.

I'm about an hour from those mountains. I've driven that 28/41 stretch a dozen times now and always questioned why it didn't follow the lake.

Do you have more information on where to ride in that area? I have access to snowmobiles, and I've been dieing to see some backcountry.

[SMDSkata]

Originally Posted by david_z

We have been having a somewhat rough season, lots of rain, but somehow our little hills are struggling through it. Pine Knob and MTH are still doing pretty well as of Sunday but Alpine was in really bad shape last week. I think they will be done first week in March unless we get some freak snowstorm (unlikely).

I'm hoping the hill up here make it past the next two weeks. They've been nothing but ice lately(minus one powder day), and it currently raining

If your ever up in the Houghton area drop me a line. All you need to do is bring a fifth, and I'll tour you around Michigan Tech's finest Mount Ripley.

[cdnrider]

Originally Posted by david_z

I'd love to blow off work on 2/27 but trying to take some vacation the following week so that's probably not a great idea. I'd be limited to Alpine or (shudders) Brighton if I did skip out.

let me know if you want to, maybe (also shudders) brighton day sesh would be best but if the snow is coming, the board must follow!

[MikeIn248]

@Mt. Bohemia

I've still never made the trip there. Can anyone say what's a realistic drive time from the Detroit area?

My focus for big trips that involve long drives is generally east, not north. I can get to Whiteface, NY, in 10.5 hours. 12.5 hours gets me to Sugarbush, VT. (Heck, 6.5 hours to Bristol, NY.) Sooner or later I want to go to Bohemia, just to try it, but not this year in low-snow conditions.

[sabatoa]

Welp, it's basically official.

Fourth warmest recorded winter in Lansing since 1862;

Winter on pace for fourth-warmest ever in Lansing region | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com