The Official Michigan Winter Thread

[chomps1211]

Originally Posted by Leo

I fucking want to ride Highlands like a mofo now,..

...even if it meant riding with a "Creepy Old Guy???"

Originally Posted by hot-ice

No joke, it got me fired up to!

Looks like after this shitty warm weather is outta here, Highlands should be getting some more fresh in the form of L.E. snow later this week. So hopefully you'll get some decent snow & conditions.

Right around 5-6 pm, is when they started running the groomers down a few of the runs and laying down a few fresh strips of corduroy! Plan to eat early or late! Make sure you ask if they will be grooming & then DON'T break for dinner. You'll miss any chance of a smooth fresh run if you do. I only managed 2, maybe three runs down any that were groomed before it got all chopped up & bumpy again.

[trapper]

Originally Posted by hot-ice

Glad you enjoyed it. What were you wearing, I was there to.

We were there for the night session. I had white bindings and solid orange pants with solid black everything else. I'm a pretty big dude too, 6'5" 250 so I'm generally pretty hard to miss. Most of the other people my size, I tend to notice, are on skis.

We too are heading to Highlands next week, but we won't be there till Friday night and are staying the weekend. I have a friend who has a Lakeside Cottage at the Inn at Bay Harbor so we basically stay there the whole weekend for the cost of 75 bucks for a cleaning fee. It kicks ass.

God this fucking weather is so lame right now.

[sabatoa]

Originally Posted by trapper

We were there for the night session. I had white bindings and solid orange pants with solid black everything else. I'm a pretty big dude too, 6'5" 250 so I'm generally pretty hard to miss. Most of the other people my size, I tend to notice, are on skis.

We too are heading to Highlands next week, but we won't be there till Friday night and are staying the weekend. I have a friend who has a Lakeside Cottage at the Inn at Bay Harbor so we basically stay there the whole weekend for the cost of 75 bucks for a cleaning fee. It kicks ass.

God this fucking weather is so lame right now.

About damn time there's a rider here bigger than me. (6'2"/269 and dropping)

[trapper]

Originally Posted by sabatoa

(6'2"/269 and dropping)

Nice, me too. Last spring I was 293 and right now I'm fluctuating between 250 and 260. I like to say 250 cause it makes me feel better but the truth is that I barely hit that just once last week. In any event, being in better shape has definitely improved my riding this year, even with the injury. It's amazing how much 35-40 pounds can make a difference.

[Karpediem]

Leo, first congrats on the Never Summer thing, second are you going to get them to send you like 10 boards to try and then you can organize a Michigan meet so we can all try them out?

[sabatoa]

One year ago today I legit rode my first black diamond. It was the south peak at Caberfae with Leo. haha

(My run down Thor at Crystal at the meetup doesn't count because I basically went down falling leaf thanks to my wonky binding)

[hot-ice]

Originally Posted by chomps1211

...even if it meant riding with a "Creepy Old Guy???"


Looks like after this shitty warm weather is outta here, Highlands should be getting some more fresh in the form of L.E. snow later this week. So hopefully you'll get some decent snow & conditions.

Right around 5-6 pm, is when they started running the groomers down a few of the runs and laying down a few fresh strips of corduroy! Plan to eat early or late! Make sure you ask if they will be grooming & then DON'T break for dinner. You'll miss any chance of a smooth fresh run if you do. I only managed 2, maybe three runs down any that were groomed before it got all chopped up & bumpy again.

Good, hope it goes back to spring where it belongs! Yea intellicast shows a chance of snow Thurs.- Tues. so hopefully it will be nice. Alright, I'll ask them then when they groom for sure.

[hot-ice]

Originally Posted by trapper

We were there for the night session. I had white bindings and solid orange pants with solid black everything else. I'm a pretty big dude too, 6'5" 250 so I'm generally pretty hard to miss. Most of the other people my size, I tend to notice, are on skis.

We too are heading to Highlands next week, but we won't be there till Friday night and are staying the weekend. I have a friend who has a Lakeside Cottage at the Inn at Bay Harbor so we basically stay there the whole weekend for the cost of 75 bucks for a cleaning fee. It kicks ass.

God this fucking weather is so lame right now.

Oh ok, I was there during the day so I probably missed you. I left at about 4:00. Yea, you would be hard to miss.
You can't beat that deal, you should have fun, the place sounds better then anywhere I've been so far. I did a trip similar to the one I have planned right now to Boyne Mountain last year and that was fun.

[trapper]

Originally Posted by hot-ice

You can't beat that deal, you should have fun, the place sounds better then anywhere I've been so far. I did a trip similar to the one I have planned right now to Boyne Mountain last year and that was fun.

Yeah we've gone for the past couple of years. The first year we went to Boyne Mountain and last year we did a night session at Boyne Mtn. (not many runs open but only 10 bucks for a lift ticket) and went to Highlands for the rest of the trip.

This year we are planning on doing the same. Initially I wanted to try Nub's but we really just like Highlands so much we decided to head there.

On an unrelated topic, I wanted to get your guys' opinions on Flow bindings. Right now I ride Burton Missions, which are fine, but I'm tempted lately to try the Flows for a number of reasons. I saw the 2012 M-9's on sale at Evo for basically 120 bucks with the extra 27% off and thought about trying those first to see if I like these style of bindings. But then my eye wandered over to the NX2-ATs which are 150 bucks more but appear to be possibly more suited to me. My Missions I think are rated at mid level for stiffness but still feel a bit soft for me. Maybe it's because I'm so heavy?

The NX2-ATs look like they are bulletproof and much stiffer. There are two other draws for me beside the step-in convenience and the stiffness. First is the lack of a cap-style toe-strap; I already deal with enough overhand and eliminating this little extra will buy me some space in addition to not losing my strap if I do lean too much and catch something.

Secondly, it appears to have a higher footbed which will also improve my toe and heel clearance. My only hesitation is the price. At 270 bucks it's tough to justify an experiment without some advice at least, but there are enough reasons to draw me toward trying it. Or maybe the M-9's will work?

I know this is the Michigan winter thread but I know from reading this forum before that Leo has extensive knowledge of the Flows and I'm assuming some of you other guys do as well. Since we all ride the same places by and large, I value your input on it. Sorry this is so fucking long-winded.

[sabatoa]

I have no experience with Flows or really any bindings except for some Burton and K2s. Sorry!

I can give everyone some good news though. Check out snow totals up north through Friday;