Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums banner

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!
 
#6 ·
What are some good places in Michigan to ride? I live near Grand Rapids, and the closest are Cannonsburg and Pando, which both kind of suck. Any suggestions?
 
#8 ·
I hear cannonsburg is OK during the week. Weekends anywhere in this state are going to blow goats, super crowded, long lift lines for short trails.

Otherwise you're going to have to drive a few hours up the US-131. Take 131 to 115 West past Cadillac and Crystal Mountain and Caberfae Peaks are about 30 minutes down the road. Caberfae can get pretty gnarly, they don't do a lot of grooming there and it's pretty low-rent. Crystal is really family friendly and has a full service resort & spa, etc., on-site lodging, dining, it's really a nice place.

More over in the Petoskey/Harbor Springs area (you have to take 131 to 66) there is Boyne Mountain, Boyne Highlands, and Nub's Nob. All pretty respectable by Michigan standards. A short jog off 66 (if memory serves me) past Mancelona is Schuss Mountain & Shanty Creek. Another good option, they're the same resort so your lift ticket at one is valid at the other and there is a shuttle that runs between them all.
 
#11 ·
man I bet I haven't been to Schuss/Shanty in 4 or 5 years. We went there a few times for New Year's Eve with some friends. Usually it was about 52 degrees and sunny, so all-in-all not too bad as long as it doesn't rain.

I'm gonna have to try and get back there this year, definitely going to try and hit all the northern LP resorts this winter.
 
#13 ·
yeah i've been meaning to stop by Don Thomas and pick up one of those White Gold Cards.

I do mostly midweek evenings locally for a few reasons:
- Discounted lift tickets with the Shell program (hopefully they do that again)
- Much less crowded - no waiting for jumps, rails, lifts, etc.
- on weekends I like to not be in Metro-Detroit if I can avoid it :)

With that White Gold card, what I'm banking on is that Shell runs that ski free promo again this year. I'll use those vouchers for mid-week riding, and use the WGC for weekends (which are more expensive and the shell program no good on weekends anyways).

Otherwise, yeah I can always be persuaded to ride weekends, mornings are better & less crowded usually.
 
#16 ·
My goal this year is to get to bigger jumps. I might do some boxes. I don't exactly have the best boards for that though. Other than that, I'm still trying to do ground 180s. Not really jumping, but like hopping into switch and vice versa. I should also work on ollies. My ollies are super weak.
 
#17 ·
Goals for 2010-2011...

I have to pick up where I left off last year and work on those spins. 3's have been difficult (mentally) for me even though I've landed them in the past. Once I get over that mental roadblock I don't think 540s are out of the question. Honestly I will feel like a failure if I can't do these by end of season.

Playing around more in the park since we don't exactly have "epic" terrain at Pine Knob... I can boardslide the butter boxes but need to take that up a notch, should be doing back/front boardslides on the kinked boxes, maybe some lipslides for good measure.

I can do rails but would like to get more tech, hopefully taking those boardslides on to the rails and also adding variations like 180 on & 180 off.

If we get a good amount of snow I am interested in trying some urban stuff. I've got a huge list of spots that I've scoped out all summer long and I've got some ideas about how to bring it all together and maybe make a good short film in the 10-15 minute range.
 
#21 ·
I can do rails but would like to get more tech, hopefully taking those boardslides on to the rails and also adding variations like 180 on & 180 off.

If we get a good amount of snow I am interested in trying some urban stuff. I've got a huge list of spots that I've scoped out all summer long and I've got some ideas about how to bring it all together and maybe make a good short film in the 10-15 minute range.
yea i hear you, i like the 1' boxes cuz they're nice to practice sum tech on. im hoping that the rails will get easier once the 1' boxes become 2nd nature. thatd be sikk to do sum urban once a week if the snows there. im game. 3's are in ur future dude!
 
#20 ·
sounds cool guys. the forums nice for posting progress through the season. as for me-im going to work on my boardslides (in particular, nose and tail slides on rails and skinny boxes). fine tune my 3's and attempt to throw sum 7's down. i realize if i dial a 7 its not gunna be pretty but thats exactly where i started with my 3's (i honestly think a 7 will be easier than a 5 for me since im used to landing regular). im hoping to get the 3's fine tuned with sum grab action. more kicker action and im hoping my new "stick"c hoice will help out my ollies (cuz they're super ugly). thats the start of the list!
 
#27 ·
dave nice pics dude. looks like sum good stuff for sure. frikken bungee cords are expensive but we may need one if we're gunna plan on doing sum urban. maybe we could go halv-sies.

also guys, everyone has fear for trying new stuff. we all do! use your friends and the forum for your fear-bonding and you'll get the confidence.
 
#32 ·
I have to poke fun for a second...

For some reason, I hear so much love for Jeep Cherokees... yet everyone I know that drives one is constantly fixing the thing. And I'm not talking about upgrades :laugh:

On that note, my Mitsu is falling apart on me :(

My own fault though, I haven't taken care of it over the past couple of years. Just too damn busy to drop it off all the way in Southfield to the dealership. That and the expense :p
 
#33 ·
Leo Leo Leo...

Thing you gotta rememmber is that this Cherokee is a 10 yr old vehicle and I am not a mechanic. Neither is my friend who helped me, although he is mechanically inclined and "very observant" when it comes to things like that (he builds his own rifles, knows quite a lot about cars, but has no formal training that I know of).

And replacing brake shoes is routine maintenance for a vehicle with 103k miles :)

I've had the car for over a year now, other than the brakes I've had to replace some hoses that were dry rotted, but otherwise the Jeep's been a great car.
 
#34 ·
I still love those beat up gas guzzlers :thumbsup:

My list of cars that I want:

Nissan GT-R

Audi S5

Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8

Suburu WRX

Volks R32

Side note, want to try to meet up for this Saturday's UFC event? We usually go to Red Ox in shelby township (Hall Rd next to D&B). They have the best screens there. I'm currently seeing if someone could babysit. I'll let you know.
 
Top