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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!
 
#1,810 ·
Middle of January was kickass for about 3 days, and they've had I'm guessing about 2 feet since then. I'm kind of taking a chance though, I'm hoping that the LES machine kicks up and turns this 1-4" they're supposed to get into something closer to a foot. Should be pretty good I think, conditions look right for lake effect snow.

Weather Street: 10-Day Forecast Air Mass Temperatures
.:: John Dee.com ::. Snow Central
5 Day Weather Forecast and Conditions for Copper Harbor

Anything could happen this winter has been strange.
 
#1,811 ·
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!
 
#1,813 ·
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.
 
#1,812 ·
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...
 
#1,819 ·
@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.
 
#1,821 ·
You can get to Houghton in under 10 hours in normal driving conditions. Bohemia is 60 miles north of there but as far as I can tell your best bet for lodging and some modicum of nightlife is in Houghton or Copper Harbor. Stay there, drive to/from Bohemia each day.

Also around the 10hr mark from Detroit, as long as there are no issues at the border, is Mont Tremblant, QC. There are some other mountains in the Laurentian range near Montreal, too.
 
#1,823 ·
I talked to a few Forestry Majors up here at Tech about the Huron Mountains. From what they told me, unless your a licensed surveyor, they said keep out of it because the security there is pretty tight.

What they did tell me though is to check out Mt. Houghton.
http://www.mountainzone.com/mountains/detail.asp?fid=6702156

Its located pretty close to Bohemia and about the same height roughly.










Same pic as before but in the winter.


The route from school. White is the car route, Black is a sled route.



Anyways, me and my 2 buds are planning to go out there on Saturday. Me and one friend are gonna drive out there and try to get as close to it as possible without getting stuck. The other one is taking his mountain sled and meeting us at the point where we park and taking us the rest of the way.

It's looking like another foot of snow may fall before Saturday morning so it should be a fun. Were kind of concerned that the trees may get to tight for lengthy runs, but even if I got there without taking one run, its gotta be one hell of a view a the top. I'll be sure to post some pics.
 
#1,825 ·
I talked to a couple guys from Detroit last time I was hear and I think they said it was 10 hours, it's usually about 5 for me from Green Bay. I would say check it out even if you don't end up going ever again, because when they have good conditions it's the place to be IMO.

BTW, I just got into Bohemia and it's snowing pretty good, Lonnie(owner) says it's supposed to pick up tonight and over the next few days. I wouldn't be suprised if I get up tomorrow and see 6" of new snow:thumbsup:, I know it's not much but I'm taking what I can get this year. However, this is lake effect so you never know, could end up with less than 3" or a foot but I really think 6" seems about about right with what I'm looking at out the window.
 
#1,828 ·
It's about time you trolls got some snow, I'll see if I can get some info around here on whether to expect good conditions next weekend or not and let you know. One other thing that might help is to check forecasts for Mohawk/Copper Harbor. I would suggest looking at weatherunderground.com or johndee.com, those two are usually pretty accurate what I usually do is look at Copper Harbor and Mohawk 5-10 forecasts on weather.com and then use weatherstreet.com to watch the Jet Stream, Air Mass Temps, and Air Mass Humidity. It's a little more technical but look for W, NW or SE winds with high humidity levels and cold air systems moving south from Canada that cover the northern half of the UP, that is typically when you will find the best conditions there. As I said though I will investigate and let you know what's up, I get into it when looking for the best conditions here and you either don't understand what I just said or have lost interest a while ago. I don't blame you.
 
#1,830 ·
Sounds like tonight most Lonnie's thought right now and the thought of the majority. The lowest I heard was from a guy that just entered the hostel who was out today who says he thinks none and that the 6" they got last night will be it except for a dusting. My opinion is, is 4-6" with more continuing to the next day at roughly the same amount. Mohawk is closer to Boho gents, however Delaware is the closest town, the next closest town that has a regular local update is Copper Harbor. The angular difference between the two is roughly 80 degrees, the trick is to find a way to be able to predict how the weather patterns will affect the region between the two, from the direction the storm will be approaching from. Jetstream winds from the NW/NNW direction is a good indicator that cooler air from Canada is approaching to meet with warm moist air over the lake and if the winds and cool air temps approaching the Keewenaw Penninsula from a direction with Lake Superior intersecting from an 80-90 degree angle. That's kinda how things work if your looking for powder up here, so it's always a gamble, but usually during periods such as that the areas that get the most snow during times like that are the Keewenaw and SE UP shore plus the region within a 10-15 mile radius of Marquette. MAIN POINT: These particular areas are the best places in the MIDWEST to look for powder, the New York, Ontario, NE region gets snow but there is a reason it's called the Ice Coast, if they don't get snow they have ice and groomed ice, but higher verticals and are supposedly "easier" to get to than CO, WY, UT, MT, etc... So if you want to stay in the midwest and still find fairly regular powder conditions. You need to choose between vertical and terrain I guess when making this descion, horse a piece maybe but if I can't go out west this is where I look.
 
#1,832 ·
Mid day break: It's fairly good conditions right now considering the temps as of late it says 27 in Mohawk and 30 in Copper Harbor right now and it sounds like good odds for a storm to roll through here that would maybe drop 5-8". Only got 1-2" on most of the hill last night then stopped, today it has been off and on all day with maybe a dusting to an inch. I'm thinking the next two weeks up here should be really nice, there are definitely some shit spots but nothing too bad, but I was also seeing areas with plenty of snow that hadn't been touched till now. As long as the temps stay 5 degrees or more below freezing for a week it should be good, so the real question is how warm will it be getting this week, and it looks promising.
 
#1,834 · (Edited)
I'll give all the info I get but keep in mind, I can't make promises. I'm just passing on the opinions are around here from the owner and people who have been here before, this is my third time here and before that I was living in italy while I was in the military and it was a 4-5 hour drive into the heart of the alps, so I'm not a complete expert on weather patterns around here. But weather patters were similar in having in how the storms form there with both of them having a large body of water surrounding them, and I'm interpreting what the conditions there changed the weather and look at it from a NW directions instead of a SW. So I'm watching the sites I mentioned earlier in this thread and getting a daily update from Lonnie and the regulars, including a couple patrollers, that's what I'm going off of.

Conditions were pretty good today overall there's some fresh out there right now but you have to work to get there, thinking tomorrow looks to be low 30's, forecast says 34, but the next week it should stay under 30, mostly upper 20's but it might get a little windy. The storm their looking for is Sunday-Monday for sure, I've heard a couple people say maybe a foot with the lake causing heavier snow in the area. The forcast says 2-8 general idea is 5 for sure, probably 8 and a foot if we get lucky, due to lake enhanced snow Monday might actually have more snow than Sunday.

I'll get pics tomorrow in the morning and maybe a video, I don't have a GoPro, and some more as it gets warmer.
 
#1,840 ·
The following is right off of Johndee.com, so now I'm thinking of just staying till wednesday if I can pull it off.

"At any rate, the way things look right now, snows would break out across the Dakotas late Monday night into Tuesday and then spread into areas of the Midwest generally to the north of a line from around Sioux Falls SD to Escanaba, MI and then due east from there. The heaviest snows would thus occur in the southeast 1/2 of SD, the southeast 1/4 of ND, all but the far NW corner of MN, all of the UP and roughly the northern 1/3rd of WI. Snow totals as seen right now would be in the 10-15" range, with some locales in central and NE MN and most of the UP possibly seeing over 20" of snow fall.

I know, exciting stuff eh? Maybe we can coin this the "Leap-Year Storm"? Just remember, things can and probably will change some with the details with this system. However, I do think there is about a 65-75% chance of a major winter storm impacting areas of the Northwoods the middle of next week.

The storm will then be winding down later on Wednesday night and by Thursday, most of the Midwest will be quiet. The exceptions could be across the UP and NWL MI snow belts where additional LES could occur into Thursday."

Mardi Gras is the following saturday up here and everything nearby seems to be booking up fast if you plan to stay here. After there might be one more good storm the way this winter is going, but the things are the next 1-2 weeks are looking decent. Unless they get the heavy wet shit, because then this place turns to ice and rock after the temp drops below freezing.
 
#1,844 ·
I was out @ Holly yesterday. It wasn't bad. Snow was soft enough to carve some.

For about a dozen runs, i was getting dialed into making some small "Pops" on bumps in one of the blue runs. Nothing big No huge air or anything. You know, Just trying to focus on balanced stance & timing my extentions. Trying to get comfortable, increase my skills & gain some confidence.

I nailed about a half dozen or so landings after the first 3 or 4 that were a bit sketchy. Then for some reason, after I thought I was really "getting it". It all went straight to hell!!! ;) I started washing out and falling on my next few attempts. Then,..

While setting up on one little bump, board got loose, caught my back edge 'n I hit my ass so hard it made my head hurt. Knocked the wind outta me too!! And I only landed on one cheek!! :D. Din't hit my noggin or do a back flop. Just came down on my butt hard enough to see stars. "LOL"

My ass hurts like hell today,.. It was fun while it lasted tho!!! :D
 
#1,843 ·
I saw that at JohnDee.com and it's definitely enticing... At this rate man I just don't know if I can pull the trigger it is a fuckload of driving to chase what *may* be the tail end of a storm 2 days too late... Man o man decisions... Got a condo on courtesy hold here at Crystal until EOD today, for next weekend... Gotta commit to something and I feel like less driving/more shredding is the conservative bet at this point... Damn.
 
#1,849 ·
It is just puking snow at Mount Bohemia right now, by tomorrow, it will probably be some of the best conditions in two or three years. There is also talk of snow Tuesday and Wednesday. Johndee.com says up to 20" by the middle of the week, it's absolutely the shit here right now. Anyone trying to get up here, now is the time to do so.
 
#1,850 ·
Aw man, really? I was going board up there all day saturday, but a friend dropped out and we decided not to go (since there would only be two of us). Sounds wicked though...
-Does anybody go to Schuss Mt.? (shanty creek). I'll probably be heading over there this friday night like maybe 6-10pm for some night boarding. For any college students it's 10$ 5-10pm and if you have a buy-one-get-one free thing from shell you can use that too...
 
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