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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!
 
#2,517 ·
Solid session at Mt. Holly today with Boardaddicktd who was in town visiting family.

Snow was good and they had 2.5 jumps, well, they had about a 10 footer in the park and on the trail next to the park, and also on that they had a transfer hit, and in the park at the bottom they had a small roller which you could pop good air from, so I guess it was like 3 jumps, but two of them only count as half each :)

Park line also included their 16' mailbox, shotgun rail (down), and the corrugated elbow/redirect. No boxes yet...
 
#2,518 ·
Sat. at Alpine was cool. First time out for me and my daughter. Had two missions to accomplish; one on one lesson for my daughter and try out my new NS Cobra.

My daughters lesson was great. Mike the instructor was very cool and really helped her find her edge and wieght distribution. She was fearless on any of their hills which is a great way to start a season.

The Cobra. Wow, what an upgrade this board is. Very very fast. Was awesome cutting through the crud. Was a blast to carve with. Cant wait till Im out west on some of those longer runs. Only fell once and that was my fault, almost to the bottom and got lazy by putting the board flat. Caught an edge and landed on my shoulder. And for some reason my shoulder doesnt hurt but my peck muscle is supper sore. Lots of ice and Ibu's. Getting older sucks.

Anyway, hope everyone else got to play in the little snow we got over the past week.
 
#2,519 ·
Another MI rider with a cobra aye? We should ride together on our cobras.

Yea, that board is sick to carve and bomb on. Take it out to crystal mountain and play in the trees with it. That quick turning tail comes in super handy.

Crystal yesterday was crazy crowded. They also had one of the tree runs (the best one) roped off for some reason so I couldn't show Sam my favorite section. Not that it really mattered as there was still lots to do.

This is now the second time I attempted to show Sam and His wife what's up with crystal and couldn't show 100%. The crowds were so bad we completely avoided one side of the mountain.
 
#2,520 ·
which run was closed off? Over there between Little Vincent/Abendroth's? The other area between LV and the Clipper chair is also decent and there's usually a jump or two coming out of the woods in to the Basin Street park area.

BTW not sure if you saw the log jib I was talking about on North Face. It's in the highlighted area in this pic, but had a thread-the-needle landing basically between a fallen tree and a tree. Gnarly I rode it out once, crashed & burned twice.
 

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#2,523 ·
That is the one I was seeing. There's a small piece sticking up at the end where it is broken right? It's like a couple splinters sticking out. Decently long log. Yea, if that's the one, the landing area made me say noo ma'am.

The run that was closed was the one before the run that leads to those barrel bonks (which btw are no longer bonkable currently). It's where you and I were starting our tree runs when we rode together.
 
#2,522 ·
Would love to meet up with some of you guys. I head out to Seattle on the 12th and wont be back till the 17th. Baker one day, Stevens one day then back to which ever one me and my buddies liked the best on the third.

So more than likely I wont be at a Michigan park until later this month. Crystal is a bit of a drive, but not out of the question. If im going to drive longer would much rather meet up with one of you guys so you can show me the good spots.

Im hoping to hit PK and holly in Feb. Even thinking about doing a quick hitter to Snowshoe WV in Feb/Mar. Wouldnt mind going with a couple buddies for that one.

As far as the Cobra, That board has got to be sick in powder. Im old, fat and lazy and the ease of carving is pure heaven. My last board was two inches bigger and the Cobra makes me feel like im on a Surf board compared. And that was on ice with a couple inches fluff.
 
#2,526 ·
I posted this question in the board area & they suggested coming here...

If anyone is from Michigan & they can direct me towards a shop that does demos OR a resort, then that would be great too. I missed the demo day at Crystal mt by one day on our vacation, bummed me out! Not having any luck finding a good demo sourse. I'm in the Metro Detroit area & board in the Boyne upper michigan area.

thanks, Kevin
 
#2,527 ·
I posted this question in the board area & they suggested coming here...

If anyone is from Michigan & they can direct me towards a shop that does demos OR a resort, then that would be great too. I missed the demo day at Crystal mt by one day on our vacation, bummed me out! Not having any luck finding a good demo sourse. I'm in the Metro Detroit area & board in the Boyne upper michigan area.

thanks, Kevin
Saw your other post, thought I'd wait & see if you were going to check in here! I don't know of any shops in the metro or surrounding area that rent or demo boards! I was interested in finding something like that myself, but no luck.

Leo, Dave, or Sabatoa might have more info on that possibility than I do as I'm still pretty new & learning the sport.

I did hear from the Burton rep @ the (small promo) Boyne Demo Day this weekend that in Feb They will be having a Huge Demo day. I think it's called Feb. SnowFest or some such. More Reps to attend and Burton will have a LOT more boards there than they did at this one. Best bet is to call or check their web site! (Boyne's & maybe Burton's.)

You do any riding local? Pine Knob, Mt. Holly, Alpine, etc?
 
#2,528 ·
Just checked the Boyne web site. My Bad! The Feb, 2013 event is for Burton only & is called,..

Burton Mountain Festival
February 15-17, 2013.

Might be worth a look if you're into Burton gear!
 
#2,529 ·
Ironically, I called Burton the other day & they informed me of this. I was hoping to find another sooner & with more reps. I really blew it missing the Shanty Creek & Crystal Mt Demo days last weekend. I was hoping that they'd have another this weekend at one of the other resorts, but doesn't seem to be. Maybe someone else will check in here & give us a surprise...
 
#2,530 ·
The one you just missed at CM and one at Boyne last week (Burton, K2 and Rome)... then there's the Burton one at Boyne in February... unfortunately that's all that I really hear about in MI. There's a huge demo/trade show the week prior to this Burton thing in February but it's industry/invite only.

Marhar Snowboards out of Grand Rapids will probably do a few demo days (just them) at Cannonsburg and Caberfae. They might make it back to Mt. Holly later in the winter like they did last year, too. I haven't heard anything definitive yet but I'd be surprised if they don't do at least a few.

The only other company aside from Marhar (which is local) and Burton (which is huge) that puts much presence around MI resorts is Rome but I don't think they do any demos, mostly they just sponsor rail jams and other events.

Any particular boards you're interested in, or did you just want to get a chance to try out as many as you can?
 
#2,532 ·
Season Passes / Multiple Resorts?

Hey Sabatoa,
When you mentioned that you wouldn't hit Nub's because "you'd have to pay," It got me wondering. Do you have season passes for more than one resort? I know you hit Boyne, Shanty & Crystal on this last holiday trip. Did you purchase passes for all the places you frequent, or did you find some package deal on a pass that gets you into more than one MI. resort?

Once again, I made the mistake of doing the math,.. :rolleyes: and for what I spent on lift tickets just for Boyne so far this season, I could have purchased a bronze or silver pass for their hills. (...and you just know I haven't made my last trip up there this season!)

Is there somewhere here in MI that offers real multiple resort passes, or only those special promo's that get you into several places one or two times during a season? (...cuz some of the hills you listed for that one promotion you posted about aren't really places that I think I'm that likely to visit!)

I'd appreciate any info you or anyone else has on the subject! Thanks!
 
#2,533 ·
There's the Michigan White Gold Card but it's sold out now.

For only $199 you get one lift ticket to 31 different resorts.

MSIA White Gold Card

With Boyne, remember I told you that students get a cheaper pass? It's only $329 with no blackouts; Michigan Skiing | Season Passes for BOYNE Ski Resorts | BOYNE

As for Crystal, keep your eye open at the end of the season. They offer their season pass with a special early bird price that ends in April I think. It makes the pass super cheap and a few trips to the hill will pay for itself.
 
#2,534 ·
Crystal's Premier Pass, I think I paid $249 for it back in March. No blackouts, good all season, and includes 2 complimentary lift tickets (so you can bring a friend a few times and they get to ski/ride for free). I figure those free lift tickets for my wife are worth almost $100... Also gives you 20% off on-site lodging and maybe some pro-shop discounts or tuning discounts. Great deal.

They have a Sundays only pass that you can get for $129 ($109 for seniors but I don't think you're that old yet) which might not be a bad investment even at this point in the season.

They also have a 5/7 pass which is good every night of the week, and days Monday-Friday for $209.

Caberfae has a weekends (Saturday/SUnday only) pass for $149 which would also save you a grip over the rest of this season. They also have a Midweek (Monday-Friday only) for the same price.

If I were you I'd look at doing a combo of the 5/7 pass at Crystal and the Weekends only at Cab. You'd get the rest of this season for about 350, which pays for itself in about 6 days.

You can stay in Cadillac for pretty cheap, which is about 20 mins from Cab and 30 from Crystal.
 
#2,536 ·
Did some "hillbilly flatland snowboarding" while I was back in Michigan for the holidays.

My gf's parents have one of these:



Tied a rope to the back, found an old snowboard and some size 12 boots (I wear size 9 normally) and pulled each other around on her 10 acres. There was probably 8" of snow on the ground, at least..... it was like a mixture of snowboarding and wakeboarding, as you really had to use your arms and back to keep moving. Got some pow slashes in though, haha.

My friend had a GoPro so we videoed it, but I don't have the SD card and I don't know how the video came out.
 
#2,539 ·
LOL!! Sorry to hear that. I'm not trying to rub it in or anything, but if this Howell stop ends up being my last 4 the night, I'm gonna hit PK for the last 2-3 hrs of the night sesh 2nite. Gonna go play with that Rome board summor.

If you're up for it or have the time this weekend, I was thinking of hitting up Holly for the first time this season. If u feel like hooking up for a lap r two, let me know. Either day would b ok with me. Im gonna go either way.

Hope u get your Ride fix in! :D
 
#2,542 · (Edited)
Mi wife rides so I don't have to plan around her and (unfortunately) I only have my daughter 50% of the time so that leaves plenty of free time.

Yesterday I was a fail though. I wanted to go out but it was already 6pm and everyone I called to ride with turned me down and my wife was sick. I could have ridden by myself but it was already late, blah blah blah.

I'm going tonight for sure. Just don't know where yet.
 
#2,543 ·
Hey Kevin, Cannonsburg posted this today:

Never Summer Industries is onsite the next four days demoing boards from noon to 4pm. If you haven't ridden a Never Summer yet, you need to give one of these American made rippers a try! They will also be holding a photo jam on their signature feature Friday and Sunday afternoon where you could land a full page ad in Snowboarder Magazine!​
 
#2,548 ·
PK had the larger park area off to the right of Quicksilver open. It had 2-3 good sized jumps open. Didn't notice too bigg a park rat crowd, not like Ive seen b4.

They're back on reg hours now so only open till 10 tonite. Dont think youll have too much crowd to deal with. Hardly anyone there last nite n they were open later.
 
#2,550 · (Edited)
S-o-o-o Bummmed!!! I Couldn't get out of work soon enough to hook up with Sabatoa out @ PK! Couldn't have made it out there before 8 and didn't think the gas & ticket cost was worth getting less than 2 hours riding!

Hate to say it, but I think I'm going to have to take another look at Mt. Brighton and see if I can stand it at all! I Haven't been back since my 1st lesson & second time out on a board back in Feb 2011. But it's 25-35 min. closer to Work/Home than PK and maybe now that I can probably ride pretty much everywhere they've got there,.. (...park not included!) Who know's,.. maybe it won't be totally sucky???

I need someplace I can hit after work, that still leaves me some time to ride and make it worth the trip!

(...shit, I'll bet it really is pretty sucky still!!) :(
 
#2,552 ·
So I hiked over to Pine Knob last night. Distance wasn't really an issue, it's only 15 minutes past Mt Holly, took me an hour fifteen to get there.

I went with the intention to play on Pinery in the beginner park and to session one of the kickers, I ended up doing neither.

The place was crawling with kids, like roller rinks from back in the day. The summit was just a zoo and every park had a gathering of the peanut gallery sitting in the drop zone just sitting there. (see attached but that wasn't taken at its worst).

The park, IMO, wasn't well maintained. Some of the lips were sketchy but my main issue was the landing zone of the boxes. Each box unloaded into a 4 foot deep dadtrap. A dadtrap is a crater that little kids fall into, luring the dad to come out to rescue them.

So I dunno if that is normal for them to let it get that bombed out or what but I wasn't going to hit it, especially if I was going to work on boardslides and the like.

My wife liked PK overall, she had fun on the natural terrain. The mini-rollers and the quarter pipe-like wall on Quick Silver (I think).

I need to get new goggles soon because I can't see the contours of the snow at night wearing red solex lenses and I feel super sketched out on easy terrain.

It sucks bombing blacks with Leo on Sunday to getting caught up in my head on Thursday and feeling sketchy on a blue (that felt like a green) even though the snow was good. No crashing or stupid shit, it was just in my head.

Some days you're just off, if it happens once for every ten good times out then so be it.
 

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