2019/2020 Midwest Stoke Thread

Met up today with the infamous maggot Ski J, he grew up near Christie Mountain (although his main mountain as a kid was Hardscrabble (RIP)).

Sorry, no pics. I forget my phone. Stoner move.

Conditions SUCKED !!!!!

Temp mid-30s and snaining. Foggy AF. Boilerplate corduroy.

GARBAGE BAG PONCHOS REQUIRED. We did not have garbage bags, but we were both wearing Freeride Systems jackets, so our upper bodies stayed dry at least. Everything else got soaked, gloves, pants, everything, and combined with the shitty skiing we bailed to the parking lot around noon.

Nice endorsement for Freeride Systems jackets on a "character building" day of skiing!

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Originally Posted by Harry

we were both wearing Freeride Systems jackets, so our upper bodies stayed dry at least. Everything else got soaked, gloves, pants, everything

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Finally enough snow to bust out the mqt backcountrys to terrorize the neighborhood.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fa389674_b.jpg

All the vertical you want, 25 feet and 3 turns at a time.

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And the apres ski is pretty nice.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...50a211ff_b.jpg

Hopefully bigger and better things coming soon.

Northern Wisconsin pounded with wet heavy snow. Power out all over. Christie Mountain closed due to no power. My grampa’s old place is on Day 2 of blackout with no ETA from power company. Fortunately Mom’s place in town is OK.

Edit: SkiJ, not sure if Christie will be open Saturday or not.

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Originally Posted by Askel

And the apres ski is pretty nice.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...50a211ff_b.jpg

Hopefully bigger and better things coming soon.

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Oooh…Hopslam. Nice choice.

Johndee seems to be having a heck of a time keeping his website up lately.

John Dee's just been having a heck of a time lately, sounds like he's fighting some serious health issues. Happy to see he can still get a snow forecast out for us on occasion.

But turns out he was his usual optimistic self on the last round. Snowpocalypse was pretty sad up here. Maybe an an inch or two along with enough rain and warm temps to turn that and whatever survived into a crunchy mess. Will make a nice base if it survives until we get some fresh snow, but looks like another weekend of fatbiking up here.

Whereabouts are you?

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Originally Posted by Mustonen

Oooh…Hopslam. Nice choice.

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I didn’t even see the can sitting there the first time I looked at the pic. Agreed, excellent choice! Speaking of, I just bought a few sixers a couple weeks ago. Why is it out right now?!? It’s usually a late January or February release.

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Originally Posted by Mustonen

Whereabouts are you?

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Houghton.

Hopslam was release early because apparently it was fucking up everybody's dry Januarys.

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Originally Posted by Askel

Houghton.

Hopslam was release early because apparently it was fucking up everybody's dry Januarys.

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Ha! Fair enough.

Took a break to walk the dog. Godamn #2 quad is broken again with parts on backorder and weather not quite brutal enough to keep people home so dealing with line ups on the old triple. Hoping they can get chair 3 quad open tomorrow. They could have it open now with a bit of snowcat whale tail aggression...let's fucking go!

On the plus side, free refills via the fan guns. Skiing pretty good and back in our happy place.

River is still open but not for long. Picture taken from Northpoint.

Edit suddenly quad startee spinning...rejoice!

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Lake effect machine is back in gear, but it's kind of sporadic right now. Today was my one day off this month, so I figured I'd load up the whole quiver in the truck and see what I could see. It was kind of a coin flip to decide to head north or south, but the Silver City MIDrive cam was looking promising so I chose south.

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Porkies doesn't technically open until the 30th, but they've been getting hit pretty good the last month. My gamble paid off better than I imagined. Had the whole place completely to myself. 3-4" of fresh snow on top of a pretty good base made for good times with the lightweight gear. Back/sidecountry could use another foot or so but the front was as good as it gets.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f4bfaa88_b.jpg

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Kinda odd though, other than some tracks from snowmobiblers out joyriding, there was nothing going on there. No prep going on at all for the upcoming season. They have two weeks I guess, but I'm kind of worried about how this new management is going to work out. Especially since they probably could have opened this weekend.

Oh well, at least the secret après-ski bar was open for business.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...181e40f0_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...29586664_b.jpg

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Originally Posted by Askel

Lake effect machine is back in gear, but it's kind of sporadic right now. Today was my one day off this month, so I figured I'd load up the whole quiver in the truck and see what I could see. It was kind of a coin flip to decide to head north or south, but the Silver City MIDrive cam was looking promising so I chose south.

Attachment 438829

Porkies doesn't technically open until the 30th, but they've been getting hit pretty good the last month. My gamble paid off better than I imagined. Had the whole place completely to myself. 3-4" of fresh snow on top of a pretty good base made for good times with the lightweight gear. Back/sidecountry could use another foot or so but the front was as good as it gets.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f4bfaa88_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fe8811db_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...122ac5ca_b.jpg

Kinda odd though, other than some tracks from snowmobiblers out joyriding, there was nothing going on there. No prep going on at all for the upcoming season. They have two weeks I guess, but I'm kind of worried about how this new management is going to work out. Especially since they probably could have opened this weekend.

Oh well, at least the secret après-ski bar was open for business.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...181e40f0_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...29586664_b.jpg

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That looks pretty sweet. We got a fair bit of snow (and rain....) this week, but was heavy as fuck with the temps hanging in the 30's. I broke the ol' collarbone on Thursday when closing up shop, so I'll be hanging at the bar for the foreseeable future when I have to chauffer the kids to the hill. Plenty of time to be back at it before our spring break trip though. Hopefully I don't get to fat for the snowpants by then...

https://youtu.be/myHg9s2IX2M

Frankie MacDonald !!!!!!!!!

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Late report - got out to Welch on Sunday, and they've got about 75% open now, which is grreat. The last couple years have been tough early season, so it's good to see the conditions cooperating for snow making! Anyway, temps were hovering around zero when I pulled into the lot at 9, but there were a surprising number of cars there already! And about 6 buses...Blizzard Day...ugh... :nonono2: But anyway, took my first run on my Elan Wingman 86's, and it was FIRM, which got my hopes up, since I had brought out my Elan Ace SCX's along! It's been too soft up til then - man...they ARE FUN!! Multi-radius beer-leaguers are tough to beat on a "packed powder" day in MN! SO much fun! Skied with a classmate I hadn't seen in 30 years, which was really cool - great to catch up! Also got to meet his daughter who had just gotten home from basic training, and she was a sweetheart as well - great kid with her head screwed on right!

"Storm of a generation" happening this week - lots of snow the last couple days - about 8" so far I think - but the wind is supposed to come in today and make shit real... I have to drive out to SW Minnesota for family X-mas, which could be sporty, since it's pancake-flat out there, and drifting and blizzard conditions can get interesting.

Also got a call from my Elan rep, and my skis are here!! Ripstick 96 Blacks and Wingman 82 CTi's - can't wait to get them mounted up!

Obligatory cool new gear pic...

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Christie Mountain has been down for power outages, so I spent Christmas Eve at Trollhaugen. -5F when I got there, +5F when I left. Place was deserted. Roads sketchy, Blizzaks FTW.

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Nice Harry!

Axe good Elan and Welch TR.

Askel...great trip report. I've been to the Porkies and overnighted in a tent up on the backside of the hill. It was a blast. But that cabin looks awesome.

I had to work Thursday and Friday down here. Friday was cold af and I was the only one who had to run here because the local operations shut down. Somehow things made it across I80 from Omaha where they were a day behind a bit out of the heart of the storm. Reminded me a bit of 1997 when I had to take care of west central Minnesota during the worst winter in memory, but frankly, conditions never quite deteriorated that far because we didn't have a good base of snow to really let the new snow fly in the wind. Still fun. Something about that weather turns my crank and makes me feel alive and happy. So discouraging that the 7 day turns warm and raining...wtf...I hate these hot to cold to hot to cold extremes shit fuck what snow we have. Make up your mind already, but I know that winter is winter ship sailed a couple three decades ago.

Xmas with family today. Stepson is home from Gunnison and he has an awesome gift coming since his grades at Western were damned good last semester. Presumably skiing on the new gear tmmrw at the Nut.

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Originally Posted by uglymoney

Xmas with family today. Stepson is home from Gunnison and he has an awesome gift coming since his grades at Western were damned good last semester.

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JH maggot Telee’s wife is a professor there. She is cool, I have fly fished with them multiple times. She is a better fisherman than most of us maggots. Great on the oars too. They split their time between homes in Jackson and Gunnison. No idea what she teaches, but your son should introduce himself.


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Originally Posted by Harry

JH maggot Telee’s wife is a professor there. She is cool, I have fly fished with them multiple times. She is a better fisherman than most of us maggots. Great on the oars too. They split their time between homes in Jackson and Gunnison. No idea what she teaches, but your son should introduce himself.


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Yes!

Tele was actually quick to offer a helping hand if my (stepson) needed something in another thread (Blister)...when I first sprayed/humble bragged about my stepson living in Gunny. He's has a lot going on trying to figure things out there, but yes...that would be cool. My lifelong friend who is from here also lives in Salida just over the pass so we are pretty well covered if he needs something.

Just happy things are working out for him so far. He's a fish out of water back here now. Just like us.

Hey UP maggots,

I may be in Ironwood tomorrow. Anybody not working and want to go skiing ?


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Originally Posted by Askel

Kinda odd though, other than some tracks from snowmobiblers out joyriding, there was nothing going on there. No prep going on at all for the upcoming season. They have two weeks I guess, but I'm kind of worried about how this new management is going to work out. Especially since they probably could have opened this weekend.

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I’ve heard through the grapevine they have parts for a groomer but no one that knows how to fix it, no lift mechanic, and haven’t hired concessions folks yet. (All speculation of course).



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Got a text from SkiJ about Ironwood area skiing. Thanks!

Ended up at Big Powderhorn. Snow conditions were excellent. Lots of people, but lots of lifts and runs all over the place so never a problem skiing.

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Couple inches at the Nut yesterday. Dusty on crusty good clean fun following the kids down the hill. Nobody home early. We skied onto every chair before lunch and I had 10k before my first beer.

Rain and warm for the next weekend sadly.

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Originally Posted by uglymoney

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That is f-ing gorgeous.


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More stoke from Big Powderhorn

UP skiing rules !

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