The UP Conditions Report Thread

[fisheater]

Looks like we got a foot of light lake-effect last night/today in the highlands. Going to take the day off and go investigate up in the hills to see if it's true. Spent a couple hours tonight night-skiing - surfing some crud!

Sounds like one of the best reasons to take a day off. Were you night skiing at Mt. Marquette? I had a ten plus year period where I would ski one or two weeks there. I don't think I ever skied there at night. I was single back then, women outnumber men, I did better fishing at night . Really, I probably skied hard, had a couple beers and dinner and went to bed.
Just curious, are you using the Vector as a crud ski, or do you have a lift served rig?

[connyro]

Sounds like one of the best reasons to take a day off. Were you night skiing at Mt. Marquette? I had a ten plus year period where I would ski one or two weeks there. I don't think I ever skied there at night. I was single back then, women outnumber men, I did better fishing at night . Really, I probably skied hard, had a couple beers and dinner and went to bed.
Just curious, are you using the Vector as a crud ski, or do you have a lift served rig?

Yep, was at MQT MTN. Their version of night skiing is turning on as few lights as possible. Terrible lighting, but the snow was good and it's cheap now that they are charging by the hour. My ski buddy was on Vectors (smooth base) but I use an older pair of AM skis (Movement Climax) with the OLD blue hammerheads. Vector BCs may have done OK but the snow was sort of slow to begin with so they may have not been great in that regard.

[connyro]

Got up into the hills today to see if reports of 12 inches of fresh were true. Well, there was more like 14-16 inches of the softest snow you can imagine. I figured it would be epic powder skiing today. After a fun climb to the top, and a mellow start down doing soft turns was great. As soon as it got steep though, once you tried to edge skis and make sharp turns, the edges grabbed a crust layer under the fresh, super-soft snow. Bummer. BUT it was a great day for screwing around in the woods and looking at the scenery.


My ride into camp, under all that snow. Deep!

Toured over to an ice formation on one of the cliffs. This one is 45 feet tall and even though it was 20 degrees out, there was water trickling down the face.

Skied up a creek and checked out some moose tracks. Snowpack is 3-4 feet even though we are a full 3 feet behind the average for snowfall for this area.

We've got a tiny cabin with a tiny stove in it which makes even day excursions really nice. Grill some sandwiches, warm some soup, swill some cheap beer and dry the gloves!

[lowangle al]

^^^^^That's good liven you got there conny. Would bigger skis have made things more skiable?

[connyro]

^^^^^That's good liven you got there conny. Would bigger skis have made things more skiable?

I was wondering that myself. I think fatties would have been better. I have 177 Asylums at camp (something like 154-116-149) and skins, but I was using Excursions and those boots cannot handle a ski that big AT ALL, so I didn't try them.

[t-$]

oh man, you are getting me stoked for my trip!!! thanks for the update, looks like there will at least be some decent snow to chase, even in a couple weeks. have fun up there

[Askel]

Yes! Tiny snowmobile porn!

RIGHT IN THE FACE YOU KNOW YOU LIKE IT BABY

[connyro]

I was fortunate enough to get out to a super-duper secret spot for some of the UP's finest BC skiing. The temps were nice, in the 20s. We got lost. We found our way back and then finally ended up with some good turns towards the end of the day.

The snow was deep. An abandoned cabin on the way to the goods.

Lake Superior in background.

More terrain.

We weren't the only ones getting turns. Otter slide.

[lowangle al]

^^^^^That's good liven you got there conny. Would bigger skis have made things more skiable?

I was wondering that myself. I think fatties would have been better. I have 177 Asylums at camp (something like 154-116-149) and skins, but I was using Excursions and those boots cannot handle a ski that big AT ALL, so I didn't try them.

I was surprised my T4s worked so well with my Insanes at 112 underfoot in a 183cm. Funny thing is I thought the skis were too big for me when I got them and that was with a 4 buckle boot. When I switched to T2s at first I didn't think that was enough boot. A couple seasons passed and as I got used to fatter skis I found the T2 was plenty of boot for that ski. I am sure if I tried the T4 with that ski when I first got them they wouldn't have worked at all.

I don't know what the history is with your Excursions and the Asylums, but just because they didn't work at one time doesn't mean they won't work now, especially in soft snow.

[connyro]

I was surprised my T4s worked so well with my Insanes at 112 underfoot in a 183cm. Funny thing is I thought the skis were too big for me when I got them and that was with a 4 buckle boot. When I switched to T2s at first I didn't think that was enough boot. A couple seasons passed and as I got used to fatter skis I found the T2 was plenty of boot for that ski. I am sure if I tried the T4 with that ski when I first got them they wouldn't have worked at all.

I don't know what the history is with your Excursions and the Asylums, but just because they didn't work at one time doesn't mean they won't work now, especially in soft snow.

I hear you LAA. I've tried the Excursion/Asylum combo only a couple/few times and never did really like it. The cuff is just too low for my style of skiing with those skis. And by cuff, I mean both the front of the cuff (tongue) and the sides (left and right sides of legs). Ener-gs work much better with the much higher cuff. I think the Asylums just need a LOT of user input to get them to behave in a fun and controlled way, and for my style/technique, a taller boot works and the low boot cuts into my lower legs/shins. On the other hand, the Excursions turn the Vectors effortlessly in a wide variety of snow types in my experience. You just don't rely on the boot cuff to bail you out of bad technique moments, so being balanced is key while lots of power is not really needed. I don't feel the same way when on Excursions and Asylums. Holding an edge angle is much harder and requires much more power input with this setup than with Ener-gs, making balance a bit tricker.

It looks like we will be getting another foot or so of LES in the hills over the next 2 days. This is the best start to March in a few years around here!