Annual trip to Chestnut going down with the groms. Up to four families this year. Pretty cold and cloudy but still got about 2 hours in for all the kids. Snow guns were full blast all day/night...

Once the sun stayed around it was pretty nice. Found some stashes in Rock Garden and Horse Trails. Strawberry Fields holding good snow for the last two days.

Sadly, my trip and season are over...

Hey all. Midwest mag trying to get out to Palisades/Tahoe area from March 20-24th. On a solo mission and would normally find a cheapish hotel within an hour of driving, but with the never-ending snow...

Wilmot was full sun this weekend. Chicago has been so gloomy this winter it was a revelation to be in the sun for six straight hours.
Highlights included: meeting up with my cousin so our kids...

As Ugly$ mentioned, Chestnut was great this weekend. Every time I ride there, it's so much fun for a small midwest hill. Plenty of side hits, especially on the left of Apache. Some fun gnar to turn...

Headed over to Chestnut Mtn. with the family and some other kiddos from Fri-Sunday. Looks like Saturday might catch a few inches of new snow. Kids have progressed a bunch since last year's trip, so...

Anyone have experience with taking their kids to Vermont? Looking to head to Stowe/Okemo/Jay Peak over New Years and hoping to get a day or two of ski school for my 7 year old. We've experienced...

I just bought, fit, and refit boots at Viking this season. They know what they are doing and can help.

Incidentally, just dealt with my boots being "too roomy" as well after the initial fitting...

Chestnut was a blast. Lots of fun stuff to poke around in on the sides of runs. A few inches of fresh snow Saturday morning was pretty great before the crowds filled in around lunch time. Nearly...

If any Chestnut Mountain mags are around this weekend, I'll be invading from Chicago with the family.
Haven't skied Chestnut since my jr racing days, so excited to return. Probably spend most my...

The park is pretty limited. Jumps are very small and all too easy to send to flat. Rails are ok, but you are getting 2 hits per lap at best. "The gully" is the only park open right now, which is...

Quick survey of the Midwest Mags. Any recommendations on non-directional skis in the 90-98 range underfoot?

I've ignored this category for the last 10 years, but now my time in the Midwest is...

Neverending Story laser decapitating sphinx graphics? Just take my money now.

Yeah B! I can only imagine the ways I woulda wrecked myself on that tree kicker.

Strangely, I found my WC108 really easy to load on Midwestern re-freeze. Sadly its the only time I've had them out so far. Perhaps dropping down to the 184 made it easier for me to power the ski as...

Nice work through the trees. I'll be up at Whitecap in two weeks. Unbelievably, they are running a head-to-head glade race, single elimination style. Calling it "Glades of Glory." Apparently they...

Looks like you have good timing, snow hitting on Saturday. Let us know how it goes.

Great chill episode. As someone who is slowly building their backcountry skills, the first year of missions has been super informative and fun.

Random aside: I might need a break from Cody, as Im...

Just did the same to replace my 13' Belafontes (which I already upgraded to some Confessions). Have a Silverton trip in March to put them to the test. Until then, groomers in the Midwest.

Thanks to the mags who recommended Sunlight for my 4 year old. We spent a day there getting used to an actual mountain setting and made some huge progress. Skied the next two days at Buttermilk and...

Yes, but not for skiing in the Midwest.
If I'm lucky, i get 10 days at a real mountain each year, so that's my excuse for having them.

What are you considering a "powder ski?" 120mm underfoot?...

Wilmot's FB page mentioned the first week of December. Hopefully they push it forward, but they are a lot less flexible than the old Wilmot that used to open with 5 employees on the hill. I still...

That's such an amazing list. I remember my goals at 10: Land a "helicopter", bigger daffy, screamin' semen, iron cross, twister-spread-twister in a bump run.

Thanks for all the recommendations!
We are going to chill in Glenwood Springs and then hit up Sunlight, looks perfect. Good combo of easy skiing and hot springs fun. Might take a day on Sunday to...

Quick survey: Looking to head out to Colorado/Utah after Xmas before NYE with my 4 year old for his first trip to a real mountain (skied all Midwest for the last 2 seasons).

Where can we head that...

Great thread. I'm caught in the middle on this one.

Not so long ago my dad could take me on a short midwest GS Course. He lives and breathes racing, and only hung it up last year after spinal ...

Couple of quick ideas:

Think about what type of input your kid best responds to when learning a new task. Some kids need to be told exactly how to do something and want to do it only that way....

Wilmot, small but mighty.
Conditions were so typically terrible and options so limited, you had to do everything yourself as a kid to have fun. Shaping airs in the moguls, repeatedly getting...

I'll never forget the day I got a poster tube in the mail from Shane, and it was loaded with a signed poster and a bunch of other cool stuff. Volant Machete era, summer of 2000. Poster is up in my...

Cripes.
Well, Tyrol Basin is still open. Perhaps that will be the last gasp for the year.

Here's the thing. If you're the type of person that isn't already comfortable hitting something bigger than 5 feet, this is going to be a slow, arduous, and sometimes painful process.

Step 1:...

Thanks for the intel UG$. Haven't skied Chestnut since my jr. race days. Looking forward to some rare midwest spring skiing

Any insights on how Chestnut will be by this weekend? Looking to get the kiddo out once more before the season is over, and looks like Chestnut is the closest open hill to Chicago.

I'm sure you're just being modest, but don't sell your kiddo's run short. The transitions between her turns were great. She was fully engaged in her previous turn till about 3-5 feet before the next...

Floating transition 360s can be interesting if they are HUGE and slowly rotated (or better yet over a gap), but Slemmet's were all off of smallish features and not all that clean looking. He stomped...

I have the exact same situation with my strong-willed 3 year-old. Hates the pizza and only uses hockey stops to slow down (if he can stop hard enough to get backwards he's even more thrilled).
...

If you want to know the true value to Vail Resorts of receiving an influx of cash in November and independent of snow conditions, check out this press release about "Epic for Everyone"...

Here's an old "Sponsored" podcast with Andy Mahre talking about K2 at the time Seth was kicked out. Basically corporate merger budget cutting after Rubbermaid took over (who spun it to PE firm...

Anyone hitting up the Mogul Mash at Wilmot in a couple of weeks?

Not expecting much as my big air days are well past me, but kinda of obligatory to enter as all I did from 88' to 98' was bash down...

Big stoke for days 2 and 3 of the season. Little guy scream-laughing his head off for about 4 hours each day. Big jump from last season, where it was 4-5 magic carpet rides and done. Excited to break...

Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics instructs:
https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/news-features-and-safety-tips/Pages/AAP-Safe-Winter-Sports-and-Activities.aspx

All...

No. Never.
I would be more worried about them running into a tree, another skier, or a lift pole because they have no edges on their skis and cant turn or stop.

Buy a detuning stone, and give...

Awesome work for a 4 year old!

I'm going through the same thing right now with my just turned 3 year-old. Second season just started and he's not quite ready to exert much pressure on his edges....

Spent a day with all us race groms in 1992 on the original down home tour at Wilmot Mountain in Wisconsin.
Him and his wife are the ultimate ski ambassadors.
Skied with him for a few runs 6 years...

Went through Tecnica support and they are shipping out a new buckle.
Definitely impressed with their responsiveness.

Anyone know a way to order a replacement Cochise lift lock buckle?
Annoyed as I only have about 10 days on the boots before it broke off. My local ski shop is super flakey about stuff like this.
...

Nice to see some new blood taking over the midwest resorts. Whitecap Mountain near the UP has new ownership too, and they are overhauling the mountains amenities and cutting new trails for some tree...

Thanks for the grom advice. It's snowing in Chicago, so might get another week in to try it out.

Looking for toddler grom advice:

Just finished first season with my 2 year-old (we're flatlanders) and we've been having a blast. Got out 5 times and kept it all about having fun. He's good to...

Pretty tough to overestimate these guys influence on the sport. Same age as most of them and would see them out at Mt. Hood and BC in the summers. It was fun to think in the early days that if you...