2019/2020 Midwest Stoke Thread

[Mustonen]

The Midwest has surprisingly good MTB riding. No sustained climbs but fantastic singletrack.

Cable/Hayward just north if there is worth worth visit several times (Find a Cheq100 race GPS track for most of the singletrack)

Twin Cities is good, but dispursed around town.

I think Eau Claire has good stuff.

Then south central (Kettle Moraine?) is supposed to be good.

Lastly, a ways west, but Cayuna, MN is worth the trip.

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Of course, Copper Harbor and Marquette need to be on your MTB hit list. Along with Duluth.

[Iowagriz]

Good catch, I wished I would have hit Copper Harbor when I was in Iowa

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[Shredhead]

MTBing pretty much sucks in Chicago.
Yes, Kettle Moran is good, but it’s 3 hours from Lincoln Park. Palos or the Outback in Portage, Indiana are both OK, but they’re both an hour plus without traffic.
Get a fatty and rip the lake front trail all winter.

Save up and hit the directs to Aspen or Jackson.

[Talisman]

With the apparrant east migration of a few mags to WI like Harry and Leavenworth Skier. Will western style smoke shacks become archetectural features of the glades, woods and clumps of bushes in the Midwestern Ski Resorts? Asking for a friend.

[Mustonen]

With the apparrant east migration of a few mags to WI like Harry and Leavenworth Skier. Will western style smoke shacks become archetectural features of the glades, woods and clumps of bushes in the Midwestern Ski Resorts? Asking for a friend.

The fuck makes you think they aren’t already?

[yeahman]

A little Gitche Gumee stoke from a road trip today with my dad. Nisswa to Grand Marais and back. Talked a lot about our Lutsen memories, Spirit Mountain, Sugar Hills...

[uglymoney]

Nice Yeahman! How are the colors? Down here we are seeing the change but probably as much drought/heat stress as seasonal.

Today we just happened to book Lutsen over the Turkey day holiday for a race camp we 'hope' comes together. Everyone says its happening but we're not in the loop. Be a nice change from the Trollhaugen camp if it does. Last year they just got a run or two open on Moose for the weekend, but the camp was canceled for Covid so we did Troll again. We figure if the snow is terrible due to warm fall but still good enough for camp we'll just let the girl bash gates on the usual Ullr race area and day hike the superior trail since it goes right through the ski area. If Moose is open we will for sure get as many hours of high speed groomer laps in as we can.

[skuff]

Colors are good, should get to peak season soon

UP, near Lake Michigamme

[TAFKALVS]

With the apparrant east migration of a few mags to WI like Harry and Leavenworth Skier. Will western style smoke shacks become archetectural features of the glades, woods and clumps of bushes in the Midwestern Ski Resorts? Asking for a friend.

Buy real estate now, we're the first wave.

[ill-advised strategy]

I think this is my favorite part of the color. Some people really like when everything has changed and there’s some brown and bare…that’s usually when people are calling it “peak season”, but right now when there’s still a lot of various greens and also all the orange yellow and reds…. And still some good light and potential for decent weather. This is prime time in my view.

[skiJ]

ugly -

I will do some looking into this -
though I have been out-of-the-area this year, it is my understanding it has been unusually Warm this year -

If so, lutsen is going to need some Very favorable weather for early snowmaking - -

Moose by thanksgiving (?) I believe that is rare - ( it is a lot of snow to get the six-pack (Caribou Express) open )

... I hope the Race training area you mention is on Eagle mountain. . .

Lutsen ( the ski area ) and the North Shore do have a lot to offer...

see how snowmaking goes -


If you are looking for a midwest Thanksgiving weekend Race camp alternative,

I will mention SkiBrule in Iron River, michigan -

it is//has been/was a USSA camp, primarily for eastern Wisconsin residents ( Fox river valley, Milwaukee ) ; probalby a lot of people you see on the race circuit...

no place makes snow like SkiBrule --

it is a little farther than Lutsen, but if you route through Wausau and Rhinelander, it is a very manageable drive...


I will hope for early Cold weather(,) so you can make laps on Moose -

Good luck... ! skiJ

[uglymoney]

Ski Brule didn't even open last year so the camp was canceled. Definitely one that I know about. Not at all sure if it is happening this year.

Honestly, not sure where they are going to hold the camp at Lutsen. I've been a few times so familiar. The local team trains on Ullr far skiers right. The group we hope to get in with is local to our lower midwest circuit. We shall see.

Part of it is we talked our parents into going up, which will make it a fun little holiday...regardless of snow. Definitely touch and go for Moose.

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[skiJ]

https://skibrule.com/event/thanksgiving-race-camp-2021/

there is ( a back-story ) to SkiBrule not opening last season - And

they decided not to make any snow, and the snowfall they got was Very unusually Little
( Less than half normal average natural snowfall )

ultimately effectively, they had no snow.


reads-like you have a nice Family weekend planned for Thanksgiving... !

Good luck ! skiJ

[uglymoney]

Sweet! Thanks for the link J. Good to know that is happening this year. A nice alternative and I hear they set up on a sweet slope. Definitely know people who have gone to that regularly.

We made sure we can cancel Lutsen but I've had two people who know things tell me the camp is happening.

I need my wife to go so my girl can do all the days but for her to go her parents have to go...complicated.



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[Mustonen]

Yeah, weird scene with Brule last year. They always do a good job with early season though. Planning on being there the weekend before.

[skiJ]

it had to be tough, in March of 2020, to be ordered Closed by the State - a seasonal business that thrives until Easter, and is often Open until the end of April -

the cost of covering a ski and snowboard area with man-made snow is significant - And

with no-guarantee late last year, that they would not face another shutdown - and with a hope that there would be enough snowfall to open some of the runs. . .


I believe last year will prove to have been 'a weird scene' for a lot of ski and snowboard areas.


wishing those of you preparing for early season events and looking forward to early season events...

Good luck ! ! skiJ

[uglymoney]

Update. They dropped the Lutsen camp info today and my contacts shot me the heads up. Open to anybody. $310.95 for all four days. Already signed her up. Stoked on the whole deal. The last three years at Trollhaugen have me longing to go somewhere else for Turkey week skiing.

https://www.madalpine.com/camps

Now we need to get rid of this oppressive October heat. We've been forced to run our AC for the entire last week and the river down here was warm as mid summer this weekend. Slalom sets with no wetsuit at 7:30 am. Unreal, and a little frightening.

[Putin]

........,,

[Harry]

http://outthereshop.com
Nordic shop in Rice Lake

Huge props to Out There Nordic in Rice Lake WI.

Yesterday I was at the pool swimming laps and some guys in the locker room were talking about XC skiing. Decided to stop in at that shop on the way home. Very impressed. Owner is a one man show, ski bummed in Crested Butte in the 90’s, now a tech for elite Nordic teams. Amazing to have this quality of operation in this area.

Went in just to look around, not planning to buy anything. Ended up buying a whole new Nordic setup, skis, boots, bindings, poles. I don’t know shit about Nordic stuff, so I was just hoping I did not get ass raped on price. Especially since nothing in the shop had a price tag. I told him I did all my own waxing on my downhill skis, so he took me to his wax room and spent about an hour going over all the fine details about Nordic waxing vs alpine waxing. He made it super simple.

When I got home, I went straight to the internet to see how much he overcharged me. I was pleasantly surprised to find no one could beat his price. Not even close.

If you are ever near Rice Lake WI, I highly recommend a stop at Out There Nordic.

www.outthereshop.com




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[Buster Highmen]

Hardscrabble

[skiJ]

Hardscrabble

skied there as a kid in the 1970s. Just Fun.


skiJ

[Harry]

Heh, the Out There guy (Bjorn) and I were talking about Hardscrabble while he waxed my new skis. He skied there as a kid. I drove by there a couple months ago, it’s now a rock quarry. You can still see where most of the runs were, others are swallowed up by the pit. The lodge is still there, but in a state of advanced decay. Tons of “Danger, No Trespassing“ signs. #sad.


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[Buster Highmen]

I raced there a few times in the early 70s , good hill, fast ropetows. Such a shame.

[ill-advised strategy]

[Harry]

Hardscrabble STOKE






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