A suprisingly sweet day at bohemia and ripley

[rip]

Last night I started making calls to "me scrotes" trying to round up the crew for the usual tues at bohemia. After a few call it wasnt looking good.

scrotes 1 and 2 - 2 exams they had to study for
scrote 3 - had to work
scrotes 4 and 5 - class that couldnt be skipped.

I realize if I'm going its going to be a solo trip. Snow report is only calling for 1 to 3 inches so I am thinking about just skipping out since monday at ripley was a few inches of snow over death crust and bohemia couldnt have been much better. Set my alarm and decide to decide in the morning.

Alarm goes off and after a few snoozes I get up the energy to check bohemia's website, they are reporting 5 inches, which is enough for me to decide to go. Get my shit together, step out the front door and...holy crap! there is way more than 5 inches on the ground. Shovel out my car with a newfound vigor and quickly get on the road cursing at myself for not getting up earlier.

Get to Bohemia at about 10:45, already at least 15 cars in the lot so I end up with a spot in the second row. Get my boots on and its a game time decision, old beater spatula-esque camber line darksides or the 724 pros....I decide to go with the lines just to be safe. On the hill there is definately more than 5 inches, maybe around a foot of new snow, and as usual at bohemia on a weekday, there are barely any people around to ski it. First run is down claim jumper, the snow was nice and light, after a few runs there it was time to hit the woods. The trees were untracked, I got in maybe 4 runs without hitting any other tracks except mine. Next up, the EXTREME backcountry. Decide today is a good day as any to start poking around a little and do some exploring. A few times ago I had skied down below a little pillow drop type rock band and was trying to find it from the top. Skiing down I duck into a little tree shot I had never been in before and pretty soon I find myself standing right at the top. I know most people here probably ski stuff like this without giving it a second thought but for me it was a little puckering. Hop off the first drop, hop turn, then off the last little drop with my gaper style, then untouched powder through the trees to the bottom. Spent the rest of the day in the trees until a little after 2. Back to the car and time to high tail it to ripley because I have to work.

Get to ripley about 3:15, haul ass inside and get my boots back on, 45 minutes until my lessons start and I was going to make use of it. Ripley on weekdays opens at 3pm so there are barely any tracks down any of the runs. Ripley also has snowmaking so I can pull out my new skis. Book it to the t-bar and up the hill. Snow was even deeper at ripley than bohemia, and the 724 pros rip in powder! Tear up all the runs off the t-bar as fast as possible, plunge was way sweet, up over the knees thanks to the wind. Then the rest of the day was spent with kids who like the "smooth runs" and ask me what the squiggly lines are on all the runs.

The sweetest thing is that today wasnt all that unusual, it has been going off up here, I have only had one day at bohemia where there hasnt been new snow and even then powder was very easy to find. Midwest mags thinking about coming up here, this month and next should be very good. The snow today put us up over 200 inches and there is still lots of winter left[/anti-jinx]


no pics from today since i dont have a camera but here is a pic of the major cliffband at bohemia.

[powderhound]

could you mark the cliffband in the picture, i can't see one

[rip]

har har har.... I think its pretty good for the midwest. Plus the pic is from like a mile and a half away all the way zoomed in with my friends camera so it looks smaller than it really is.

[powderhound]

yeah, used to live in WI, bohemia is the cream of the crop isn't it?

[rip]

Yeah, it keeps me entertained. After skiing up here I get sooo bored at other hills when I am back in the lower peninsula.

[Skidawg]

The problem with skiing Bohemia on weekdays is that chances are you live in the U.P. It's one step above hell.

[rip]

Originally posted by Skidawg
The problem with skiing Bohemia on weekdays is that chances are you live in the U.P. It's one step above wisconsin.

[Tippster]

http://www.mtbohemia.com/Images/trail-map.jpg

"EXTREME" Backcountry? Hmmmmmm????

Only to be skied by EXTREME skiers...

on K2 EXTREMES? ...hmmmmmm????

[dewey]

please stop hatin' on Michigan. That place is cool.

[gincognito]

Stoke is stoke.

I actually want to ski that place.

Sick and ashamed and happy (and also want to ski Blackstrap Provincial Park aka. The Pimple on the Prairies),
d.

[Grange]

Midwesterners make do with what we got. I think it is saying something when a skier will get up early to go skiing on a hill where he or she and ski every run twice and still have plenty of daylight left to do something else.

[dewey]

Interesting story, sort of...

A guy I know went skiing on a helicopter thing in BC. Had a great time skiing powder.

Came back to MI and skied a full day at Nub's Nob (420 vertical feet). He actually skied more vertical in a full day at Nubs than he did on any day while heli-skiing.

When you get 80 some odd runs in in a day, you put in a lot skiing.

Of course there's the whole snow/terrain quality issue...

But I know a ton of badass skiers from MI.

[xboat]

midwest TR's rock! good job man, take pics next time!

[tonghands]

Stoke is stoke.

[Steven S. Dallas]

What could be more convenient than being able to access extreme backcountry on the frontside of your local hill? Game on, Michigan! And no hatin' at all.

[Mustonen]

Originally posted by Skidawg
The problem with skiing Bohemia on weekdays is that chances are you live in the U.P. It's one step above hell.

i like it, actually.

bitch. you can fukk off w/ your ignorant hating...

word on bohemia...every day i've been there this year (but one) i've scored fresh... but i've only made it up there 4 or 5 times.

edit: night skiing powder at ripley's been great, too.

[road trip]

Originally posted by dewey
But I know a ton of badass skiers from MI.

T.J. Burke
Dexter Rutecki

[Tippster]

Whoah, gentlemen.

I wasn't hating on the hill itself (it actually looks pretty fackin' cool for where it is) just on the "Extreme" moniker.

Please, it kicks the shit out of WhiteTail, I'm sure... and that's the closest area to me.