Boyne Highlands 2/6 - 2/8

dank

New member
Three days, three completely different conditions at the same place. We had a large group so goupthink had us at the same place for the entire time.

Day 1, Friday 2/6, got there about 10 am. It was in the high 20's and mostly sunny. There weren't many people there since it was a Friday. The temps rose to the low 30's and softened everything up nicely. The sun stayed out all day and it turned out to be the best day of the weekend.

Day 2, the warmup began in full force. Temps started out in the 30's. I got to the hill by 8:45 for a 9:00 lesson for my daughter. She's a little over 2 1/2 but she had been asking about going skiing herself so we signed her up for a half hour private lesson. She could have probably handled an hour, but not much more at that age. They do a great job at Boyne and she had a good time. The conditions were good for first timers, but not for the rest of us. The warm up and overcast skies made for slow and boring conditions. Half the group bagged the day, the rest of us could only stand it for a few hours. We cut out around lunchtime but sold 2 of our tickets in the parking lot to someone on their way in for a few $.

Day 3, the refreze. It got cooler during the night so everything refroze so it got a little icy. That makes for some dangerous conditions on the steeper stuff. It was mostly sunny on Sunday and in the low 30's but not warm enough to soften it up enough and it stayed icy all day. It was a really quiet Sunday at Highlands. According to some of the locals/workers they are having a slow year as well despite great snow.

Secondhand report from Nub Nob on 2/9 from part of our group. Nubs softened up a bit for Monday and was nicer than Highlands on Sunday. However, the stuff they don't or can't groom was still icy.

Myself and some others took in Michigan's other major winter 'sport' on Monday. We drove over to Lewiston and grabbed some sleds and hit the snowmobile trails for the better part of a day. They seem to have a little less snow on the ground in that part of the state, and they are much more senstive to weather changes. We were running on dirt occasionally, but mostly it was snow and a lot of fun.

This warmup is going to be hard on all winter sports in Michigan unless it cools off quickly and they get some storms again. Otherwise the best of the season will be behind us.
 
I'm slow with pictures, but here are a few pics from last weekend.
mia ski.jpg
boyne.jpg
south challenger.jpg
 
Back
Top