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Midwest 2021-2022 Midwest Ski Resort/Conditions/Meetups

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Beach Bum

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Yeah that was my first thought. All they are doing is taking would be GP skiers away from there. But after more thought maybe the following happens:

- Skiers who don't ski up there add the UP as a destination now if IH/BJ get high speeds and better everything. Terrain and snow quality is already top notch at these. So putting GP aside, more skiers venture there from around the Midwest.

- Perennial GP skiers now have incentive to bundle the two and extend trips. Instead of a weekend in Wausau they add a night or two and ski it and the UP. It's about 2 hours away. Could hit GP on way back or way to the UP from Chicago/Milwaukee/Madison.
 

skiJ

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( please) don't underestimate the potential to draw skiers from the Fox river valley
( GreenBay, Oshkosh, Appleton, etc. Lots of people. skiers and snowboarders )

I was stunned a few years ago when I asked a kid from Oshkosh where he usually skied (?)


Colorado. two trips annually...


The western U.p. has potential - but the weather has changed;
still, when the snow is Good, it can be special.

'Big Snow Country' used to draw a lot of people from the twin cities -
changes in air travel, access to Montana And the growth at BigSky, and stagnation on the U.p. have changed that - a lot.


good luck with ih/bj --


skiJ
 

focker

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( please) don't underestimate the potential to draw skiers from the Fox river valley
( GreenBay, Oshkosh, Appleton, etc. Lots of people. skiers and snowboarders )

I was stunned a few years ago when I asked a kid from Oshkosh where he usually skied (?)


Colorado. two trips annually...


The western U.p. has potential - but the weather has changed;
still, when the snow is Good, it can be special.

'Big Snow Country' used to draw a lot of people from the twin cities -
changes in air travel, access to Montana And the growth at BigSky, and stagnation on the U.p. have changed that - a lot.


good luck with ih/bj --


skiJ

I'm sure Lutsen has put a lot of thought into this and has figured out the numbers to know if this will work or not. Who knows., maybe their plan isn't even to put in high speed lifts. They might go with just new fixed grip lifts and save a bunch of $$.

I always thought it would be smart for them to buy a place like Welch Village or Wild Mountain in the twin cities and then offer a pass that gives you full access to that resort and 2-4 days at Lutsen. I know I'd buy something like that in a heartbeat.
 

DerKommissar

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Not sure if anyone else here skis at Hidden Valley in MO, but their new GM just did a Q & A and posted the following about their summer plans...

Q: What is the Hidden Valley team focused on this summer?

⛷️
We are working hard to get the resort ready for next season. This includes capital improvements in the lodge, and some of the loading and unloading ramps on our lifts, as well as annual maintenance that is required every year around the resort.

So...not much. The lodge is pretty shitty, so I guess that's good, and the gap between the chair and the ground on the beginner's lift last season was huge- my son pretty much had to jump and pray. Without lots of snow to fill the gap, they really do need to build up the ramp. But we still have a lift that services a mountain with only two runs- really wish they would develop more of West mountain.
 

skiJ

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the question was where would customers to BigSnow come from (?)

There has been lots of chatter about GranitePeak - and nothing had been mentioned about the Fox river valley.


lift upgrades are needed
( I don't think any of the existing lifts are less than forty years old ; some are more than sixty years old (ih) ) ...

Wild is a Family business -

I am not sure what Welch's status is ( though there was an expansion a while ago... ) -

both areas could partner with lutsen regarding passes / lift tickets
( it would not necessarily require a purchase / sale )

good luck with ih / bj --


skiJ
 

focker

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Anyone been reading about the Great Lakes temperatures? Apparently they at their lowest temps since 1997 for this time of year and there's no major warm weather coming to warm them much. If they remain cold throughout the summer and into the fall this could potentially affect lake effect snow totals in the UP this winter correct?
 
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Dwight

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Not by much and mainly only Superior.

I take most Great Lake info with a grain of salt. Remember 2008ish? The world is going to end, record lows in the Great Lakes, all life is going to cease. It has been record-high levels almost every year since. :)
 

pete

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Here's a question more aimed at recommendations of where to pick up boots in the midwest:

my daughter's boyfriend it looking at skis and with this would be boots.

I'd prefer him to go somewhere where they know how to fit him properly, but as a novice isn't looking to spend a ton and not likely to get them customized.

They're in the Madison area, but pretty much travel the SW to east and NE of Wisconsin.

Any recommended outfits? feel free to PM if you prefer. I figure folks on this thread have some "feet on" experience .. heehheheehh


thanks!
 
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Dwight

Dwight

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Here's a question more aimed at recommendations of where to pick up boots in the midwest:

my daughter's boyfriend it looking at skis and with this would be boots.

I'd prefer him to go somewhere where they know how to fit him properly, but as a novice isn't looking to spend a ton and not likely to get them customized.

They're in the Madison area, but pretty much travel the SW to east and NE of Wisconsin.

Any recommended outfits? feel free to PM if you prefer. I figure folks on this thread have some "feet on" experience .. heehheheehh


thanks!
In Madison, https://www.chaletski.com/ boots, I hear they do decent.
https://gsracetunes.webs.com/ for skis.

Wausau - https://www.shepssports.com/- Their dungeon sale in the fall has the best prices on boots and skis.
Viking in Chicago land
Milwaukee http://www.lesmoiseinc.com/

Twin Cities - best boot fitting around. https://www.pierceskateandski.com/
 

pete

not peace but 2 Beers!
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whitefeathers

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For Pierce skate and ski, currently they'll only do boot fitting on boots purchased there.
I called them up a couple months ago to get work done on my boots before a summer skiing trip and and couldn't because I didn't buy them there.
 

focker

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For Pierce skate and ski, currently they'll only do boot fitting on boots purchased there.
I called them up a couple months ago to get work done on my boots before a summer skiing trip and and couldn't because I didn't buy them there.

I think that's garbage and I'd happily tell them that.
 

focker

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This is great news if you are a TC area skier. Wild, Trollhaugen and Welch now will all have new chairs in the last few years. I had kind of expected Wild to do this after the other hills did. There's a bit of a 'arms race' right now with MN & WI hills replacing their aging lifts. It'll be interesting to see if Afton, the hill that likely makes the most money of any local area replaces any of their 17 lifts. I'm doubting it.

Its also interesting to me that Wild is replacing chair 3. In the past this is the lift they've run the least often. I'm not sure if that was due to mechanical issues or what the reason was however. They usually run lifts 1, 2 and 4 most days I'm there. It does make sense to replace lift 3 over lift 2 as it serves more terrain.
 

MN_Drew

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It sounded from the announcement that the new lift would be intended to functionally replace both Lift 2 and Lift 3, with Lift 3 being removed and Lift 2 sticking around to spin on peak days.
 

focker

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Matthew on Midwestskiers.com claims 3 more lift announcements are coming. One in the UP, one in the normal part of Michigan and one in Minnesota.


Ok that is exciting stuff. It's got me wondering who the MN and UP MI hills will be...
 

focker

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It sounded from the announcement that the new lift would be intended to functionally replace both Lift 2 and Lift 3, with Lift 3 being removed and Lift 2 sticking around to spin on peak days.

It'll be interesting to see how they set it up. They appear to be clearing out the trees that separate Ego Alley from the Wild trails. They're likely going to have to move the starting gate that is right at the top of the Wild Trail as well. I'm guessing they'll put that where the top of lift 2 used to be. This new lift will probably unload right next to lift 2 making it easy to use the new lift to access Ego Alley and Sunshine trails, as well as everything that was under the old lift 3.
 
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