The UP Conditions Report Thread

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connyro
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Re: The UP Conditions Report Thread

Post by connyro » Tue Dec 26, 2017 11:45 am

Yep, 1987 bravo LT. It's pretty well beaten down but still gets from point a to point b without too much bother, albeit slowly.

Looks like Keweenaw and Porkies are getting some pretty good LES totals.

Snow's still thin here. -17F this morning! There's still tons of deer in the woods, which is very unusual for this time of year. They are normally gone by now, due to deep snowpack, and heading towards either the shore of Superior or Michigan. We usually only see moose tracks in the deep snow up in the hills.
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anemic
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Re: The UP Conditions Report Thread

Post by anemic » Wed Dec 27, 2017 3:49 pm

great posts conny. -5 f in GR this morning with sufficient XCD ground cover. photos coming soon. planning to jailbreak after work.
Call it Nordic Freeride



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connyro
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Re: The UP Conditions Report Thread

Post by connyro » Wed Dec 27, 2017 5:08 pm

Snow's still THIN up here. Almost too thin for turns. Lots of deadfall too due to previous windstorm. I finished climbing today and saw a shit-ton of LES falling way down the hill and out over the lake, not more than a couple miles from me. Just a few degrees difference in the wind direction and we would have been getting hammered!
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Askel
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Re: The UP Conditions Report Thread

Post by Askel » Wed Dec 27, 2017 7:52 pm

So it took a couple tries to get there, but we finally made it.

We tried on Christmas day, but ran into complete whiteout conditions in Greenland, hung it up and spent the afternoon at the Rousseau Bar (It's never too far....)
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Second try the day after, we finally made it.

Porkies are in awesome shape. No pictures as the windchill was pretty insane by MI standards, but I can assure you there is no shortage of snow.



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connyro
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Re: The UP Conditions Report Thread

Post by connyro » Fri Dec 29, 2017 9:54 am

It's looking like we should finally get some snow this weekend. Lake effect up in our hills should be kicking by Saturday. It's about time! I'm sick of skiing thin snow that barely covers the forest debris. It's scary and getting old. We need 2+ feet to get going and right now, we are at 8 inches! Fingers crossed. I may have to do the long drive over to the Porkies if the forecasted snow doesn't pan out.



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fisheater
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Re: The UP Conditions Report Thread

Post by fisheater » Fri Dec 29, 2017 10:12 am

When is the the Porcupine Mts. Telefest? It would be a long slog for me, but it could also be fun, good snow, good terrain, and good people. I would definitely not be able to consider camping. Is there lodging reasonably close? I have never been to the Porkies, I had a 10 year period when I spent a lot of time around Marquette. I also made it to Bohemia once, by chance it was St. Patrick's Day. Great skiing, in a beautiful place, with a surprising amount of natural beauty I would have never expected.
I am definitely putting Telefest on my list, possibly this year. As I get older my list becomes less exotic. Skiing in France has been on it since my twenties. Hiking the entire Appalachian Trail still on the list. I think Telefest is doable and list worthy.



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connyro
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Re: The UP Conditions Report Thread

Post by connyro » Fri Dec 29, 2017 2:34 pm

Fish: Midwest Telefest is Feb 9-11



Lodging is thin, unless you want to camp. This motel in Silver City is pretty much it for mainstream lodging: https://www.americinn.com/hotels/mi/silvercity

You can rent cabins/yurts from the DNR but those fill up pretty quickly (http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-15 ... --,00.html)



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Askel
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Re: The UP Conditions Report Thread

Post by Askel » Fri Dec 29, 2017 5:31 pm

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I suspect these numbers are slightly optimistic, but I couldn't find the bottom today. Today was as good as I'd ever expect the Porkies to be, and it's still only December.

And yeah fisheater, telefest is definitely worth the trip if you can make it.

In addition to the AmericInn, the Konteka isn't too far away (AND YOU CAN GO BOWLING TOO!!!): http://exploringthenorth.com/konteka/motel.html

I think these guys stay open year 'round too:
http://www.lakeofthecloudsresort.com/



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connyro
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Re: The UP Conditions Report Thread

Post by connyro » Fri Dec 29, 2017 5:44 pm

DAMN Askel! What a snowpack for December. 6 feet of snow up high is pretty damn good. It looks like our hills are going to get a significant amount of LES over the weekend, maybe a foot or so. Bohemia is now open. May have to blow off work and take a swing through western UP and get some of that snow.



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connyro
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Re: The UP Conditions Report Thread

Post by connyro » Mon Jan 01, 2018 11:54 pm

Big LES event here over the weekend so we ended up with 8 or maybe 10 inches of fresh dry lake effect in our hills. More to come this week! Beautiful sunny day but hell was it cold.

snow gauge. It says "Not enough"
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Still thin at the top of 'low-angle'. If you squint and use your imagination, lake superior is in the background.
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