The Blackjack Ski Resort

By: In: Media, Non-Fiction, Photography, Reviews, Skiing, Writing

Blackjack Ski Resort!

Blackjack Ski Resort!

Welcome all, The Brave Ski Mom asked me about my favorite Midwestern ski resort and I chose that as Blackjack Mountain which is just across the border into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula along the HWY 51 corridor. I ski at this resort typically once or twice per year maybe more depending on many factors, namely how cheap they sell their season’s passes for which for the next snow season they are selling for $99 this month only.

So what about the skiing and the rest of the place?
(more…)


Next Page » No Comments »

Devil’s Head (@DevilsHead) Ski Resort Review

By: In: Media, Non-Fiction, Resorts, Reviews, Skiing, Writing

Devil's Head Review

Devil’s Head Review

Last weekend I skied Devil’s Head Ski Resort for the first time and this review presents some facts and my opinion and analysis of the resort.

Devil’s Head — The Riding

Very quickly, it was good.

The Snow

While snow quality depends heavily upon the weather there are things the resort can do to help out. There were a lot of people present and despite that the snow was in good shape, I did find some ice in what I would characterize in the usual places (center and at the top of the run) and I found ice only on one run. In any event my skiing that day was on and when I hit those patches I was moving out and laying my edges into the snow and did not much notice the ice. I want to stress again, skiing across isolated patches of ice is not a big deal as long as you are on edge. Strive to get ski on your edges and skid only when called for.

The snow across the runs was consistent and uniform and when I started skiing the hotter runs I found the snow a bit more fluffencruddy but that adds to the fun, right?

The Terrain

God organized the resort’s terrain very well almost by design or so it seems. Looking up the hill the easier terrain is to the left and the more advanced terrain is to the right. The black runs to the center and left are not (in my opinion) are not black runs but intermediate blues.

Once you start skiing to the middle and to the right of the resort the blacks become more true to their rating and I took one run that I thought about holding back on, only thought I did not. I did not get on the sole double-black but that is a long straight shot and gets its rating from its grade and its length, I did not ski on that.

One thing to note, they built a lot of rollers so if you want air that is easily available and if you do not you need to watch for that. I would traverse once or twice to bleed speed and then stand erect while cresting these rollers. The rollers go away and I would resume my normal attacking style. In addition, they do have jumps and launch points built on the sides of nearly every run, these are obvious and easy to avoid or hit depending on your whim.

The Lights

At Devil’s Head they offer a true eight-hour pass. You buy your pass at 11:00 am they let you ski until 7:00 pm. I found the lighting a bit spotty at first. On one run the top was lit, the bottom was lit and the middle was not until sometime later. I knew the run by this time so I knew of the rollers and their location. Once the lights were on, all was good! The runs at the far left of the resort are not lit so they close those runs at 4:00 pm, so if you arrive late you had better get over there quick.

The Lifts

Good, they have some quads, a triple seater, and some double chairs. None are of the high-speed variety but the large number of four seaters means they are able to move a lot of people up the hill. While there was a crowd on hand we never had any serious liftline waits. That was good. They do have some older two seaters on the resort and all in good operating condition.

The Staff?

I did not see too many ski patrollers present. I did see some but not as many as I would expect. However, I did see some in action doing the thing they do. The lift attendants did their job but were mostly incommunicative. In fact I had little interaction with staff while skiing.

Devil’s Head — The Facilities

(more…)


Next Page » 5 Comments »

LoseIt Fitness App Review Reach Your Fitness Goals!

By: In: Health and Fitness, Information Technology, Media, Non-Fiction, Off Season, Reviews, Writing

LoseIt the App

LoseIt the App

Every year many of us resolve to get our weight down and our fitness level up. To help with those goals we join gyms, subscribe to food services, and purchase equipment. One piece of gear I find indispensable is the phone app LoseIt. I find using this phone app makes it easier to achieve my fitness goals.

LoseIt — My Fitness Story

input your own data

Input your Particulars

I write this as a user of Loseit as well as having tried many other similar applications. Years ago I used the app Diet and Exercise Assistant with good results, but since that app is not ported to the Android system (PalmPilot and IPhones only) I had to leave it behind. When I used Diet and Exercise Assistant I lost about 15 pounds solely on watching my diet. If you have to choose between diet and exercise to lose weight, choose diet first.

When I was young weight loss was not a problem but gaining weight was. I could eat twice as much as my friends and not gain an ounce. While that is good when it lasts eventually that phase of one’s life ends and can lead to weight gain when your metabolism slows down. In the years my weight crept to above normal to entry-level obese. I reversed the trend once or twice but weight gain reasserted itself.

I am now about 35 pounds off of my top weight of 250 pounds last spring and would like to lose about 25 more pounds.

LoseIt — A Summary

your caloric budget

LoseIt Shows Your Caloric Budget

LoseIt is a standard diet and exercise tracker. You can obtain it for free and then you input your basic information (birth date, sex, height, etc) and your goals (what weight you want to attain and when) and LoseIt computes your daily calorie budget. You can also specify extra calories to remove from the budget, which I suggest doing.

Then whenever you eat you input the food and the amount you eat. Whenever you exercise you also input the type of exercise and the time and effort level. LoseIt then tracks the calories in and out and provides simple clear reporting on your caloric intake. You can easily view this data day by day and the app also provides simple reporting over a week. So if you break your budget one day it is easy to tell where you are over the week, think of your overage as caloric loan you have to pay back.
(more…)


Next Page » No Comments »

Snowflake

By: In: Media, Writing
snwoflake

Bill-yions of Snowflakes!

Twinkle Twinkle Many Flakes
Billions of you the blizzard makes
The hill’s treasured bling
The riders you bring
Seeking thrilling speeds
Riding their laminated steeds


Next Page » No Comments »

Granite Peak Review — Ski or Board There!

By: In: Media, Non-Fiction, Resorts, Reviews, Skiing, Writing
Granite Peak!

Granite Peak!

Granite Peak — A Night Between the Lights

Recently, I skied at Granite Peak in Wausau Wisconsin. The official name is Granite Peak at Rib Mountain State Park and was formerly named Rib Mountain.

Granite Peak is nearly in the center of Wisconsin at the intersection of I-39 and HWY 29 and for anyone living near those highways leaving home, skiing a day, and getting back home is not too much of a problem.

Granite Peak is an odd piece of geography (a “monadnock”) exploding out of the rolling farmlands and is visible for miles around, Granite Peak is not the highest point in Wisconsin (which is inconspicuous Timm’s Hill) but it is the biggest hill in the state in terms of relief which is 760 feet.

I arrived with about two hours left to go in the day skiing and spent that time walking around and checking it out. Night skiing started at 4:00 pm and my buddy and myself were ready at that time and spent the night skiing!

Granite Peak — The Skiing

The Trails

I found the trails more challenging than most of the other places I frequently ski. Equivalently coded runs are steeper at the starts. The blue runs under the high-speed six seater chair are wide and give people a lot of room to maneuver. So, if you are relatively new to skiing or boarding there is room for you to traverse and room for others to get around you. If you find yourself moving out real fast, not to worry as the runs transition to a very gradual slope where you can restore control and again you have plenty of room to maneuver. Hold on at the top and then you can relax and work on technique and experiment on the bottom.

I did find patches of ice in the top ¼ of these runs which is not an out of the ordinary situation for any of the ski resorts in the region. Also, due to the fact we were night skiing the groomers had not been out to cover up those patches. The solution is simple, learn how to ski on edge and be on edge.
As the sun disappeared, the lights played more and more of a role. I found the trails adequately lit. I would recommend ditching amber or dark glasses or goggles and wearing clears or rose-tinted lenses. The lighting did not hide any surprises, I did not hit any bumps or otherwise oddities in the terrain that I did not see.

As the night wore on, my buddy and I wanted to scout out the other runs and check out the awesome view of Wausau so we worked our way over to the Eastern runs, which are all tagged as blacks. The black tagging is accurate, the runs are steep and narrow so one did not have a lot of room to take broad traverses, you must ski at an expert level on Granite Peak’s black diamond runs. The fact they also turn into mildly sloped green runs does not negate the skill needed to get down the initial headwalls. I found these runs in good shape with little or no ice patches, there are not many skiers over there so if you can handle the pitch you can get some open undisturbed runs in.

This is also the area where you can get some glade skiing in if you want, the West side has some glades available too, but that area is not lit so there is no night skiing there.

At the top of Granite Peak are some double-black diamond trails and these are typically couloirs and small cliffs. Again, don’t take the word small to mean harmless or easy.

The Snow

With the exception of the isolated ice-patches I found the snow in good condition. I even found some corduroy at the edge of some of the runs. I am certain if I rode first chair in the day skiing session the snow would have been near perfect. After a day any resort in this region is going to have these same isolated ice-patches.

The Views

One of the things I like about skiing is the views. Many times I have driven by Granite Peak at night on I-39 and have admired the view of Granite Peak from the road, but the view of I39 form Granite Peak is unimpressive do not bother looking for it. However, the view of Wausau is fantastic, like so many jewels scattered on the floor, too bad I left my camera back in my truck. The best views are from the Easter side (black runs) of the resort but the views from the tops of the blues are very much worth taking time to stop and take them in.

The Lifts

Granite Peak’s crowning glory is a six-seater detachable high-speed chairlift. That lift gets many riders up the hill in a hurry. We were able to ski many runs in four hours due to this chair (we spent most of the night skiing off of this chair) the newest chair entitled Dasher a high-speed four seater closes at 4:00 pm and so we were unable to check that chair out.

The other chairs appeared fine in terms of appearance and operation. Of course, the six-seat high-speed chair spoils one and the other chairs were slow in comparison.

The Facilities

Come and Get It at Granite Peak!

Come and Get It at Granite Peak!

The Lodges

Granite Peak has two main hospitality lodges. The Historic Lodge and the Sundance Chalet. The Sundance Chalet is more of a hall and there is plenty of room for many people and hosts a cafeteria. The Historic Lodge is smaller and has the resort’s barroom and hosts a cafeteria. The lower level of the Historic Lodge has an area where one can kit-up and dekit. Coin operated lockers are available and I found (at least with the night skiing) there was enough room for myself to change and store my gear.

Prior the skiing I walked around both lodges and found both warm and inviting, especially the Historic Lodge. The Sundance Lodge as I note above was huge and more of a hall, in fact Granite Peak’s website offers the Sundance Lodge to groups of up to 300 people Spring, Summer, and Fall.

I decided to try out the food in the Sundance Lodge. I had a chicken sandwich, fries, a bowl of soup, and a bottle of water. The food is standard cafeteria fare and when I left the checkout line I was about $17.00 lighter. I did not belly up to any bar while at Granite Peak, just walked through and around them.

Rental, Learning, and Pro-Shop

I did not rent gear using my own instead so I have no observations to report on the rental center. In addition, they have a learning center at the bottom of their green runs (which if I recall correctly the chairlift offers an optional offload at the top of the green runs or continue to the top of Granite Peak and the black runs) and again I did not go in. The pro-shop is adequately and densely stocked with gifts and wearables (and I did see some goggles there too).

What I did particularly like was the atmosphere outside the Historic Lodge. They had a number of firepits set up and running with real wood burning. Plus this area was also served by an outdoor bar and food service, again I did not partake in any of that, but there were many people who were and made for a lively and very social scene.

The People and Service

In a word, great! The night we were there, The Green Bay Packers were playing the Minnesota Vikings in their first round of the NFL playoffs. The staff at the chairs were thoughtfully setup whiteboards to post the game’s score. This game was interest to more than just Packer fans as Granite Peak draws from the Western part of Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota as well (thanks to HWY 29).

Final Words

I want to ski Granite Peak again! Skiing Granite Peak will take my skiing to the next level with its increased challenge and I am guessing it will do the same for you. You gotta get to Granite Peak!


Next Page » No Comments »

The Brave Ski Mom — A Friend of the Wisconsin Skier

By: In: Media, News, Skiing, Writing

A Friend of the Wisconsin Skier

Brave Ski Mom — A Friend of the Wisconsin Skier

I want to call out a Friend of the Wisconsin Skier and that would be the the Brave Ski Mom. I am finding myself visiting her site on a regular basis and like myself all of her writing is not centered on snow but mostly so. Even when the articles she writes are not strictly snow-related they are still worth reading!

Since she has linked to yours truly I dub her a friend of the Wisconsin Skier and I suggest you read her site regularly and subscribe to it for the latest updates!


Next Page » No Comments »

Protected: Movie Review Les Miserables and The Hobbit (password “SPOILER”)

By: In: Media, Non-Fiction, Reviews, Writing

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:


Next Page » Enter your password to view comments.

Endomondo for Downhill Skiing

By: In: Information Technology, Media, Non-Fiction, Reviews, Skiing, Writing

Same as the old stats

Same as the old stats

I finally used Endomondo while skiing and the results are okay, but not great.

Endomondo for Downhill Skiing — Its Usual Strengths

In my recent review of the Endomondo app I expressed satisfaction with the app. Those satisfying points repeat with Endomondo while downhill skiing. The app did its things as usual, it sounded off miles, it recorded time in motion, it paused recording when I stopped, recorded my path, recorded distance, kept track of caloric expenditure and water consumption needs. It wrapped my phone up in a (Green Bay Packer) stocking cap and stuffed the package into my ski jacket and that did not seem to cause it any problems with keeping a lock on the GPS satellites.

In short, all was good.

Endomondo for Downhill Skiing — Its downhill Skiing Weaknesses

The line I skied

The line I skied

However, Endomondo is more for endurance activities and does not contain a number of the metrics I want to see while skiing. Namely, maximum speeds and pitch extremes. However, most of the users are using Endomondo for running, hiking, walking, biking, etc. None of those sports (maybe hiking excepted) have all of the metrics interesting to downhill skiers. Endomondo reported times in one mile intervals which is great for cross-country skiing but makes little sense while downhill skiing.

This is where I rely on MyTracks at least to cover those skiing metric gaps. Yes, I know there are applications dedicated ski tracking, but I am a bit slow in adopting those and am working on it (old phone had storage limitations I was up against and so I need to acquaint myself with applications such as AlpineReplay).

However, once your phone has the data uploaded to the website and you visit the website to view the ski trip, there are a few more bits of interesting information, too bad that is not on the phone application.

Same Trip on the Website

Same Trip on the Website

Endomondo for Downhill Skiing — Downhill Skiing Calorie Burn

While I have always known that downhill skiing is a significant burner of calories, I was pleasantly surprised to see the number Endomondo reports. Still, my official calorie counter differs by recording fewer calories burnt.

For those of you not familiar with downhill skiing, one must work their legs constantly to make sure they remain under control, that is, even though gravity is supplying us with speed, we need to fight gravity lest we fly down the runs at 80 mph into the lodge, with the expected result. Watch world cup skiing and see how the racers are when they cross the finish line, they are short of breath and tired.

Endomondo for Downhill Skiing — Do You Use It?

In short, Endomondo can help you understand how much time and effort you expend while downhill skiing, but it does fall short of being everything in terms of measurement a downhill skier wants.

How about you? Do you use Endomondo while downhill skiing?


Next Page » 2 Comments »

The Stevens Pass Avalanche

By: In: Media, News, Non-Fiction, Skiing, Writing

Hoarfrost on the snow weakens the bond between snow layers

Hoarfrost on the snow weakens the bond between snow layers

In the 2011-2012 snow season there was an avalanche at Stevens Pass in Washingon near Seattle, that avalanche claimed lives. Not many but the lives lost were of some people who are ski industry figures. The New York Times has a well detailed account of the misadventure and in the events leading to the deaths is some of the factors Skiing Magazine touched upon in their article on risk taking, namely how familiarity breeds contempt of the risks involved.

The participants in the horror heard avalanche reports and the that avalanche risk was high and the riders also disregarded internal warnings caught up in the group dynamics. I am not chastising any of them for the disaster of the day it is easy for one to do that, but how often do we find ourselves caught up in the strong currents of the group we are with? That is why, youngsters are always warned about hanging with the “bad crowd”, hang with a good crowd and you get in trouble for jaywalking, get in trouble with the bad crowd and you find yourself up on charges. They knew there was risk and chose to take it on.

The article is well written (mostly) with it starting off like someone desperately seeking a cute phrase or metaphor like a drowning person thrashing for something to float on, but despite the grim ending the article ends well leaving a graphic image in the head.

Here is a snippet from the article:

“If it was up to me, I would never have gone backcountry skiing with 12 people,” Michelson, the ESPN journalist, said. “That’s just way too many. But there were sort of the social dynamics of that — where I didn’t want to be the one to say, you know, ‘Hey, this is too big a group and we shouldn’t be doing this.’ I was invited by someone else, so I didn’t want to stand up and cause a fuss. And not to play the gender card, but there were 2 girls and 10 guys, and I didn’t want to be the whiny female figure, you know? So I just followed along.”

You really need to read the article, they put a lot of effort into that piece, including a sidebar map of the mountain face they were on and the path of each rider to the point they were swept up by the avalanche.


Next Page » No Comments »

Ski TrailMaps by Todd Schmalhurst &mdash A Mobile App Review

By: In: Equipment, Information Technology, Non-Fiction, Reviews, Skiing, Writing

Ski TrailMaps

Ski TrailMaps

I have reviewed a couple of mobile device apps already here, both having incidental relevance to skiing. Today’s review is the first one on an app dedicated to skiing and snowboarding. This app is Todd Schmalhurst’s Ski TrailMaps. Not only do I have the app and use it regularly I also have upgraded to the paid version.

FYI, the title says Ski but there is nothing ski specific about this application, snowboarders can get value from this application too!

Ski TrailMaps by Todd Schmalhurst — What?

welcome to ski trailmapsSki TrailMaps is an application you can download and install on your mobile device, quite simply it is an application you can use to locate nearby snow resorts and retrieve and view their trailmaps. However, that is not all, you can also get current resort conditions (snow and weather), available trailcam imagery, and satellite imagery of the resort. This means, you can pull up any map of any snow resort pretty much at your whim. Bored while waiting for the doctor? Pull out your phone and daydream about skiing a resort or become familiar with the resort you are going to this coming February.

The opening screen welcomes you with five options, since the app’s organizes the data well I have not had to use the search the search functionality nor the favorites. I fiddled with the settings early and I have not touched it in a long time.

Ski TrailMaps by Todd Schmalhurst — Getting to the Trails!

TrailMaps of the World!

TrailMaps of the World!

T The neat thing about this app is does not restrict you to a resort group, a region, a state, or even a single nation. Nope Ski TrailMaps gets you the whole world! I have not spent too much time looking at the other nations but the USA is further broken down by state. The other nations I have seen the app does not subdivide maybe I need to look at some more.

The app lists only those states and nations with ski resorts, so that cuts down on your scrolling.

Todd does not leave a single operating ski resort out and that is impressive. He does not turn his nose up at the small farm field resort where I first learned skiing!

Ski TrailMaps — A Map

So what do the maps look like? They appear they are the resort provided maps converted into a format that allows for a lot of zooming in and out. Furthermore, the app allows you to download all of a resorts’s maps on request as the app loads resort’s main map by default.

a ski trailmap

A Map!

You can zoom in quite a bit and the detail continues for sometime. However, there is a point after which zooming does no good.

the application does not store the maps on the phone but pulls them from the cloud, and that means the use of this application can cost you against your data plan. However, once the application loads a map they reside on your phone for sometime and the app brings the map quickly. Many of the features also require data from the internet regardless of when you last retrieved that data (weather & snow conditions for example).

Ski TrailMaps — Final words

Pros

  • Comprehensive in terms of resort coverage
  • Maps download quickly
  • Stores the maps on your device

No cons but I offer one suggestion. the application is location aware but it would be great if it could pinpoint your location on a trail map.

In summary, Ski TrailMaps is a great application I suggest to you to make your snowsports more enjoyable. Go get it and tell Todd The Wisconsin Skier sent you!


Next Page » No Comments »

Sponsors:

Pages