Obituary — The 2012-2013 Snow Season

By: In: Humor, News, Skiing

An Obituary

The 2012-2013 snow season passed away today after a brief but valiant struggle with warmness.

The 2012-2013 snow season was born in November of 2012 and experienced a sickly childhood struggling against warmness and lack of snowfall. However, in Late January of 2013 the cold and snow came on strong and the snow season of 2012-2013 grew into a strong winter and from that point on provided hundreds of thousands with snow joy! The early struggles with warmness gave the 2012-2013 snow season the strength to persevere way past its expected death but unfortunately it contracted the warms again and this time it succumbed.

Snow season 2012-2013 is survived by Summer 2013 and was preceded in death by Spring 2013. Other survivors include hundreds of thousands of snowmobiles, skiers, snowboarders, ice-fishermen, and others who will not sit idly by during the life of winter.

Funeral services for Snow season 2012-2013 will be held at parks, lakes, beaches, bike trails, roads, ball parks, all over the world during Summer 2013. In lieu of sending flowers, please plant them along with your vegetables and trees.


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The Last Hurrah?

By: In: Skiing

The Last Hurrah?

The Last Hurrah? At Ski Brule on April 20, 2013!


April 23, 2013.
Did I have my Last Hurrah skiing for the 2012-2013 snow season? I think I did and what a day it was!

The Last Hurrah? — Not Solo

I started the day solo, but when I parked at Ski Brule I parked next a vehicle I did not recognize, dude was in his car and I walked in to verify the scene. As I returned to my vehicle there is my buddy JP getting out of that car. He had a ticket, Ski Brule had good snow so he decided to drive up and ski instead of sit on his tail! Skiing is always fun but it is better when with friends!

The Last Hurrah? — Good Snow

Hard to believe we are at the end of April. There is plenty of snow left UpNorth and if you are planning a trip for the opening of fishing season, bring your ice auger. There is still 2′+ of solid ice on the lakes. Ski Brule’s snow was in great shape, Otter Slide was forming moguls at the top of the run but Big Bear and Log Jam were nearly untouched until later in the day.

The Last Hurrah? — Working on Technique

JP is a more experience and skilled skier than I am and he took the time to give me some pointers, demonstrations, and drills. This year I started to feel my K2s kick and last Saturday that was a regular event. What (and skilled skiers will know this) was happening was I have finally started to harvest the natural energy I put into the ski when turning, instead of slowly releasing that energy, it gets released quicker and converts into SPEED and it being new to me, I would find myself in the backseat. The other thing I started to work on at JP’s behest was to keep my knees together. Obviously, I will focus on keeping the knees together the summer and next winter, even if it means toning my ski aggression down (at least until I become used to the new posture).

The other drill he had me do was to reach down for the rear of my uphill boot as I was turning, let me tell you, I could really feel my turns tighten right up when doing that.

The Last Hurrah? — Lots of Skill On Display!

HIs Last Hurrah?

Ripping it up at Ski Brule, April 20, 2013.

Not a lot of people present, and those that were are hardcore or the children of the hardcore. So most of the folks there were putting on a show.

Ski Brule was operating only one chair over by Otterslide and Sunrise, so you had to push uphill a bit to get to Bear and Logjam, but as I said before that just made those runs even more deserted than the rest and getting back to the chair was no problem, carry speed up tot he lodge and hit the bunny hill and back for your next ride up. The back and the Homestead were all shut down too.

Lorie and I will be back up in early May, if Ski Brule is open, I’m going! Who is with me?


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Quick Spring Report

By: In: News, Resorts, Skiing

April 22, 2013

Just a FYI to my local readers. There is skiing available in the Upper Midwest region. I skied at Ski Brule this last weekend and the snow was good for most of the day. The spots you usually see slush are not slush but ice (which is better than slush). The snow did soften up as the day went on but it was all very good. They have the back of the hill closed and are only running one chair over by Sunrise & Otter Slide. Still, skiing on Bear and Log Jam was fantastic and worth the work!

I have also seen reports that Traulhaugen and Boyne are open yet.

So, do not put your skis or board away yet and get there early, and please as always, tell them The Wisconsin Skier sent you!


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Transition from Skiing to Biking

By: In: Biking, Health and Fitness, Off Season, Outdoors, Skiing

Transition from skiing to biking

Transition from Skiing to Biking

The season is rapidly moving from being my favorite time of the year to the least favorite time. The time between the end of ski season and the start of the warm season. The weather goes from bluebird to blahbird and it is too warm to maintain the snow and too cold to garden, do yard work (which I enjoy), and generally too cold to provide for pleasant biking weather. Time to transition from skiing to biking! Long Live the Revolutions!

That being said, being a skier I know the solution to cold and unpleasant weather is found in gear, and what sort of thing appeals more to men than the study and getting of gear?
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7 NOT So Surprising Facts about Ski Injuries and Deaths

By: In: News, Skiing

skiing does carry real risks

Skiing Does Carry Real Risks

This is not my favorite topic to write about, but let’s be clear and honest about this, moving fast with minimal protection can lead to injury. Unofficial Networks summarizes a Denver Post article entitled Colorado skiers die on groomed, blue runs after hitting trees. The Unofficial Networks article is just a set of bullet points summarizing the article and the real interesting stuff is in the comments.

Still, I am not shocked by the Denver post article especially this bit:

Those who died on Colorado slopes ranged from a local doctor to a snowboard instructor to a paraplegic using a sit ski. More than 80 percent were men. The youngest two were 11; the oldest, 73. Just more than 60 percent were out-of-state visitors.

If those who died had anything in common, it was catching an edge or losing control just long enough to crash into a tree on the side of a trail. [emphasis added]

“People don’t want to hear it, but it’s really the luck of the draw. It’s an experienced skier and a perfect storm of events or one bad moment of judgment,” said Joanne Richardson, the former coroner for Summit County, where four ski areas account for close to 4 million skier visits a season. “In my experience, deaths are rare, but serious injuries are not. The mountains don’t want to tell you how many people are injured. I was listening to the scanner last year and just said, ‘Wow.’ “

This is something that I have noticed.
(more…)


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Blackjack $99 Season Pass Deal About to End!

By: In: Resorts, Skiing

$99 Season Pass Deal

Get Your Winning Deal!

Hurry up, you have less than ONE week to capitalize on the $99 season pass for Blackjack!


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A Change in the Wisconsin Skier Color Theme

By: In: Site Related, Skiing

The Wisconsin Skier Color Theme

The New Theme

You may have noticed, I have changed the Wisconsin Skier color theme. In fact, I am going to change from the red-green color scheme, on way too many sites discussion website design it has been advised to steer away from ugly color combinations with red-green being frequently tossed into that discussion. In addition, the background may have made it harder to read the posts. I like color and in fact I like bold and brilliant color, so I am a bit saddened by the removal of the color but if it makes things easier for you and others the cost is worth it. I can work color into my graphics and photography!

A Change in the Wisconsin Skier Color Theme — The Winter Three

Blue for the sky so high
Yellow for the sun so warm
White for the snow underfoot

The Bluebird Three those be
Giving cheer
To those weary of winter
To all who pine for spring
To all outdoors in winter gear


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How Long Will this Ski Season Last in Wisconsin?

By: In: Skiing

A frequent question I see being asked is How long is the Wisconsin Ski Season? Here is one answer to that but I think we are looking for more concrete guidance than that.

How Long Will this Ski Season Last? — My Guess

Already, ski resorts in Wisconsin are closing for the season with at least one closed for the season, and I suspect there are more. Even with abundant snow, most people are complaining about winter dragging on and want to bust out their golf clubs and skiing is not at the top of their list of to-do activities (it should be, this is real sweet of late). So, even if the resorts have good or even excellent snow conditions they shut down due to lack of public interest. If you have tickets for resorts use them up quick!

However, there are a few resorts out for bragging rights. Ski Brule and Granite Peak are two of those resorts and work hard to be the first to open and the last to close for a given season. Given current snow conditions, I believe it is safe to say they will be operating into mid-April. Mind you, one week of warm and rainy weather changes that very quickly and the risk of that grows each day.

In short, I would not say there is plenty of Wisconsin skiing left but the supply is definitely dwindling. Get your runs in NOW!


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The Day Dream Comes True

By: In: Media, Photography, Skiing

day dream

The Day I Have Been Dreaming of!

I captured this photo on Saturday March 2, 2013.

Day Dream — Sunny, Still, and Temperature in the Zone

Nothing was wrong with the weather. The sun was out, the air still, the temperature in the mid to upper 20s (around -3° C) just about perfect for snow riders. The snow was not sticky due to the temperature and was about as fast as it gets (a bit warmer would have added a bit more speed, but not a lot more). The snow was in good shape and the crowds were also just right.

Day Dream — The Crowd

two guys

Two Guys Riding up the Chair

Ski Brule was not crowded like it was last weekend and but it was not empty. I was skiing mostly by myself and got to meet a lot of neat folks. Lift lines were not usually long but I hit a few of them, probably after a stoppage.

Day Dream — I Was On!

My skiing was good that day. I spent about 2/3rds of the day skiing with my poles in my left hand and my camera in my right hand. I was filming most of the runs I made (at least until the battery died) and I came close to capturing a yard sale. I did catch the aftermath, but had I caught the crash it would have been super as the guy who crashed had a tumbling double ski release. However, I need to remember to point the camera down the slope and not perpendicular to plumb.

Holding the camera like I did gave me results with mostly showing the far horizon and the sky. I also need to stay tighter to the fall line and that wide traverses are not very interesting and the yard sale I talk about occurred during such a traverse (actually, I was skiing over to the left side of that trail and then I was going to seek the fall line again) and the crash was out of my lens at that time.

I took some still shots both with my camera (with kit lens with a polarizer) and my phone. The attached photo is from my camera and I changed the sweep orientation to portrait and swept Ski Brule in that fashion, I like the resultant image better.

The sweet snow

The Sweet Snow!

Ever wonder why I changed the color scheme? Blue, yellow, and white the colors I dream of!

If you are not a frequent skier, I suggest saving your money and ski at this time of the year rather than the holidays. Not only is the weather better, the snow deeper, the lift tickets cheaper, the lift lines shorter but there are more reasons to love March skiing.

Like many people who can not resist taking yet another photo of a sunset, I can not resist taking photos of and writing about these bluebird days.

Day Dream — How About YOU?

Leave a comment and share what you like about bluebird days? Perhaps share a memory or stories related to a beautiful day on the slopes.


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Lindsey Vonn World Cup Downhill Champion, AGAIN!?

By: In: Competition, News, Skiing

Lindsey Vonn FIS Downhill Champion! Say What?

Lindsey Vonn FIS Downhill Champion! Say What?

Apparently, Lindsey Vonn has locked in the downhill championship for this season! Recall her terrible season ending crash in Schladming (schladming-ading-adong) and of course we thought that was it for her season if not her career. I am confident she will be back next season, but who thought she would hang in and win yet another downhill title?

Mind you, she has not skied since the crash, but she had such a lead built up and no woman was able to dominate the downhill event sufficiently to overcome Lindsey’s total. One wonders where Lindsey would be if she was able to compete till the end of the season, I bet she would be fighting it out with Tina Maze for the overall title.

Congratulations Lindsey!


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