2018 - 2019 Outdoor sports forum

[Jonger]

December 1st kicks off the snowmobile season. This year it's a no-go on day 1.

 

[beavis1729]

Yeah, not a good pattern for the next couple weeks, it appears. Frustrating as ****, but I guess it’s still early. 

I have a trip planned in late January to take my son snowmobiling for the first time, in northern WI. Can’t wait. 

[josh_4184]

Yea gonna be a few weeks at least, the past few years we have had decent starts to the season with a torch towards xmas hopefully this year we can get some consistent cold/LES towards end of December into Jan

[Jonger]

17 hours ago, josh_4184 said:

Yea gonna be a few weeks at least, the past few years we have had decent starts to the season with a torch towards xmas hopefully this year we can get some consistent cold/LES towards end of December into Jan

Although... here's last year on this date.

 

[Jonger]

I'm hoping to see something improve by the 15th onward.

I'll be working my tail off for most of this month, but I still want snow pack to start piling up. 

[josh_4184]

Not looking all that great for the next couple weeks, hoping it turns around towards the end of the month or Xmas-New Years may be a wash.  Haven't even fired my sled up yet....

[Jonger]

Basically now through Dec 22nd is toast. Lots of guys riding around in circles in the Grand Marais to Paradise to Newberry triangle.

Some guy on my FB page said he put on 300 miles this weekend up there.

[slow poke]

14 minutes ago, Jonger said:

Basically now through Dec 22nd is toast. Lots of guys riding around in circles in the Grand Marais to Paradise to Newberry triangle.

Some guy on my FB page said he put on 300 miles this weekend up there.

My cousin's place half way between town and the Point got a foot of fresh snow Thursday-Saturday morning on top of the hard crusty snow they had left. Down in town got less then half of that. Snow is pretty good north of town along the lake shore heading toward GM. People have been riding up there since Thanksgiving. It's not great but it's a start.

[slow poke]

This will be the first time since 1997 that we won’t be up north between Christmas and New Years, in 97 we didn’t go up because of the weather, this year it’s because we’re going to Florida. When we booked the trip back in May I wasn’t really happy because I thought we would be missing out on a week of snowmobiling, now it’s looking like we picked a good year to go down there. A group of us are heading to WY snowmobiling for a week in early Janurary, hopefully the cold and some snow will kick in by the time we get back from out there because it’s not looking to good between now and January. Probably should have kept our razor, at least we could have been out riding some and stayed warm when’s there’s no snow. I did put 25 miles on my TW 200 yesterday though on the back roads around home. Felt like a early spring day.

[josh_4184]

7 minutes ago, slow poke said:

This will be the first time since 1997 that we won’t be up north between Christmas and New Years, in 97 we didn’t go up because of the weather, this year it’s because we’re going to Florida. When we booked the trip back in May I wasn’t really happy because I thought we would be missing out on a week of snowmobiling, now it’s looking like we picked a good year to go down there. A group of us are heading to WY snowmobiling for a week in early Janurary, hopefully the cold and some snow will kick in by the time we get back from out there because it’s not looking to good between now and January. Probably should have kept our razor, at least we could have been out riding some and stayed warm when’s there’s no snow. I did put 25 miles on my TW 200 yesterday though on the back roads around home. Felt like a early spring day.

You definitely picked a great year to head south as Hell week this year is not going to happen (feel bad for the businesses) , maybe small portion of the UP but if their is any snow will be toast with every rider heading that way. Hopefully Mid-Jan we can get some snow, but EL-Nino winters are historically pretty bad for Norther Lower. 

[Jonger]

1 hour ago, slow poke said:

This will be the first time since 1997 that we won’t be up north between Christmas and New Years, in 97 we didn’t go up because of the weather, this year it’s because we’re going to Florida. When we booked the trip back in May I wasn’t really happy because I thought we would be missing out on a week of snowmobiling, now it’s looking like we picked a good year to go down there. A group of us are heading to WY snowmobiling for a week in early Janurary, hopefully the cold and some snow will kick in by the time we get back from out there because it’s not looking to good between now and January. Probably should have kept our razor, at least we could have been out riding some and stayed warm when’s there’s no snow. I did put 25 miles on my TW 200 yesterday though on the back roads around home. Felt like a early spring day.

I told the guys, December is toast. 100%.

There might be no serious trail riding until mid Jaunary at this rate. 6 weeks of the season in the trashcan.

This is 2011-2012. But worse.

Not as warm, but just as useless.

[josh_4184]

5 minutes ago, Jonger said:

I told the guys, December is toast. 100%.

There might be no serious trail riding until mid Jaunary at this rate. 6 weeks of the season in the trashcan.

This is 2011-2012. But worse.

Not as warm, but just as useless.

Yea sucks to lose 1/3 of the riding season at least before any meaningful winter weather could arrive.  I haven't even had to snowblow/shovel my property yet and probably wont have to for quite some time which is unheard for my area.  Glad I didn't buy a new sled or spend any money on gear etc this year. 

I keep saying it every year that I am going to sell my sleds and buy a couple side x sides, this season I may actually go through with it. I then can get use 12 months a year. Hard to justify buying a 12k+ sled to use only 4 months a year if that.

[BuffaloWeather]

18 minutes ago, josh_4184 said:

Yea sucks to lose 1/3 of the riding season at least before any meaningful winter weather could arrive.  I haven't even had to snowblow/shovel my property yet and probably wont have to for quite some time which is unheard for my area.  Glad I didn't buy a new sled or spend any money on gear etc this year. 

I keep saying it every year that I am going to sell my sleds and buy a couple side x sides, this season I may actually go through with it. I then can get use 12 months a year. Hard to justify buying a 12k+ sled to use only 4 months a year if that.

Get some jet skis they’re more fun anyways. You can use them May-September every year. I plan to get one soon, a bunch of my buds ride every weekend all summer. 

 

[josh_4184]

32 minutes ago, BuffaloWeather said:

Get some jet skis they’re more fun anyways. You can use them May-September every year. I plan to get one soon, a bunch of my buds ride every weekend all summer. 

 

Eh, I don't live near a lake, so wouldn't get much use, SxS's can be used on my property for plowing, hauling, and even trail riding granted not as fun as a sled, but if I was in a heated cab would complain to much.

 

Grasping at straws but GFS V3 long range has some snow at least for the UP.  Wont verify but at least it looks better then the GFS and Euro showing the monsoons... 

[slow poke]

1 hour ago, BuffaloWeather said:

Get some jet skis they’re more fun anyways. You can use them May-September every year. I plan to get one soon, a bunch of my buds ride every weekend all summer. 

 

I have 2 of them for sale if anyone is interested, haven't used them much the past two summers and need the room in the barn.

[slow poke]

3 hours ago, josh_4184 said:

You definitely picked a great year to head south as Hell week this year is not going to happen (feel bad for the businesses) , maybe small portion of the UP but if their is any snow will be toast with every rider heading that way. Hopefully Mid-Jan we can get some snow, but EL-Nino winters are historically pretty bad for Norther Lower. 

It's tough for most of the small mom and pop places to make it up there with snow for us down state's to come up and ride on and spend money Dec-Mar. With no snow and people coming up in Dec and especially hell week it's going to be really tough for them.

[BuffaloWeather]

11 minutes ago, slow poke said:

I have 2 of them for sale if anyone is interested, haven't used them much the past two summers and need the room in the barn.

How much? Looking for a Double. 

[slow poke]

6 minutes ago, BuffaloWeather said:

How much? Looking for a Double. 

They are both 3 seaters, the Seadoo is a 05 with about 100 hrs on it, the Yamaha is a 09 with about 70 hrs on it. I'm going to ask $3,500 for the 05 and $5,500 for the 09 and $600 for the trailer. The 09 is supercharged and will go 70 mph on a gps, the 05 is not and will go around 55 mph.

[slow poke]

Starting to look like northern lower and the UP will be in good shape for outdoor winter sports activity after this storm hits tomorrow night with 2-4” of heavy wet snow in northern lower and 4-8” in the UP. It’s probably going to rain some in northern lower Monday for a while but with the snow on the ground now and what additional they get on top of it with this storm it should make a great base because of the high moisture content in it. System snow makes the best snowmobile trails base. After this storm some off and on lake effect snow should only help to get the trails and slopes in good shape moving forward into mid January and beyond. We’ll see how all this shakes out over the next few days but I feel it should be good for outdoor winter activity’s finally. South in mid Michigan and down I’m thinking it might be awhile before we see any decent cold or snow that sticks around. Wonder what the least amount of snow Detroit has ever had for December and January combined is because this past December and now January would have to rival it I would think. One good thing about hitting rock bottom is you can only go up from there so next December couldn’t be any worse could it? 

[josh_4184]

2 hours ago, (((Will))) said:

It's not like it's been a disastrous winter as is. Already had >100 inches of snow, 20-30 inches of snowcover...a snow pack that's been around ~2 months already. 

I'm just glad I live in a snow belt. I can't imagine what it would be like to have had under 12" for the season AND call Indiana your home. When my family dies someday I'll remind myself - at least you don't live in Indiana.

Reminds me of a joke I heard at my last women's prayer group - 'what's worse than living on the south/east side of Chicago? Knowing that you're also in Indiana.'

Not all snow belts have had the same results as the Keweenaw unfortunately, my area is almost 3' down for the year so far, lot of businesses hurting pretty badly right now, but looks to perhaps turn around the next few weeks we shall see.

[slow poke]

We rode about 40 miles yesterday evening, just out to dinner to Grayling and back and hit some two tracks on the way back. They groomed Friday night so the trail we rode was really nice except that stretch right along the freeway going into town. About 6” of heavy snow up there but you don’t have to go very far south to start seeing grass. Houghton lake south is more grass then snow.

[josh_4184]

Granted this is in fantasy range but this is a nice look for the Northwoods going into the 3rd week of Jan

 

[kevlon62]

Great weekend up in Walker, MN with the sleds. Trails were groomed and fast. Have to believe there is a sweet second half of season riding going for most of the northern half of our sub.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

[RogueWaves]

Apparently all interest in riding was abandoned between Jan 6th, and this evening??

[Jonger]

Myself and one other were rescued Sunday night in the Huron mountains. There will be a news story on the situation soon. Put it this way.... 60 mph winds, 2 stuck snowmobiles and 15 miles from anything except the Eagle Mine. 

Snow was 6 feet deep with 10 foot drifts.

We both had hypothermia.... I started accepting we were going to freeze to death.

Thanks to Allen and Ryan from the Eagle Mining company for saving our asses.

 

[Stebo]

Jeez man, good thing you got out alright beyond the hypothermia.

[josh_4184]

8 hours ago, Jonger said:

Myself and one other were rescued Sunday night in the Huron mountains. There will be a news story on the situation soon. Put it this way.... 60 mph winds, 2 stuck snowmobiles and 15 miles from anything except the Eagle Mine. 

Snow was 6 feet deep with 10 foot drifts.

We both had hypothermia.... I started accepting we were going to freeze to death.

Thanks to Allen and Ryan from the Eagle Mining company for saving our asses.

 

Wow, glad you made it out, did you plan on riding your sled during the blizzard? I went out for about 5 mins and turned around and went home on Sunday, it was nasty, heck even got my sled stuck at the end of my street. 

[luckyweather]

Myself and one other were rescued Sunday night in the Huron mountains. There will be a news story on the situation soon. Put it this way.... 60 mph winds, 2 stuck snowmobiles and 15 miles from anything except the Eagle Mine. 
Snow was 6 feet deep with 10 foot drifts.
We both had hypothermia.... I started accepting we were going to freeze to death.
Thanks to Allen and Ryan from the Eagle Mining company for saving our asses.
 

holy cow, glad you made it out okay, wow. Did you have a personal locator beacon or did somebody just come upon you?

The current situation down here at 43north isn’t great for much of anything outdoors, snow is trashed, can’t ride mountain bikes, too icy for studded fat bikes, ice isn’t solid enough on the water to do anything, ski hills are trashed, can’t snowshoe or XC ski. So I’m going ice climbing this weekend, the late season cold is good for one thing - freezing up the waterfalls and keeping the ice climbing season active.

[beavis1729]

Glad you’re ok Jonger. 

Took my son snowmobiling for the first time last weekend, around the Bergland / Ontonagon / Silver City area in the UP. Beautiful area and great trail conditions. Did about 120 miles. About 20 degrees in the day and 5 at night. There was about 2-3 feet on the ground...it was before the recent big storm. 

[weatherbo]

11 hours ago, Jonger said:

Myself and one other were rescued Sunday night in the Huron mountains. There will be a news story on the situation soon. Put it this way.... 60 mph winds, 2 stuck snowmobiles and 15 miles from anything except the Eagle Mine. 

Snow was 6 feet deep with 10 foot drifts.

We both had hypothermia.... I started accepting we were going to freeze to death.

Thanks to Allen and Ryan from the Eagle Mining company for saving our asses.

 

Jonger, wow!  WTF were you thinking even being out?  I didn't feel safe walking to the end of my driveway the other night! It's too deep to ride... heck it's too deep to even snowshoe.  Two people have died within 5-10 miles of my house since I've been here as a result of getting lost or stuck and then freezing to death. One of the guys was up by Eagle, too.  The remoteness and inaccessibility of this area, especially in the winter is nothing to take so lightly.  This a wilderness, you know that!

June last year, I was at a friends camp near the Silver Lake Basin (probably not far from where you were stranded as the crow flies) on a beautiful, sunny 65 degree day, wearing only short sleeves and decided to take a little hike alone.  30 minutes in, clouds and a north wind moved in. 10 minutes later it was 34, foggy, misting, wind was blowing.  I got cold, panicked, got turned around, no cell service.  I was shivering and shaking, and I too, for brief moments thought I could die.  The regret that just poured through me was awful.  To die from making such an innocent, stupid mistake.  I never want to feel that again.  If not for my wonderful better-half and the other guys at camp laying on their truck horns, it may have ended differently for me.  One of the best lessons I have learned living here- respect what can kill you.

Glad you are okay.  Good God!