For me living in Phelps it was a stressful snow play season that did not begin until the very end of January & then I feared it would end quickly like last 2 previous years so crammed my riding thinking it would end. Feb & Mar were great riding conditions in Vilas & WUPMI with Vilas probably taking the edge for groomed trail conditions. Trails in Vilas still good today but I'm done worn out & looking forward to Spring. Southern & Central WI had good snow early so they may think it was a very good season but waiting to hear what everyone thinks & why?
What Kind of A Season Was It For you?
- Thread starter whitedust
- Start date
hemi_newman
Active member
very slow start until Feb. I was only able to ride around the yard until Feb. due to lack of snow.I just wish that next Nov and Dec. starts out fast....we did not have any snow on the ground for deer season until the last weekend of hunting season.But from Feb on out it has been awesome,would have been even better if we would have gotten the predicted amounts each storm was spouse to bring us.
It was a good year for me, huge improvement over last year! I counted 3 Thaws for our part of the state but the snows kept falling regularly with a couple of storms thrown in and the local trails provided plenty of opportunity to ride. My first ride locally wasn't until New Year's Day but we had steady snows to keep the trails fresh and bring them back after the meltdowns. A trip to Price County was outstanding with excellent trails and moderate traffic. My only regret was that I shut things down about 2 weeks too early. My last ride was during a warm up the first week of March and the trails were shot by the end of the weekend but then things turned cold again, it snowed, and many were able to squeeze in another ride or two before trails closed for good.
No break-downs, no wrecks, I don't even recall a bad stuck. All things considered, a good year!
Gary
No break-downs, no wrecks, I don't even recall a bad stuck. All things considered, a good year!
Gary
polarisrider1
New member
Pretty good year. One trip to Cooke City, Montana. One trip to Lava Mountain/Togwotee Wyoming. A trip up to Paradise MI. A trip to Harbor Springs/Petosky (power lines). A Wawa off trail trip, Several Irons, MI. boondocking trips. That's about it! Missed out on a 10 mile/snowies trip due to lack of snow. Been invited to a Snowies trip for first week of April but heck I got to work eventually! I suspect I am done. Only Negative is season got a real late start. All ready got a West Yellowstone and a Cooke city trip in the works for next year.
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It was definitely a slow start. We put in trails in mid November and didn't see snow til the week of Christmas. Everyone was pretty ornry to say the least. But, then it came with a vengence. We got about 18" all at once and things got rollin'. We sold our sled last year, so this year I spent all my trail time running the groomer. I enjoy the heck outta groomin'. Just somethin about being out there alone trying to make the perfect trail. We certainly had some bad conditions, the usual meltdown and lots of rain. All in all a good season. But all good things must end as they say, and to be honest, I'm ready for green grass. We'll be pulling trail signage soon.
snowdance
Member
I will let you know when it is over.
Plenty of riding left if I can just get up there again…
I thought it would be a banner year since I started late December when Madison got hit. Went up and put 450 miles in day and a half. Got bored with the farm feilds and road crossings so decided to wait until UP got better. Didn't know it would take so long to get good snow. Did a week trip with the wife and dogs towards end of February in Keweenaw. 950 miles of absolutely beautiful trail conditions! Then I was lucky enough to hook up with a couple JDers this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday and racked up another 1000 of absolutely beautiful trail conditions! If it would have not been for the freezing rain/sleet, would have got in a few more. Of all the miles, only had about 20 miles that you could bitch about. Great job to all the groomers in the UP and Northern Wisconsin! I think I'm done, but will wait a few weeks before putting the kitties down for their long summer nap. Never know, my numbers could come in!
skidoorevrider
New member
very bad year for me. the snow we got in s.w wisconsin came but didnt stay. and when it did snow the wind blew it all off the trails. no trip up north this year due to health issues with the wife. so only 210 miles this year
dfattack
Well-known member
Late start like most people, but a great first year with my new riding partner. the only disappointment was we didn't get to meet up and ride! We have to make it happen next year!
dj2muchjunk
New member
In the end awesome year. Late start in north central Wisconsin but mother nature went back to her old ways. 993 miles from my back yard. No trailers and only one breakdown all year. Club had some groomer trouble early on but went perfect after that. Advised forum that March riding was slim to none and am eating crow on that comment. Can not wait till next year. Bring it on!
Overall a good season. first 2 trips up North were a bust, but I already had the time off for 2 long weekends in January, so took the time and went, came back after 1 day on one trip as rain wiped what trails they had.
Was able to backpack a trip in Feb. 1st time we backpacked and will definitely do it again. We always wanted to ride from the house to Hurley or Houghton. We were not able to leave from the house as Rain rolled in on Sunday and closed our trails but we trailer North and left from Forrest cty. and rode to Hurley on Sunday. Rode Iron cty. on Mon. rode LG on Tuesday and rode to Houghton on wed. stayed over and Rode Kew. on Thursday and was back in Mole lake on Friday by 230pm. Just had a blast. Snowed just about every day.Trees looked awesome. When we stopped at the Bug bar on Wednesday, we were the only sleds there.
Trails were open around the house before and after the backback trip and put on a few miles. Then a few more weekend rides in March.
Here's a few pics
Just_Ride
Was able to backpack a trip in Feb. 1st time we backpacked and will definitely do it again. We always wanted to ride from the house to Hurley or Houghton. We were not able to leave from the house as Rain rolled in on Sunday and closed our trails but we trailer North and left from Forrest cty. and rode to Hurley on Sunday. Rode Iron cty. on Mon. rode LG on Tuesday and rode to Houghton on wed. stayed over and Rode Kew. on Thursday and was back in Mole lake on Friday by 230pm. Just had a blast. Snowed just about every day.Trees looked awesome. When we stopped at the Bug bar on Wednesday, we were the only sleds there.
Trails were open around the house before and after the backback trip and put on a few miles. Then a few more weekend rides in March.
Here's a few pics
Just_Ride
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GREAT YEAR!! 2910 miles on our new doo's! Going out tomorrow going to try to get last 90 on to make it an even 3000! Season started good and bad, good we had snow to sled on New years week but bad cuz we wore out our wear rods and wrecked our skis in the first 450 miles! OUCH! Next trip was to the wup Awesome is all I can say,780 miles of pure FUN! Our trails reopened up last week in Jan and has been truly excellent since. It's like the trails got better every week and besides the roads they are still great.Overall great year! Many thanks go out to all the clubs in all nine counties we were in. And also the WUP clubs. And a special thanks goes out to our groomer Gary (Knight Owls) he does one **** of a job on our 126 miles of trails here in the Hills.
It was a great year. Yes it was a slow start maybe feb 1st to last sat the 23rd. The riding was totally enjoyable all in all we have a great time. Maybe 1600 great miles of smiles.
My thoughts on last year it was the pits maybe 800 miles and most of it was not enjoyable as hard as that seems. We did lots of skiing that year, not so much this year.
T
Team Elkhorn
Guest
As others have said, it was a late start but for me, this year turned out better then the last few combined. I don't know (or care) how many miles because the numbers spinning on an odometer are not important to me. For me its about spending quality time with family and friends. And being able to ride from home was a big part of that. Now that our kids have grown and are raising their own families, getting time off work at the same time for a trip is all but impossible. This year our grandkids finally got to ride the Kitty Cat on snow. Watching them ride it around the coarse they setup in our backyard was priceless. Also, tinkering and bopping around on the vintage sled was more fun then I thought was possible. So for me, this was a great season.
alwaysright
New member
Pretty good season in western WI. didn't have to travel much this year chasing snow as locally we always had enough snow to ride from mid January through last weekend. regular snow falls of 1-2" 2-3" a few times a week kept adding to the base and giving the groomers plenty to work with. No breakdowns, or any damage so I can't complain one bit.
Started early for me in madison because of the 20 inch snowfall dumping in december. Put on 1500 miles from the house this year. Took 2 trips to twin lakes mi, and one trip to mercer wi. Overall it was a good year, ended up with 3700 miles, and no sled issues or problems. Hopefullly next year will be even better.