People endlessly say that this area doesn’t get enough snow to ski.
Here are my few usual tricks to get you 50 ski-days in “bad” snow:
*Be ready for 1st good snowfall
*Ski before breakfast or at lunch — grab a half hour whenever it’s good
*Ski really nearby — find park or golf course within a few minutes
*Don’t spare your skis — I’ll ski 1″ snow and all sorts of nasty trash and have yet to wear out a pair of skis quicker than 10 yrs — scratches are nothing. Of course, use sensible $150 touring skis for most local skiing or thin snow skiing. No need for $400 race skis unless you have access to snow to match.
*If we don’t have a local inch or three, just drive an hour to wherever the snow is — it’s almost always darn good pretty close. Huron Meadows/Brighton is less than 1 hr from Lansing — they make snow — it’s a party there — they have shady woods that hold snow really well on 4 miles of trails. Rose Lake holds snow pretty good. Stinchfield (look it up) 50 mins away holds snow GREAT and is among the most gorgeous terrain in the LP with 15 miles of great trail.
*If there’s Lake Effect action and we’re truly dry nearby, then Go West to the Yankee Springs or GR area for their much more reliable Lake Effect snow. It’s a little more drive-time for us, but beautiful terrain and nice towns to visit. 2 hrs westward gets you all you need.
*Go North! …On weekends it’s not too hard to spring for 2.5 hrs north to Roscommon or Grayling. These are all marvelous trail systems in their own rights and are each worth a visit each season, for sure. Then there’s the Real Up North. No reason not to go up north a few times each winter as well. BUT! I note that it’s not all that uncommon for Up North to be sketchy on snow and for Stinch to have plenty!
*Lastly: Never neglect Springtime! After you’ve seen green grass in March there will still be WEEKS of the season’s BEST skiing at the local woodsy golf courses. Also, any swamps near shady forests. …Rose Lake is GREAT for this. WORLD CLASS. We ski MILES of twisting, gorgeous wetland perimeters, exploring these areas anew each season, extending our winter into longer, sunnier days. It’s the best way to get ungroomed local ski-skating. I’ll exhaust myself grabbing the last 3 weeks of back-to-back days of great skiing. …And go into the bike/canoe season in peak condition.
And there you’ll have it: an easy 50 ski days for a “bad” snow year.
