It looks like you are using an ad blocker. That's okay. Who doesn't? But without advertising revenue, we can't keep making this site awesome. Click the link below for instructions on disabling adblock.
Welcome to the Newschoolers forums! You may read the forums as a guest, however you must be a registered member to post.
Register to become a member today!
What's the resort with the best park in the Midwest?
I have a couple days set aside to take a quick weekend trip somewhere in the midwest (WI, MN, or MI) I live just south of the WI border and I was wondering what you guys thought? I was thinking Granite but Im not sure how much snow people will have over xmas break
I haven't been to any places outside MN in the midwest, but we have some pretty good park skiing here. Hylands is super fun because of the fact that you can hot lap the rope tow all day and get tons of laps in on a pretty fun park. Spirit is also sick, they have a really good jump line and some good rails as well. Afton is going to be killer this year too because it was just bought by Vail and is going to have an amazing park because of that. Trollhaugen is always a fun time too. If I were you I would try and do a different place each day, I feel like that would be super fun
Granite Peak no doubt. They have the best park and will probably have more snow than most other places in Wisconsin. It's just plain fun to ride around the hill outside of the park too.
Depending how far you are willing to drive...Michigan has a few pretty decent parks. Nubs Nob always has a stout park with solid booters, rainbows and c rails, they used to have a superpipe but took it down after all of the injuries. Boyne has a few parks and probably the best nightlife east of Breckenridge.
im super excited to see how much better afton gets this year, and with the epic pass i can ride co and mn on the same pass. now if the temp would just fucking drop already
Be careful where you go, if you go to cannonsburg like several people have recommended, be aware that there are children(under 10) EVERYWHERE and it is a fairly small hill, but they just have a tons of rails. I personally love Nubs Nob(northern michigan) it always has a wicked jump line(3 40' kickers that aren't just mounds of snow with ramps poorly shaped on them), and they also have some pretty sick rail setups. If you go to Nubs Nob make sure to keep updates on their facebook page because they usually don't have jumps setup until after christmas.
Granite Peak is nice and all, but it's not really worth the drive. Just go to the nut. I made the drive to gp once, and while it was fun, i'll never do it again. the nut is pretty comparable and soo much closer. tyrol ain't half bad either.
I live in chicago and since your pretty close, Tyrol is pretty damn good and its not too far. CHestnut is close too, which is really good too. But, if I were to choose the best, I would go to Granite Peak althoug its a long drive.
I'm tellin you....GP isn't worth THAT far of a drive. The place is dope, but it's still the midwest. It's not really worth the 6 hour drive when you could just go to the nut or Tyrol...both of which are pretty comparable in terms of park quality....but SO much closer.
Listen to this guy. I've been to all and can say that not only did I have more fun at Tyrol, it was worth the longer drive than Granite. Granite is fun, but they honestly don't have too many features. (I'm only comparing this to Tyrol, which you can hit a higher number of features for cheaper, closer, and also lap faster.)
Not sure about park, but Mount Bohemia in Michigan has Rockies-tier off-piste and they don't even have any grooming equipment. One of the biggest places in the midwest too, I think it's about 1k vertical. If you want somewhere not so remote, Blackjack and Whitecap are also great places, near the Michigan/Wisconsin border. Again, not much for park, but they're nice places with some off-piste, especially Whitecap (which has some stuff as steep as pretty much any western double black diamond, and also the scariest chairlift I've ever been on).
Also worth mentioning are Giants Ridge and Lutsen, both in Minnesota. Giants Ridge has some big jumps and is a big place (by midwest standards) but almost no off-piste. Lutsen has a few off-piste areas and is probably the biggest place in the midwest, but I don't remember if they have much/any for park.
Like others have said, granite is fun and all, but not really worth the drive. Tyrol is closer and just as good if not better at some times. Chestnut it the closest and still pretty good. I'll be up at the nut next Friday if anyone wants to shred for a bit. The only places I would avoid are cascade and sundown. Cascades park was really good then management changed and it hasn't been the same. Sundown's park is good but patrol there have been know to be complete dicks. I got my pass yanked for skiing switch through the park last year.