Still making do with the old Alpine and Tidd Tech. ASV is in the shop and may be on its last legs. Hopefully will be fixed next week and at least make it through the rest of this winter. Had to run the Alpine without drag around the trails today through 10 inches of Monday's new snow before I could groom with the drag. Finished most of the classic loops with perfect looking track. I expect that they will be a little soft, though with a cold overnight dropping into single digits the tracks should be fairly firm by morning. Wild Thing has had two passes with the Alpine but not yet groomed and tracked. Taking the morning off to groom skate loops, and if there is time will finish Wild Thing and give Oak Ridge a run through. Skiing should be excellent for the weekend despite a one-day thaw predicted.

(Will Maines)

Went out with the Alpine again today and finished all skate and classic loops. Here and there you'll find a bit of stubble, but not much. Good skis are safe. Tracks and skate deck are both in very good shape. Will continue to groom this old-fashioned way until our big groomer is fixed. Hopefully by the weekend.

(Will Maines)

Our main groomer is still down, but we got Plan B going this afternoon. Put a 68-year-old ancient groomer driver, a 30-year-old Ski-Doo Alpine and a 30--year-old beat up Tidd Tech together and the result is some pretty good conditions. Short Cut, Doug's Folly, Pine Hollow and Hair Raiser are groomed and tracked on the classic side with mostly very good tracks. Ridge Trail, Will's Crossing, Roller Coaster and Mary's Frolic are groomed on the skate side and are very good also. Grooming plan: Will see if these old bones can stand another four hours on the Alpine tomorrow to finish both classic and skate loops.

(Will Maines)

Bad news. Our groomer breakdown has proven to be much more serious than we thought. After work was done on it we thought we were good to go, but this afternoon as I went to take it out I didn't get away from the building before it blew something big--not sure what just yet. Our backup is a 1986 Ski-Doo single ski machine, and once I get a new battery for it tomorrow morning I hope to be out and grooming shortly thereafter. Crossing my fingers something doesn't go wrong with it. Very sorry we can't have things groomed with all the new snow we got Thursday, but we are trying our best to get things going tomorrow morning.

(Will Maines)

We have a hiccup we're working around at Razorback. We just blew a water pump in our groomer and are awaiting the part to arrive. Not sure when it will be up and running. Skier numbers have been down because of the cold snap, but in talking to several who have been out in the past week it seems that conditions are fair to good. I had panned both skate and classic trails at least twice. Tracks were set at least once on all classic trails. Now with only an inch-and-a-half or so of powder on top of a rock hard base, skiers will probably find improved skate conditions and fairly good skied-in classic tracks. I do plan on getting out this weekend with an ancient Ski-Doo single ski snowmobile which will pull our old 5-foot Tidd Tech if the groomer is not ready to go. Sorry we can't do more, but we'll get back up to 100 percent quality as quickly as possible.

(Will Maines)

Skied 7K of classic trails - Hairaiser through Wild Thing, just a few thin and bare spots. Had great kick, but not much glide, used Swix light blue wax. The cold was not a problem (-7F at start) - ski deliberately and keep moving and you will stay plenty warm.

(Ken Larsen)

I'm listing all loops as open, but be aware that Long Rider and Bruce's Roundabout are very poor. Unfortunately we had no choice but to take a Bobcat out there last weekend to move several large downed trees and repair some other damage. There is lots of stubble, dirt and leaves on some stretches. We also had to take the Bobcat on part of Wild Thing classic loop. Otherwise the packed trail is poor in some places, fair in others and even good for short stretches. If we get more snow I'll pack again, but otherwise I'd do more damage than good by going out again. Just have to play it by ear. The snowshoe loops are stomped and ready.

(Will Maines)

We skied Doug's Folly Monday. Most of the trail is tracked. Some thin spots, but generally good conditions for this early in the season.

(Jack Stellpflug)

Went out and groomed Shortcut and Hair Raiser for classic tonight; Ridge Trail, Will's Crossing and Roller Coaster on the skate side. Most of it is pretty darn good, but there are a few short pieces here and there where our mower did not cut as well as it should have this fall. On an inspection tour earlier this week I found trees down from heavy winds the week before on Long Rider, Bruce's Roundabout, Doug's Folly and Wild Thing. The Sayner-Star Lake Lions will have a work party this Saturday morning, and at that time we will clear the trees and I will finish grooming all loops. As for what skis to use; I wavered between rock and B skis. I'm pretty sure B skis would be okay--some stretches even would be fine for good skis--but I like to err on the conservative side.

(Will Maines)