A quick update. Got Ridge Trail and Roller Coaster on skate side and Shortcut and Hair Raiser on classic side packed this afternoon. Will groom and track them tomorrow morning. Will pack Mary's Frolic and Will's Crossing on skate side and Pine Hollow and Oak Ridge on classic side later in the morning. Hope to have them groomed and track sometime in the afternoon.

(Will Maines)

I don't know if skiers are aware that I am a one-person volunteer grooming team at Razorback. Yesterday I could do no work on the trail after 16 inches of snow as I was snowblowing driveways for six hours. This afternoon I have two fellow Lions coming on snowmobiles to start packing trails. I'll do the same with the Gator. After multiple passes I will hitch up the Ginzu and begin grooming. I would say there will be no loops ready for skiing today, but by late tomorrow morning I should have at least the inner, shorter loops groomed and tracked. Not sure how much more stuff will be weighted down on the trails, but we'll clip and remove all that we can to open up decent skiing. Sorry for the delay, but little by little we'll get everything back in good shape. Just don't expect all loops to be ready for this weekend.

(Will Maines)

One loop at a time I am getting all the saplings, brush and small trees cleared, especially oak and pine, that have been hanging low over the trails since being covered with ice and heavy snow. Couldn't work on the trails Thursday, Friday or Saturday as I was heading up the Lions club's biggest fundraiser of the year, an ice fishing tournament, but today I got Mary's Frolic on the skate side and Oak Ridge on the classic side cleared and groomed. The only loops not groomed now are Doug's Folly, Pine Hollow and Lions Pride on the classic side and Long Rider and Bruce's Roundabout on the skate side. Beginning tomorrow I will continue to clear and groom loops one at a time until everything is back in good order. Those trails that are groomed now have an excellent skate deck and deep, firm tracks for the most part.

(Will Maines)

In 37 years of grooming Razorback Ridges only once have I had to contend with as much ice storm damage as I did today. On the classic side I made one pass through Doug's Folly but did not set track as there are several stretches through the jack pines and heavy brush/sapling areas with too much low hanging stuff to make for decent skiing. I did groom and set track on Short Cut and Hair Raiser. Tomorrow the plan is to groom Pine Hollow with probably no track setting there because much of it runs through a jack pine plantation. I do plan to groom and track Oak Ridge, and will probably only groom with no tracks set on Wild Thing and Lions Pride. Today I groomed Ridge Trail, Will's Crossing, Roller Coaster and Mary's Frolic on the skate side. The skate track is excellent, somewhat soft on top with a rock hard ice base underneath. I did make several stops to cut and throw off the worst of downed or low hanging stuff, so though you may have to make an occasional duck or dodge, ski conditions are mostly excellent on all the loops I worked on. I plan to groom Long Rider tomorrow on the skate side, but not Bruce's Crossing which is heavily edged with young balsam, popple saplings and hazel brush, which often sag badly after an ice or heavy snowstorm.

(Will Maines)

Got to Razorback about 9:00, temp was 18 -- a Swix blue day for sure. We strided Lions pride and wild thing. Tracks were mostly deep but shallow in a few places. Typical pesky oak leaves here and there. Kudos to Will, awesome grooming!

(Greg Dahl)

After grooming for two days, it was really good to get out and ski almost 30k today. Tracks were mostly deep and firm, although on the loops where short stretches are also groomed for skating there was some thin, worn track. As usual, Lions Pride had a section about 1-1/2k in length where there were lots of oak leaves, although with some creativeness I never had to get out of the track. Skate skiers I met said the skate deck was the best they've ever seen. Our high today was 27F, so everything is still in excellent condition.

(Will Maines)

Between yesterday and today I got all classic loops groomed and tracked and all skate loops freshly groomed. Conditions are excellent for the most part. Deer are using some trails as private paved highways, but nothing I saw would cause much of a nuisance. Most of oak leaf litter is covered up, but that is always day to day. My advice is to ski early tomorrow, and take advantage of the conditions while they last.

(Will Maines)

Finished grooming all skate and classic loops. Should be firming up well with these temperatures. Except for 1-1/2k stretch on Lions Pride classic, even the oak leaves are of a minor hinderance. I'd rate pretty much everything very good to excellent, with the skate deck really good. It's cold, but the wind has died down quite a bit, so come on out and ski.

(Will Maines)

Snow just keeps falling up here! Groomed for classic and skate. Groomer still out with all the new snow. Soft in spots, but setting up nice. Excellent trail system!

Photos:

(Finn Ryan)

I'm not one to use the words excellent or fantastic lightly, but after grooming the 4 inches of fluffy snow we got last night I have to say both skate and classic loops are, at least 95 percent, in excellent condition. I groomed all but Long Rider and Bruce's Roundabout on the skate side this morning, along with all but Pine Hollow and Lions Pride on the classic side. I intend to redo today's work tomorrow morning to touch up the additional inch of powder we got today, and to do a complete new grooming on the loops I mentioned. Skiing should be great this weekend, but bundle up because, as the song says, "Baby, it's cold out there.".

(Will Maines)