We are closing the Snowflake trails, due to unsafe and unskiable conditions, until we receive a groomable quantity of new snow. For what it's worth, the trail conditions I encountered at West Yellowstone Friday were icy, thin, not a great deal better than what we enjoyed last week. The good news is that the ground is hard frozen, and will present a good base for the coming snowfall.

Photos:

(John Graham)

Note: Snowflake is open to Members Only until further notice, due to the limited groomed track and the thin, fragile base. The groomed portion of the 5K is suitable for B-skis. The 10K and Special K are more exposed, and should be skied with Rock skis, at your own risk. We won't be open to Day Pass skiers until we get our next groomable snow.

(John Graham)

So I went around multiple times with the groomer and now the 4K is in pretty decent shape for skate skiing there are some bare spots and there's rock showing and there are some icy spots but all in all it should be pretty good skiing. The chalet will be open tomorrow (Tuesday) and it will be a day by day thing depending on the weather.

Photos:

(Dave Johnson)

Snowflake Nordic's trails are closed until we get the next groomable snowfall. The trails remain 99% covered, with an icy cap that is keeping the ground hard, but is too thin to scratch-up and make skiable. It is, frankly, unsafe as it is. The Chalet will be closed until we reopen the trails. After 10 days of unexpected early-November skiing, it is time to re-wax the skis and prepare for the winter to come. The seven day forecast is not promising, so we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. The snow will return.

(John Graham)

We are Closing the trails at noon today, and will be Closed all day on Wednesday due to the rain and warm temps. We want to preserve the existing base, looking toward the cool-down and possible snow at the end of the week. We will post our Thursday/Friday status after the rain event departs.

(John Graham)

A great weekend of skiing, with hundreds of skiers on our trails Saturday and Sunday. The activity has compressed the base, and the Sunday morning grooming helped to smooth it and fill thin areas. Not December conditions, but not bad for early November. Now, we see what the weather brings for the next three days. We are open 8 - 8 today, and plan the same hours tomorrow. If weather dictates otherwise, we will notify. The East HS Nordic team begins daily practices at Snowflake today. Expect lots of activity between 4 - 6 pm.

(John Graham)

Just completed grooming the final sections of the 10K trail, so ALL 15K of our trails are open and groomed for skating! Classic skiers are welcome to ski the right side of the trails. The middle 4 kilometers of the 10K need more clearing on the sides, and we will do that next. On Saturday Nov 11 we are hosting the Ski Swap from 7 - Noon, and the main floor of the chalet will be closed. Members-Only skiing until Noon. The Chalet will open and Day Passes will be available after noon. We are open til 9 tomorrow, and 8 - 8 on Sunday. Bring a headlamp for night skiing.

(John Graham)

Time, ski activity, grooming, and the 1"-2" of powder on Wednesday night are really allowing a firm base to form, and the surface is flattening-out as ruts and low spots are filled-in. We cleared, cleaned, and groomed another 2 1/2 K of the 10K trail today, so we are offering about 12 km of trail, groomed for Skating. Need more snow to set a track, but Classic skiers are welcome on all trails. and a shallow track has evolved on the 5K trail. We'll be open 8-9 on Friday and Saturday. Be aware that the Snowflake Ski Swap will happen from 9-12 on Saturday morning, so the chalet will be closed to skiers, open to shoppers, and the parking lots will be crowded. All skiers please sign-in before skiing (I am recording utilization), and night skiers will need a headlamp. My thanks to those thoughtful skiers who are tossing debris off the trails. It helps.

(John Graham)

The CSS Saints found great early season ski conditions at Snowflake today. There was great coverage with minimal grass coming through. There were the usual icy spots on the low areas, but all were pretty easy to ski around or over. Overall great to be out on snow.

Photos:

(Andre Watt)

The previously groomed 5K system is firming-up and was reported "fast", by morning skiers. Saint Scholastica Nordic trained at Snowflake today, and really helped to ski-in the trails. Wet areas are freezing solid and we're smoothing them off with the groomer. Today we groomed the Biathlon loop, then the Perimeter sections of the 10K trail. Exiting the 10K start point on the athletic field, these sections take you east behind Northstar school, then north via Anders'Alley and Nikolai's Narrows to the powerline, then west to the 5K cut-through. The trail is better than 90% covered, the open spots being ice over wet/low areas. This adds about 3K to our groomed trails, for a total of 8 1/2 K groomed for Skating. Currently snowing, so tomorrow we will re-groom existing open trails, then clear and groom more of the 10K. We are open 8 - 8 on Thursday. Bring a headlamp for night skiing. What a GREAT November!

(John Graham)