A busy day of skiing and grooming. The 5K and Special K trails have firmed up, thanks to a lot of skiing, repeated grooming runs, and time. The classic tracks on both have been skied-in and are solid and getting fast. This morning, we were able to groom through the entire 10k trail system! The deck remains deep and soft, but clear of debris and groomed for skating. Classic skiers are welcome to ski the right side of the 10K, but it was too soft to put the Ginzu on the side of the trail today. We will be re-grooming the trails in the morning and try to keep up with any new snow. Snowflake trails, and the chalet, will remain open until 1 a.m. on New Years Eve for anyone wishing to ski into 2019. Happy, and Snowy, new year!

Photos:

(John Graham)

After receiving over a foot of new, heavy snow on Thursday, the trail crew did a great job of packing grooming and setting deep, solid tracks on the 5 k loop. Many happy skiers and some dogs out enjoying the fresh snowfall. Indications are that they will have the 10 K open soon. We classic skied on Saturday with 4.62 k of the 5 k trail open. Today an additional 1 k was opened for both techniques.

Photos:

(Doug Schumacher)

The 5K trail was well used today, and the classic track set Friday night is now well skied-in and firming-up. 5K and Special K Skate deck also benefited from many skiers, is firming-up, and was regroomed this evening. The Oval and Kiddie Loop are groomed. Twenty man-hours, and many sled runs on the 10K/Perimeter trail today could not get the snow compacted enough to pull the compactor or Ginzus up the 10M Hills! The snow remains dry, powder, and untransformed, probably owing to the low temps and low humidity. We will try again tomorrow to at least run groomers on the Perimeter Loop section of the 10K, adding 2K of groomed trail. We are doing the best that we can, and greatly appreciate the kind words that so many skiers have offered. Snowflake is open 8-8 on Sunday. On Monday we will remain open until 1 a.m. for anyone wishing to ski into 2019.

Photos:

(John Graham)

The 5km loop is in nice shape after a lot of packing work. The trails appear to have gotten a lot of traffic today but the track is holding up well.

Photos:

(Bruce Bauer)

I had a lovely ski around the 5K loop Friday afternoon, and was even right behind the groomer for half the trail with fresh classic tracks. I learned that they (the groomers) had been out since 7:00 yesterday morning (the grooming machine getting stuck about 7 or 8 times, and I saw that it's hard work to get it unstuck and back on track), working hard to get the trails in the best condition possible for all the skiers out yesterday. Thank you, thank you for the long couple days you've put in to make it possible for all us skiers to have the joy of skiing around the beautiful trails. Can't wait to get out again soon!

(Nathan Holst)

Our trails got 13" of new snow by this morning. It is wonderful, but really challenged the groomers, and we spent the morning clearing deadfall/snapped trees, and compressing the snow on the 5K/Special K. We finally groomed a pretty, but soft Skate deck and set a classic track on the 5K (less Special K). Tomorrow morning we will refresh the 5K skate deck, then begin compacting and grooming the 10K segments of the Perimeter Loop, which we plan to finish by noon. Then, we will begin to clear, compact and groom the remainder of the 10K, which probably will not be complete until Sunday. We have three groomers working, but the heavy snow makes things take time. The Oval, and the "new" Kiddie Loop were also groomed today. Open 8-9 on Saturday.

(John Graham)

Today's snow event kept the groomers busy. We began rolling and compacting about 5" of snow before sunrise, and for the next 7 hours we were just trying to stay ahead of the snowfall. All trails - 5K, 10K, Oval, and Kiddie loop were groomed at least 4 times, and began to firm-up and smooth-out. At 2 p.m. the temp went above 33 degrees, snow was wet, and the forecast was for "ice pellets", so we decided that rather than compacting wet snow and turning the trails to ice overnight, we would leave the new snow alone until tomorrow morning. Skiers reported a smooth, but slow, skate deck, and classic skiers (no track set) reported sticky conditions. The snow is still falling at this time (9:30 p.m.) but we will resume rolling and compacting at 7:00, and will have the 5K groomed and set with a classic track by noon. Then we will groom and track the 10K. Snowflake will be open 8-9 on Friday and Saturday, 8-8 on Sunday, and 8- 1 a.m. on New Year's Eve for anyone who wants to ski into 2019. Headlamps recommended for night skiing. We are still accepting registrations for the Snowflake KidSki and AdultSki programs (details on website).

(John Graham)

Had a fantastic first ski of the year out at snowflake this morning. I went around the 5K loop a couple of times. Thanks to John Graham for grooming--definitely still a number of spots to be careful about with grass sticking up and few rocks here and there, but mostly good and fairly easy to navigate overall. I'll be out now as much as possible from here on out. So excited for another ski season.

(Nathan Holst)

The light snowfall of yesterday did not add much, but the cold and overcast conditions have preserved most of what is already on the trails, so this afternoon we ran a groomer over the 5K, Perimeter Loop, and most of the 10K. Skate only, there is not enough snow to set a classic track, yet. Definitely rock ski conditions. We have closed Hovland Hill off until we gwet more snow on it, and would advise skiers to avoid "Wiggles" because it is still very bumpy. The chalet is open 8-8 every day, and the Ski Ergs are available for use by members, except during East HS practices, M-F 3:30-6:00 p.m. Think Snow!

(John Graham)

A fresh dusting of snow helped the trails today. They are still ungroomed, bumpy and thin but they are skiable. Definitely rock skis.

(John Jereczek)