Morning grooming saw new track set on Sukkerbusk, North Loup and JibFly. Those trails skied nice in the morning than softened up a bit in the afternoon. The snow that had been saved on JibFly groomed up really nice. Tracks set yesterday were a bit faster in the morning on the southern facing areas but softened nicely early afternoon. Over lunch I skated on the skate loops and found the snow still dry and structured from last nights grooming. Deck was solid, firm and fantastic spring skiing under brilliant sunshine. The compacted new snow has slowly matured this week with highs only in the mid 30's in the woods. We have transitioned to spring conditions other than some of the north facing areas have not transformed yet. Moving forward, we will be focusing on Sukkberbusk, Twin Lakes Sap Run for classic, Skaters Waltz for skating and North Loup for skate and classic. With the proper timing, the other trails not mentioned and recently groomed will provide great spring skiing.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

This morning new track was set on 28km of trail, bringing up dry snow and cutting new tracks. This evening same thing on 15km of trail and also groomed 12km of skate lanes. Skated the skate trails late afternoon and one of those times you don't want to get off the trail with such pleasant weather. The snow and base is holding out great. Plenty of snow. Spring like conditions with faster and drier skiing in the mornings and dusk, softer and slower in the afternoon. Select trails on tap for grooming in the morning.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

The snow held out great today, temps only in the mid 30's and clouded over late afternoon and dropped below freezing again by dusk. Grooming today saw the skate decks on Skaters Waltz and North Loup Ginzu groomed. A track was also set on North Loup. Best reports coming from North Loup today for both skate and classic, should be fantastic all week with sub freezing temps forecasted until Friday. Tomorrow new tracks to be cut on Sukkerbusk, Sap Run and Rootin Tootin in the morning and skate deck on Waltz conditioned. The fat bike loop was groomed Sunday at dusk and riding is very good to excellent. Please fat bike in the mornings if temp changes to above freezing in the afternoons.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

4" new snow overnight bringing 7 day total to 18" of new snow. We set double track on 35km of trail today and rolled the skate trails minus the extension. The boys pounded the skate loops most of the day after I groomed earlier in the morning. The Ginzus will touch up the skate lanes in the morning. We will also cut new track on 12km of new trail tomorrow morning. We are leaving around 20km of trail this week, saving the new snow to work in for next weekend. However, these trails were groomed on Saturday morning and the track has been skied in after last nights snow. Daily grooming will continue this week on 10km of skate only trail and conditioning of classic trails on 35km of trail.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Good to excellent conditions. 6" of new snow overnight bringing 7 day total to 14". Grooming on 45km of trail today. All skate trails groomed, 35km of new track set. We will be back out in the morning setting track on the western trails and also outer trails to the north. Temp has dropped below 0 at 9pm helping set up the grooming. Few trails not groomed recently, skier packed on the set track. Few more owls sighted today on Twin Lakes and Rootin Tootin ski trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

The new snow from this week is grooming in nicely. Around 60km of trail has been groomed multiple times, daily. We have also groomed the Twin Lakes fat bike loop multiple times this week. The skiing, fat biking and snowshoeing has been great. February sun has been brilliant when it hasn't been snowing. We will be back out in the morning touching up select trails and grooming in any new snow and on through the weekend. Conditions are a bit softer than what we have been skiing on most of the year but starting to firm up, thanks to continued sub zero evenings and the grooming. Wildlife sightings have been more numerous with many deer now using the singletrack classic trails for travel because the snow is deep and venturing off to marsh areas and open water flowage. We have also seen wolf tracks, pileated woodpeckers, porcupines and barred owls, to name a few. There was a snowy owl sighting but they have been reported to be migrating north now.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Had the pleasure of skiing the well groomed trails at Maplelag Tuesday night. Went to Maplelag to check out the possibility of a ski camp for my high school team. I was impressed by the facilities available for a team camp and I really liked the trails. I skied the Twin Lakes classic trail and ended the evening by skiing the Jib Fly Trail. My favorite moment was watching the red sunset illuminate the tops of the maple trees.

Photos:

(Dave Johnson)

We are in the midst of a snowy week at Maplelag, approaching a foot of fresh powder with 6-7" of new overnight. We have had no days of melting and the skiing has been great. We are grooming all day today and will continue daily into the weekend.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Just under 2" of snow so far this morning, looks like another inch to come. Grooming on all the double track trails first this am than continuing on most of the trail system. New snow mixed with the frozen granulated snow should make for very nice skiing today. Enjoy!

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

It's another nice day on the trails at Maplelag! Classic tracks on North Loup and Roy's Run are in very good shape, as is the skiing on Twin Lakes, Island Lake, and Wavy Gravy. Both Roy's and North Loup were fine and fun to ski. After skiing the Twin/Island/Wavy Trails, my choice today would be Twin Lakes or Island Lake Trail. The last portion of Wavy Gravy (after crossing back from the Island) that received sun exposure so the track developed some glazing; I would try the other trails unless you enjoy a good herringbone.

(Glenn Gifford)