Groomed for both skate and classic. The snow was firm and crusty this morning, so it was better for grooming than it was yesterday. Man-made snow loop was groomed with Pistenbully yesterday and then skied on. Skate tracks are deep in some places, but fresh grooming this morning on the natural snow areas should be better. Skipped Exit Ramp, East Horseshoe, and Swamp Loop. Otherwise, plenty of trails to ski.

Photos:

(Bob Conzemius)

Conditions are great this morning! Get out and skate before the big melt. Trails are in better shape than I thought they’d be after last week. You can ski most of it on good skis, but do watch put for bare spots.

Photos:

(Bob Conzemius)

Refreshed the skate lane over both Grant-in-Aid and biathlon trails. There is still a decent track in many places. Should be nice, fast skating on Sunday morning! Trails closed are Exit Ramp, the very borrom part of Main Street (on Grant-in-Aid, at the bottom of the tubing hill), and East Horseshoe (on biathlon side). Watch out going down the downhill right before the Wall. That part is south facing and has a bare patch that is easily avoided for now, but one or two days of melting could melt across the whole trail.

Photos:

(Bob Conzemius)

Midday conditions on man made snow loops were great, just enough melt to get an edge. But as the afternoon sun blazed on the south exposed hills, it mushed up. Upper trails still snow covered but not groomed. Should be good skiing for quite awhile if you pick the time of day and are satisfied with lower loops of man made snow.

(Catherine McLynn)

Groomed all the trails and attempted to set track. Pistenbully set okay track, but track on GIA trails wasn’t very good, so we gave up on that. The base is pretty hard underneath. This may be the last time we groom outside of the 1.5 k man-made snow loop as the weather will get really warm after this weekend, and it was a relatively dry winter, so there is not much snow to melt. Get out and enjoy the last weekend of fully open trails! There is a ski jump tournament going on this weekend if you’d like to see an additional nordic sport.

Photos:

(Bob Conzemius)

Packed and set tracks on all the trails. The base still isn’t terribly deep (maybe 4” or so), and Pistenbully tiller will bring up dirt if the groomer is not too careful, so we are still grooming a good portion of the trails by snowmobile. Trails are scenic with new snow and frost on the trees.

Photos:

(Bob Conzemius)

Packed and tracked all the Grant-In-Aid trails. We are now able to groom the Bittersweet loop with the Pistenbully. The rest of the natural snow trails must still be done by snowmobile or we will bring up dirt or leaves. All trails are in good condition. Had about 3.5” in the Dec 29-30 snowfall.

Photos:

(Bob Conzemius)

Three inches of snow on top of packed and tracked trail made for a little challenge getting up steep hills like "the Wall" in the fluffy stuff. Lower loops were quick packed for easier skiing but upper loops really fun with the natural snow on the fast downhills. More grooming will be done in a few days, so enjoy the fluff now!

(Catherine McLynn)

Set a track around the Grant-In-Aid part of the trails, so all the major trails are now tracked. The lower biathlon trails were still in good shape, so I did not groom those. I skied beforehand, and the trails were great! Maybe a bit bumpy on the natural snow like it typically is at the beginning of the season before the snow fills in the low areas, but the groomer smoothed that out a bit. Track might not be the best I’ve set— still learning what settings are best for the new groomer, but it’s better than we would have been able to set in packed snow with the old groomer.

(Bob Conzemius)

Conditions are good with several rounds of 1-3” snow the past ten days. Groomed/packed the Grant-In-Aid and the upper portion of the biathlon trails this morning. I was about to set a track and till the lower biathlon trails with the Pistenbully but ran out of time. Grooming plans: Our other groomers will be doing remaining trails, and one of us will set a track on Grant-In-Aid trails in the next couple days.

Photos:

(Bob Conzemius)