We enjoyed one more ski today on the trails we've been grooming the past few days. Froze down hard again last night making for really fun skate skiing this early this morning. Not too icy, still some texture and a creamy surface on a firm deck as it slowly softened mid morning. Around noon, Jonell and I classic skied. Still enjoyed continuous skiing but such a beautiful spring day with wildlife so active. Good to see a few other folks out today. Trails are now closed for skiing. Hopefully we have select mountain bike trails open by next weekend.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Another 3" of snow overnight and during the day today bringing storm total to 6-7". Continuous falling snow kept yesterday's groom from freezing down which resulted in some melting underneath. Groomed the same 3.5km this morning, setting track on about 3km. Jonell and I skied late morning and was very nice. Touched up the same loop late afternoon after another inch had fallen. Will be back out this evening for another touch up groom after the WILD game. Anticipating a good freeze tonight and nice late season skiing in the morning.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

It's been quite a week as we continued to ski and groom on the remaining north segments of snow up until Wednesday while working on the south facing mountain bike singletrack segments, opening around five miles. Lots of spring wildlife activity as well fun to see. Heavy wet snow moved in this afternoon and after about 4" had fallen groomed a 3.5km loop utilizing the trails still holding a little bit of season snow coverage and frost. After grooming skate skied on the same loop. Both grooming and skiing better than expected. Yes, some rough/slushy spots but for third week of April no complaints. Should freeze down on the surface tonight and we plan to groom the same loop in the morning packing in the additional new snow that has fallen. If the slushy areas can freeze down, we'll try to have this loop open for skiing Saturday and Sunday morning.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Couldn't ask for a nicer closing day for spring skiing and grooming on ripened corn snow. Last nights grooming set up a bit harder with temps down to the upper 20's. The tracks were pretty fast on a morning ski but quickly softened with rapidly warming temperatures and sunshine. The skate deck that was groomed last night was as good as it gets for spring skiing during the "sweet spot" transition time. The pure corn snow continued to groom out as well as it is skiing as we groomed out select trails later morning and later afternoon for the evening skiers. We are now "officially" closing the trails for the season. Thanks everyone that came to ski and supported the trails at Maplelag this season.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Happy Easter! Didn't freeze down as hard as expected last night, just a glazing on the surface. Early morning skate skiing was interesting with a softish base and the glazing but still pretty darn nice skiing for April 9th in this rapid warm up. Early evening reset track on Sap Run and groomed/compressed 4 of 5km of Skaters Waltz, using the end of Sap Run as a connector to make a full loop. Much easier grooming as the snow has transformed to 100% corn snow. Also tapped into the unharvested corn on JibFly which hasn't been groomed since all the new snow this past week. JibFly groomed up very nice and should be good skiing mid morning at the transition time along with the other trails groomed this evening. At sunset Jonell and I skied on Sap Run and just like grooming, skiing on corn snow is very good provided the base is firm.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Another special day of late season skiing. Started the day out skiing with Jonell catching the beautiful moon set and sun rise. Skied a couple of area lakes before transitioning to the ski trails. The tracks were firm and fast but enough give for kick and turning. Few hours later skated with Jon hitting the transition time as the corduroy set from last night was slowly transitioning to a creamy texture on a firm base. We reached our highest temperature we have seen (49 degrees) since November and combined with strong south wind the snow softened up big time. Most people were off the trail by mid afternoon so the deck maintained integrity. Early evening groomed on the entire 20km of trail that is currently open. The tracks reset good, the skate deck was a bit trickier. I would of waited but was under time constraint. Regardless should be some nice spring skiing on Sunday morning. Won't freeze as hard tonight so the trails will soften quicker but the snow has quickly transitioned to corn snow so should be better glide when the temps warm. Use a little extra caution on the hills of the skate trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Another great day on the trails with steady skier action all day. Low teens for morning lows set up last nights grooming nicely, high temps only in the mid 30's and overcast most of the day keep the snow relatively fresh and provided good skiing for skiers out all hours of the day. Early evening reset one track on Sukkerbusk and Sap Run. Did not reset the track on North Loup as it was holding good definition. Renovated and combed the skate lane on Skaters Waltz and North Loup. Mixed the top thin layer of soft snow with dry slightly transformed snow below and yielded good results. Temperature looks to drop well below freezing again tonight seeing the stage for some fantastic skiing Saturday morning. Grooming plans: Will plan to regroom everything again Saturday evening.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We had a really nice day of skiing with brilliant sunshine. Great seeing so many folks out today. A mid afternoon ski found the new snow a little draggy from the strong April sun but air temps stayed in the upper 20's keeping the snow relatively fresh and the deck was firm and skied well considering the time of year. We groomed the 20km of trail that is open this morning then back out in the evening combing out the 10km of skate lanes. With slightly warmer temps forecasted tomorrow and the snow not transformed, best to get out in the morning. Grooming plans: Weather permitting, we will plan to groom again Friday evening on select trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We woke up to another 3" when we hit the trails to groom on the same trail we worked on yesterday. We did a morning session then back out in the afternoon after another inch or so had fallen bringing the storm total to around 9". At sunset, Jonell, Jon and I classic skied on Sap Run and Sukkerbusk. Hard to believe the mid winter conditions for early April and Jonell said it felt like January with the single digit windchill and one of the best April skis ever. Wind was settling down and drifting was going to bed. Should be really nice skiing in the morning. Grooming plans: We will be back out grooming on Sap Run, Sukkerbusk and North Loup setting track and renovating and combing out the skate lanes on Skaters Waltz and North Loup.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

As of 9pm around 5-6" of new snow. This afternoon we started grooming on 20km of trails of Sap Run, Sukkerbusk, North Loup and Skaters Waltz. We are setting 10km of track and skate grooming 10km of trail. The new snow that fell today was a mix of dry and fluffy, graupel deposition, sleet and fine grained dense snow at the end. The snow groomed up very well and packed nicely. In between the afternoon and even groom, I skated on Skaters Waltz and part of North Loup. The skiing was incredible and snow was buttery and smooth. Base was solid thanks to 8 passes on the trail. Grooming plans: We will be back out in the morning grooming on the same 20km of trail.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)