This week is opposite week which means the trails that are normally groomed for skating are groomed for classic skiing and the trails that are normally groomed for classic skiing are groomed for skating. This was my first experience with opposite week and I was able to skate Lion’s Pride, Hair Raiser, and Wild Thing. I skated on one or two inches of fresh fallen snow. Conditions were very good. The groomer showed up about an hour and a half into my outing so I was able to skate on fresh corduroy for the last few kilometers. His dog Sprocket found me on Wild Thing and accompanied me for several kilometers.

Photos:

(Jim Gantz)

We picked up a solid inch of snow Wednesday afternoon and groomed the 'skate' loops after the snow passed through (it's opposite week so the traditional classic only trails are groomed for skating and the traditional skate loops are now tracked for classic). With Lou's help we also did some brushing along Lions' Pride but there's still some face-slappers to watch out for - skate down the center of the trails to avoid them. After grooming, we did our Wednesday Night ski and took advantage of skating the classic trails and though they're slightly narrower than the skate loops, the width was never an issue and was an absolute blast with Wild Thing particularly fun on skate skis. Get out an enjoy Opposite Week while you can - Monday the trails return back to normal.

Photos:

(Robert Polic)

Skied both Long Rider and Bruce's Roundabout twice around this morning. First circuit was lightning fast. Second circuit started that way, but a quick burst of snow halfway through made the last 5k a slower push through an inch of light powder in the tracks. We're hearing nothing but great comments about our Opposites Week grooming. Until next Monday, all loops normally groomed classic only are groomed for skate only. Loops normally groomed for skate only are groomed classic only. Skiers really like the opportunity to ski "the other side" for a change. As of 2 p.m. it is snowing fairly heavily again. Once it stops, Robert plans on regrooming skate side for a weekly group night ski tonight. I plan on grooming some classic loops tomorrow, and finish them up on Friday.

(Will Maines)

Overall the trails are in great condition. Except for a very few spots, tracks are deep and firm. Control is good on downhills with curves at the bottom. I skied Lions Pride, Oak Ridge, Short Cut and Hair Raiser. If you ski classic today, as has been the case all week, a base of either orange binder or green klister is invaluable. Just making sharp turns out of the tracks tends to wipe off regular kick wax fairly rapidly. A note for the coming week: On Monday, Robert and I will begin grooming for our Opposites Week. All trails normally groomed classic only will be groomed skate only. All skate loops will be groomed classic only through next Sunday. Signs will be posted at the trailhead and at the intersection where skate and classic trails split. We urge all skiers to be respectful of the change and enjoy seeing and skiing "the other side" of the system for a week.

(Will Maines)

All the skate loops where touched up this morning and are in great shape. William had groomed all the classic tracks on Thursday. We changed the direction of Bruce's Roundabout on the skate loop - it now skis counter-clockwise. This flows a lot better - no longer needing to come to almost a complete stop to make the tight off-camber turn. The sign has been moved to reflect the change, online map will be updated shortly.

Photos:

(Robert Polic)

Trails were hard-packed and crusty this morning after the below zero overnight. All the skate loops got tilled up and regroomed today. Doug's Folly on the classic side was also groomed and trackset. Report from skate skiers today is the trails are phenomenal with just enough ice to make them fast and fun but still controllable - I'm about to head out to see if that's true. Thanks to Lou for riding along today and helping with some lopping on Long Rider.

Photos:

(Robert Polic)

I skied Doug’s Folly and then Lions’ Pride. Both had been recently groomed. The groomer did a good job of churning the icy crust. However, the end product was crusty old snow which was very uneven. That made control on the downhills a bit difficult. My skis tried to track straight instead of following the curves. Because of that, I would rate overall conditions as fair to good. As the groomer noted, the outbound and return classic/skate tracks between the warming house out to the start of the classic and skate loops was sketchy. Thanks to the grooming, conditions were certainly better then they would have been without the grooming.

Photos:

(Jim Gantz)

Just finished grooming and tracking all classic loops. First mile out from the warming building is sketchy, but once on the classic only loops the tracks are, for the most part, deep, firm and very good. Skiers on the skate loops said the deck is very fast and hard, sometimes icy. They were groomed yesterday. We'll hopefully be able to redo them tomorrow. They're good, but be careful on the downhills with curves at the bottom.

(Will Maines)

Trails were glazed up this morning after yesterday's warmup so all the skate loops got tilled up and are back in skiable condition. Yesterday we held a Super Brush Party at Razorback and had 10 volunteers from our Wednesday Night Ski League come out and spend 3-4 hours brushing Long Rider through Bruce's Roundabout - these sections are now in excellent shape. The main snowshoe loop from the chalet also was brushed. Thank you Chase, Elizabeth, Carl, Deena, Paul, Catherine, Tim, Alison and John.

Photos:

(Robert Polic)

Skied several classic loops this morning. Tracks were softening up, but still had a little glaze. Mostly very good even after heavy use this weekend. On the three kilometers of trail that are groomed for both skate and classic there were stretches of shallow, washed-out track, but otherwise tracks were holding up very well. I plan on waiting to regroom until Tuesday morning when it is supposed to be significantly colder. Both classic and skate loops will be redone.

(Will Maines)