Coverage was good for the most part, but there was a lot of debris and a few rocks poking up on the tops of most of the hills on Tram, lowland-highland, and dog island. The lack of snow is starting to show.....we definitely need snow.

(Nick Leisz)

Trail was groomed with fresh cord starting Saturday morning. The skate deck seemed to have less debris. It's prime January conditions. Firm but easy to get an edge. I give it a 9.5 out of 10. I think good skis are ok for skate but you will have to easily dodge the occasional stick.

(Brady Zwiefelhofer)

Skied the north loop at dusk. Firm and fast as expected. Not a lot of debris or dirty spots, looks like Jan skiing. One would be fine with good skis but there is a slight possibility of a scratch or two. The parts of the south loop and connector have a bunch of use (awesome!) as the north loop has a bit more cord showing.

(Brady Zwiefelhofer)

Ski Trail - The guys groomed and reset the classic tracks on everything tonight. They said everything was looking really nice. Fatbike Trail - Our original plan was to groom until I got a report today that the trail was riding great. I ran up anyway and I was able to put my effort into a repair on one of the sleds that we had limped along the last groom. The tracks from the riders today look fantastic and it will be great riding.

(Kevin Roytek)

Trail is fast and firm to no surprise. Didn’t really get any flakes earlier in the afternoon. There are plenty of dirty spots and debris. Very good chance at some scratches to the base of your skis. I was done about 4pm right when the groomer was heading out to scratch the surface for weekend skiing.

(Brady Zwiefelhofer)

Trails in excellent condition. Skied all but the far two north loops. Skied from trailhead to north cabin and pretty much all trails in between. Track for striding set up too. Well worth the trip.

(David Wood)

The grooming timing and execution was pretty much to perfection, in my opinion, given the amount of snow. Nice work fellas! The glide was great even given the cold temps. I skied everything except Tram. North Loop, South Loop, and Dog Island are plenty firm. Highland Lowland had some spots that were soft. There’s enough snow so it’s not lumpy like a typical early season snow. There are stretches where dirt and twigs are rather ample while other areas look like mid season form. Even for the experienced skier it will be hard to avoid all of the dirt and debris. One more snow fall will cover that. The skiing is great though so don’t let twigs get in your way.

(Brady Zwiefelhofer)

We may have been the only ones out today. The groomer was still setting the base. It was soft and slow, no classic tracks yet, but this place is sacred! Beautiful, quiet, peaceful. So good to get out there for a couple hours. Skate deck seems like it we be nice and firm tomorrow. Thanks to the team for making such a destination.

Photos:

(Kirk Spencer)

Wow! What a day. Groomers were out in full force today to try and get a handle on all the snow. All the equipment ran well. Unfortunately, with this much snow at one time, it’s still going to take another grooming to get things ready to go. Ski Trail: 3 groomers were out most of the day nocking down the amount and rolling. The trails worked on were, Two Way, North Loop, South Loop, and Cabin Connector. The rest of the trails will be worked on this week. The plan tomorrow is to let it set overnight and groom and try tracking in the morning. Since it won’t have much time to set up, if you try skiing tomorrow it will most likely be soft. Note: There is water across the trail towards the end of the North Loop. We think the weight of the snow is forcing more than typical water thru the culvert. An adjustment was made and the hope it freezes up. Fatbike: Was able to make a couple laps around the same trails as last night. Overnight not only did we get additional accumulation the drifting in some areas was so deep I couldn’t see the trail. It’s gonna be soft if you try riding tomorrow. I’d have a backup plan of snowshoeing or backcountry skiing if it is soft. The plan tomorrow is to groom once again Trappers, Shangri La, Burnt Wagon and Connector. If time permits we will start working on North Loop.

(Kevin Roytek)

The grooming team was just leaving as I was heading out. There’s a ton of snow as we all know. The trail is still very soft. Some more grooming work is planned again tomorrow. No bare spots and no leaves yet. Plenty of coverage. I just skied the south loop because it was tough for this heavier skier. I believe I heard that Dog Island wasn’t even touched yet just because all the snow just takes time to hit up all the trails. It is just a Christmas postcard in the woods.

(Brady Zwiefelhofer)