Its all about timing in the spring. It was lightning fast early today with fresh grooming. These conditions make us old guys feel fast. I used my B skis but you would be fine with your good skis. I mostly stuck to the 6K as the 8K was just being groomed later in my ski. Prime spring skating conditions at Snowflake now with a great base. It was firm, flat and fast. Some icy edging issues early on the refrozen areas as expected. Thank you Snowflake grooming crew for great conditions in this, sometimes, challenging year. Ahh, gotta love spring skiing!

(Tom Heinitz)

Three Ginzu runs on both the 6K and 8K trails yielded a beautiful skate deck this morning! The only exposed ground is a large rock, at the too of Hovland Hill, on the left side. As the sun rose and temp climbed, we could see the fresh corduroy disappearing between runs, so the conditions are changing rapidly. The classic track on both trails is 99% intact, hard, but glazed. Good glide, difficult kick. With uncertain weather next week, we are hedging our bet: we’ll be open all day today and tomorrow. Please keep dogs off the trails when temps exceed 32 degrees. We will be closed on Sunday and Monday due to very warm temps that won’t go below freezing. We will groom what’s groomable after warm weather, and plan to groom thru March. Remember, our first groomed trails opened on 17 October; if you skied then, you now have 6 months of skiing on the books!

Photos:

(John Graham)

Spring grooming poses a different challenge, and sometimes Mother Nature wins. We started at sunrise, enough knives-down to till the hard crust that formed overnight: even the gentle hills on the 6K made it a struggle to get the groomers up hill. Several runs finally yielded a good deck. Moving to the 8K, the steeper climbs stopped us cold. We waited for it to thaw a bit, and were finally able to groom about 6K; we could not get the section between Chandra’s Curve and the 6K marker. Classic tracks will be icy early and improve as it warms-up, but conditions favor skating. We are trying to divine whether the forecast means “use it now”, or preserve for late March - We always aim to groom into April, and still plan to manage the trails toward that goal. The weekend plan is this: we will be open 7am - 8pm on Friday and Saturday. We will be closed on Sunday and Monday based on forecast of extreme warm temps. Think Snow!

Photos:

(John Graham)

I put B skis but if you wanted to use good skis I only saw two exposed rocks and both were way to the sides. It was spring conditions for sure. I skied a little after 5pm and the snow that was sun exposed and soft during the day was now hard and crunchy with some ruts. Ruts were more prevalent on the 8K and the 6K seemed more hard packed by use. The "Special K" was by far in the best shape. So, that means I had to do an "Extra Special K". It sounds like John and crew are trying to groom in the mornings which should make for excellent morning skiing.

Photos:

(Nic Bacigalupo)

Icy conditions early, but 100% coverage on the skate decks, and the classic tracks have set-up quite solid and 99% intact. Since temps are forecast to be below 40, we are cancelling Spring Hours for today and tomorrow, and will be open the usual 7am-8pm. Friday hours TBA, and we anticipate being closed on Sunday afternoon. No dogs if the temps exceed 32 degrees.

Photos:

(John Graham)

B skis recommended because of some thin spots/debris in the tracks, or debris frozen into the skate deck. All trails were skate-groomed this morning. Good deck. Classic tracks got 2” of new powder yesterday, which has been skied-in. Decent tracks, but not deep enough to till and reset, until we get more snow. In order to extend the season, and because of warm forecast temps, we will go to Spring Hours beginning Tuesday: Open 7-Noon; Closed Noon-5:30; Open 5:30-8 pm. No dogs anytime the temp is above 33 degrees. By doing this, we will extend our grooming and skiing season.

(John Graham)

Challenging conditions, especially for classic skiers today, but we hosted about 20 Birkie skiers. The classic track has suffered during this warmup, and the base is not deep enough to reset. Skate decks are in better shape. We will not be grooming again until Monday morning. On Sunday we are open with no special restrictions. As always, dogs are not allowed on the trails if temperatures are above 32; this is to preserve the trails. Member dog-owners may exercise their beasts on the Ice Oval, regardless of temps. Beginning on Tuesday, due to forecast high temps, we will likely go to Spring hours: Open Sunrise-Noon; Closed Noon-6: pm,; Open 6-8 pm. Our goal is to maintain skiable trails thru March, and this is key to doing so. Congrats to all our Birkie finishers, and thanks to our members for your cooperation this week. Think snow!

(John Graham)

I just completed my Classic Birkie. Started at 8:30 and the tracks were beautifully laid, well-formed, but icy due to Thursday’s temps and overnight freeze. By the time I finished in the afternoon, the temp was 42, and the tracks were soft and damp, particularly the south facing exposures. I observed that the skate decks got little use today. For tomorrow’s skiing, I would expect shallower and icy tracks in the morning, softening as the day goes on. Grooming plans: The skate deck will be regroomed, early, and should be good; for classic skiing, it will be work. Thank you to all of the Snowflake Dog Owners, who have limited their use this week, and helped us maintain a lovely classic track.

(John Graham)

We are closed, due to the High School race, right now and formulating a plan to restore and regroom the trails give the heavy use on soft snow today, and a forecast of rain/snow and above-freezing temps overnight. This evening we will groom-out the “best line” classic tracks that were set for the races. We will see what Mother Nature delivers overnight and tomorrow morning, when temps drop to freezing, we will regroom and set new classic tracks. No dogs on the trails tomorrow. Virtual Birkie Skiers, I suggest that you not plan to do your event at Snowflake on Wednesday. We will have good trails by Thursday. Weather problems definitely make this feel like a Birkie week!

(John Graham)

Tonight we compacted and groomed all skate decks. They are beautiful. The classic tracks on both trails were skied-in enough during the snowfall, that they are well defined and firm, and won’t be reset until after the Tuesday race. Good Luck Birkie skiers, wherever you ski your event!
Update/correction to my previous post: Trails will be closed on Tuesday until the end of the high school race. They will then be open to skiers-only (no dogs), as we regroom the trails on Tuesday night. From Wednesday morning thru Friday night, only leashed/harnessed member’s dogs allowed on the trails; no unleashed dogs permitted.

Photos:

(John Graham)