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.

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(John Graham)

We have had light snow all day, with about 1” accumulation. Grooming plans: Looking at the busy week ahead: tonight we will regroom both skate decks. On Monday evening the trails will close, so we can groom and set the race courses for Tuesday’s high school races. Trails will remain closed until the last race on Tuesday afternoon. We will regroom and reset the tracks on Wednesday evening, in order to provide a good course for Virtual Birkie skiers on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Member Dog-Owners: in order to preserve the classic track for Birkie skiers, we will not allow loose dogs on the trails from Wednesday morning thru Friday night. Dogs must be in a harness, or leashed and on the left side of the trail. Loose dogs will lose the trail privilege. This is our busiest week of the season, and everyone’s cooperation is appreciated.

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(John Graham)

We got around 2” of powder, thru noon today. The skate decks are soft powder over a very firm base. The 6K classic track has been skied-in. I skied it and it is still 98% well formed, and firm underfoot. The 8K classic track, set yesterday, has seen less use. Grooming plan: We will be compacting and grooming the skate decks tonight, and will evaluate the need to reset any classic tracks. Note for Virtual Birkie Skiers: visit our website for a detailed post about skiing your event at Snowflake.

(John Graham)

-4F. Skate deck was very skiable. Classic tracks firm and excellent looking, mostly debris free. A vehicle got onto the hill in front of the chalet and went around the Special K loop. Still skiable and not much damage to the classic track.

(Louise Levy)

Fresh snow and fresh grooming. The temps were dropping as I skated the 6K followed by the perimeter loop. John was just getting done grooming the 6K as I finished. It's great to see so much snow at Snowflake and great grooming.

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(Nic Bacigalupo)

3-5” of new powder thru noon today. We have compacted and groomed the 6K skate deck: still soft, but groomed. Classic tracks are snowed-in, so we will be setting new tracks on the 6K now. Tracks and base are fragile, so No Dogs on the trails today. Let it set-up overnight. We plan to move on to the 8K when we finish, and groom a skate deck. We don’t expect to set a new classic track on the 8K today.

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(John Graham)

All skate decks were compacted (again) and groomed this morning. They are firmer, and beautifully flat, however the snow has not really transformed yet, so they won’t be rocket-fast. Classic track on the 6K is very good. Classic track on the 8K a bit shallower and less skied-in, but nicely laid and “good”.

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(John Graham)

Very busy day today, and that soft trail took a lot of use, so tonight we ran the skate decks on both trails four times. The decks are firming-up, and we pushed the edges out to the usual limits. This grooming plus low temps and high humidity tonight should yield nice skating tomorrow. The classic tracks, set yesterday, on both trails are in good shape, and firming up thanks to being skied-in. The 8K tracks have seen less use and are much “prettier”, but I skied the 6K tracks today and found them excellent. Thank You, to the 99% of member dog-owners who kept your dogs off the trails thru today.

Photos:

(John Graham)