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.

Photos:

(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.

Photos:

(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.

Photos:

(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”.

Photos:

(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)

It was a pleasure to ski in freshly groomed classic tracks this morning. Thanks to the groomers for all their hard work. At 10:30 am, they had finished the 6k, but the 8k was ungroomed. Please be considerate of the soft classic track and step out onto the skate lane if you're herringboning on the uphills. Also, no dogs on soft trails (take them backcountry skiing!) Enjoy the trail!

(Elaine Nelson, Skinnyski.com Race Team)

A great day to groom, so we pressed-on and compacted, groomed, and set a new classic track on the 8K. Thus everything has been groomed and tracked. Despite 10 runs with the Ginzus, the untransformed snow remains soft, and the tracks vulnerable. So, no dogs on the trails today, or Monday. We are open 8-8 all week.

Photos:

(John Graham)

We had 4-5” of fresh powder yesterday and overnight. At this time, we have compacted the 6K, groomed the skate deck, and set a new classic track. The untransitioned snow remains soft, and the track is fragile. For that reason, and with the temp at 32, we are “No Dogs” today. We are now heading onto the 8K trail and will begin by compacting and skate-grooming the Perimeter Loop. Time permitting, we will then set a classic track on the PL.

(John Graham)