Went out for a ski in the morning on trails groomed last night. The snow falling at Maplelag has been very dry (no snow sticking to the trees) so the deck was pretty soft as it had not set up with no bonding agents to speak of. The skiing was great though, nice to have fresh snow and the silky sensation underneath. Mid day 8km of fat bike singletrack was groomed. (Twin Lakes "race" loop" ) This loop will be open in the mornings the remainder of the week. Mid afternoon and into early evening, the same ski trail loop that was roll packed yesterday was roll packed again. After a few passes, took the 7' Ginzu low snow conditions groomer and combed out the same loop. Although the air temperature was in the mid 20's. the strong late March sun slightly softened the snow so I was able to cheat the grooming and pack and comb the snow nicely with good results. This loop will be open in the mornings this week. Recommended to ski in the mornings which could be very nice for late season skiing.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

1.5" of new snow at Maplelag as of 9pm. Roll packed (not drag, not ginzu) 6km of trail. Need more snow and subsequent grooming before trails can be open for skiing.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We woke up to a fresh dusting of snow that made the woods look like a winter wonderland. No grooming planned with warm forecast but always great to see white covering the trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Jay has been able to maintain a 5k loop that is very skiable, but with some thin spots and extra caution required on any downhill slopes. I used the Zero skis today and they worked very well on the uphills. In this year's snow drought, it is a welcome sight to see a trail of white still winding its way through the woods at Maplelag.

(Glenn Gifford)

Snuck in one more ski this morning, meeting up with David and Jackson from Fergus Falls as David logs a few more training sessions before Junior Nationals in Lake Placid. Conditions were pleasingly better than expected after freezing down hard enough last night to keep the grooming on this weeks snow intact. Good to see a few other skiers out the past few days. It was a treat to have a couple more days of skiing before the trails closed at noon. Until the next round of snow.....

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Around 2" new snow past 24 hours. Morning low -12F degrees rising to single digits, light wind and sunshine. Yesterday morning after one inch of snow had fallen, we roll packed 5km of trail. The grooves from the roller caught the blowing snow and additional snowfall after grooming. Early afternoon we roll combed and Ginzu groomed combed the same 5km. This morning we ran the Ginzu on most of the 5km and roll packed an additional 500 meters. A few hours later I skate skied on the groomed loop. Conditions were marginal but skis were gliding, the sunshine, invigorating temps and fresh grooming made for a pleasant ski and a great outing in the woods. With extreme caution, we are going to have this loop open for any diehard skiers. The temps are cold enough keeping the sun from doing it's thing today but recommend skiing before 11am tomorrow if not able to get out this afternoon. We lost the majority of our base before the snow, but still hanging on to deep frost on the trails, making it feel like skiing on the ground but with glide. Note: The past few weeks we have been cutting firewood from deadfall/blow downs from recent storms for the wood fired stoves at Maplelag. We are also delicately creating more snow fields for snow farming to enhance south facing areas for future winters. This winter has been unlike anything else but we are grateful for the many things learned as we keep to our commitment to provide natural organic snow skiing and no snowmaking protecting our groundwater and precious aquifers.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Jonell and I got out for one more ski early afternoon before closing the trails at dusk. Although the temperature was near 40, the humidity was in the mid 30's keeping the snow relatively dry and skiing nice considering the ultra thin base. We will have the early/late season grooming equipment ready to go if we should happen to have a late season snow event. Until then, thanks everyone who came to Maplelag this past season!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We continue to maintain around 5km of trail. Most recent grooming was yesterday afternoon after we shoveled another load or two on thin areas. A very light dusting of new snow combined with the shoveled snow was just enough to work with and set new structure. Not able to set track. Low down to -2 last night set the corduroy up stiff. Went out for a skate ski over lunch today for a few laps. One of the better skate skis the past week or so. Yes, the base is very thin and hard with a few dark spots but cold temps keeping it very skiable and wind-chill was invigorating and sunshine was glorious. The 25km fat bike trails continues to roll nicely, a few icy spots to watch out for on the corners and lower part of the berms.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Skied the Lotvola Cup course this morning to check out yesterday's grooming. Confirmed there isn't enough snow to have the outer loops, Twin Lakes and North Loup, open. Inner segments skied best. We did another grooming this morning on the Sukkerbusk Return on the east side and opened this segment to the existing 4km loop to have closer to 5km of skiing options now. The segment we opened up (attached photo) probably has the best coverage of the 5km. No tracks set but open for no track classic skiing and skating, both directions .

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We skated a modified Skaters Waltz loop that was marked with cones. Conditions were good considering the extremely dry winter. The Maplelag crew always does an amazing job at making the best of the natural snow. A lot of snow farming and meticulous grooming is keeping the little snow they have skiable.

Photos:

(Ben Olson)