Hard not to sneak in a April groom with 4-5" of snow today and temps below freezing all day. No rain and temps below freezing before the snow made for a ideal scenario. Groomed a 2.5km loop including Suicide Hill. Skied shortly after and was pretty incredible. No sticking, great glide and Jonell said was like we were floating. Agreed. Snow lingering into the evening. Should freeze down good tonight and be good for one more ski in the early morning before it melts away. What a treat!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Beautiful sunrise ski this morning. Got out early to enjoy the last of this most recent snow and grooming before the big warm up. The snow glided fast with a creamy top. The extra segments groomed last night out of the regular 5km loop was particularly good. Nice to see a few other folks out. Mid afternoon Jonell and I went out for a stride and the snow was going fast. Pretty slushy but a gorgeous afternoon nonetheless. Trails are now closed. Was a fun week of skiing and always a learning opportunity to groom these late season snows!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Morning low near zero degrees froze the base down rock solid including all the slush areas, and set up the structure from last nights grooming perfectly. A ski mid morning until noon with Peder was much much better than expected. Very good, very fast. A few thin areas, easy to avoid, and was confident using good skis. Even after noon, the snow was still pretty darn crip and glide was fantastic. At dusk, groomed the loop that has been groomed the past few days and also groomed a few segments of virgin snow with favorable results. The air temp was right around the freezing for a hight today but the sun did deteriorate some southern exposed areas and shoveled on a few spots but my motivation to shovel this time of year isn't quite the same as November or December. All good. We will have the trails open for morning skiing. I'd recommended getting out from 6am-10am before things go south fast. Lake skiing is very skiable, actually will be better Sunday and Monday mornings I am projecting but definitely worth the diversion from the bottom of Suicide Hill to check out Bullhead lake and the plethora of tracks from four legged critters and flocks of swans circling above.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Jonell and I got out mid morning to enjoy the fresh snow and last night's grooming the snow was still dry and skiing was very very nice for March 11th. Couple trips up and down Suicide Hill which had a good level base with a dusting on top since last nights grooming. No tracks set but pleasant classic skiing nonetheless. Temp stayed in the mid 30's today with clouds moving in. With warm ground underneath the snow melted a bit from underneath. Went out for a late afternoon groom on the loop groomed last night. Temp had already dropped to the mid 20's. Should freeze down hard tonight and be nice skiing in the morning. After noon it will probably go quick and doesn't look like will be open for Saturday skiing.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Around 7' of snow the past 24 hours. No rain. Groomed late last night on about 5km of trail making a loop using the more north facing segments of Skaters Waltz and Sukkerbusk. Suicide Hill was also groomed. Had to go around a few low areas that were holding water from the rapid melt on Tuesday that saw a high temp of 60 degrees otherwise the trail groomed up nice. The snow was dry and fluffy thanks to temps in the 20's. With warm day time temps forecasted, best skiing will be early. Will plan to groom this same loop late tonight for early morning skiing on Friday. Saturday morning skiing could be fine before 10am. Will update tonight after skiing and grooming.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Trails are now closed for the season. A very nice morning of skiing before temps warmed up and got slushy. Skater waltz was fantastic creamy corn snow skiing even up until noon. Warm temps, wind and sun taking the toll on the snowpack. Although it be skiable on Sunday and few days after, we are closing the trails out of abundance of caution. Also, as a result of Maplelag's driveway being a "environmentally friendly" driveway, conditions are such certain cars may not be able to get in and out. If we get any snow later this month and cooler temps to follow, we will open the trails back up again. Thanks to everyone who came to Maplelag and supported the trails this season.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Another incredible spring conditions skiing day! Jonell and I skied the Lotvola Cup course this morning. Twin Lakes was much better than I expected after grooming last night. Always hard to get the feels of skiing when grooming but conditions for spring skiing absolutely perfect. We nailed the magic hour. Woohoo! When we got to North Loup the snow wasn't as conditioned like Twin but still very nice skiing. Dusk grooming today on Sukkerbusk, North Loup setting new track and than combing Skaters Waltz. The sun and warmth took it's toll today with more areas opening up but we will have a nice morning of skiing tomorrow. Best skiing will be from 9am-11:30 am. Best fat biking from 7am-11am. Shoveled snow on thin areas on North Loup. Fully covered, used a little extra caution. Start of Sap Run has more thin areas, lifted track so possible to ski entire way with no bare spots. Sukkebusk same thing. Recommended skiing on these trails as well as Twin Lakes. Other trails classic trails track not quite as defined but be nice early. Hopeful to be open for Sunday, will post in 24 hours or less.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Another gorgeous spring skiing day! After a morning crust cruise on adjacent lakes, sloughs and fields, we hopped on the skate trails and found the texture and base holding out great. A few thinning areas but full coverage all the way through. Sweet spot skiing on silky creamy corn snow. Afternoon classic trail grooming into sunset today on Sap Run, Twin Lakes, easy loop of JibFly and touch up on Kamikaze hill segment on Skaters Waltz. Also put a skate lane on the Sap Run connector between Skaters Waltz for those wanting to bypass the Kamikaze hill segment. Shoveled on the thin areas on the connector to the western trails (Twin Lakes) Use extreme caution on this downhill. Rest of Twin Lakes in good shape, more thin areas than northern trails but should hold out fine next two days. Final grooming into the weekend planned tomorrow late afternoon on North Loup, Skaters Waltz and Sukkerbusk.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We've entered full on spring conditions enjoying skiing on 100% pure natural corn snow. Skiing has been best during the transition or "sweet spot" from 10-1. Outside of this time frame, hard and fast in the morning than soft and damp in the afternoon before freezing down again. Grooming for us during spring conditions occurs late afternoon into the evening. The snow is easier to manage and sets up hard overnight and provides longer transition skiing the next day. Today we groomed all the skate trails including North Loup which now has a skate lane again. We also reset the tracks on Sap Run, Sukkerbusk and Mother North Star. There are a few thin areas/small bare spots that have opened up warranting B skis for caution. We will continue grooming daily select trails until Friday evening. We plan to be open through the weekend and most likely closing the trails Sunday at dusk. Spring skiing can be some of the best skiing of the year with proper timing. Feel free to explore the lakes that are intertwined among the ski trails. There is some fantastic crust skiing in the mornings! The fat bike trail is riding great, just a couple icy spots to be aware of. To preserve the deck for the next day, please ride before noon.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Great spring skiing. The trails were groomed and tracked yesterday for HS Sectionals. A few bare spots by the lakes.

(Mel Duncan)