Exhilarating day on the trails! A morning ski before it warmed up reminded me how much I missed this cool weather we are experiencing now, in January! Awesome to see other folks out. Think the whatever the windchill rating was -40 in these parts! Insane for February. But windchill is irrelevant when you are dressed proper and skiing with the wind. I like to call it reverse windchill. Ha! Had such a good time in the morning that had to get back out with the boys for afternoon ski. Again, great to see so many folks out. Proud of everyone. Conditions didn't warrant grooming other than the singletrack that has some BS WB sections but with cooler weather and not wanting to encourage longer skis, the groomers got a day of rest. Like so many times this season, grooming in the transition before temps tank is key as the entire trail system was groomed 1-3 times Wednesday to Friday. We were able to mix the relatively warm seasoned snow with the fresh snow. The end result is some of the best tracks of the year thanks to temps down to -15 last night setting the fresh set and deck bomber and the precision grooming. Some folks were out skating and have to give a shout out to them. Heroes of the day! Folks I talked to said "you need to name Skaters Waltz to Skaters Walk!" Pretty slow going on the uphills. Positive attitude and gratitude to be out on the trails, which is appreciated, makes it all good. The wind at dusk was finally going to bed and although the air temp tonight will be -20ish, sunshine and polished tracks will make for a fantastic day Sunday as it slowly "warms" up. Recommended to ski the double track classic and Just Ski!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Proper winter weather! Another solid day of grooming under a massive beautiful sundog. All skate trails groomed and all double track were reset. Still able to dig in deep with the Ginzus and pull up the seasoned snow below. Frontal passage snow continued off and on today making the surface a bit gritty and slowing the skiing down. The entire 25km fat bike trail was also groomed today. We were not planning on grooming tomorrow but looks like enough glaze of the haze will warrant at least a refresh on the key trails, Sap Run, Sukkerbusk and possibly Twin Lakes once the air temp is -10 or above. Nice job to all the folks that got out today!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Good ol' winter day! Nothing beats the experience of being outside when a cold front is barellin' throughout the day ! The groomers worked on resort enhancements until the system snow stopped than hit the trails for a full afternoon of grooming. All skate trails including Suicide Hill were groomed, mixing the new snow with the transformed goodness below. Folks skating in the afternoon reported heavenly conditions. Tracks were reset on the singletrack trails Wavy Gravy, Roy's Run, North Loup, Bullhead Bootleg and Loon Return. A post grooming classic ski on both the fresh groomed and yesterdays grooming found pretty much perfect on the fresh groomed. Cold front haze snow slowed the tracks down just a bit and the dusting of new system snow definitely slowed down the other trails but rest assured those trails will be groomed in the morning, all the double track to be specific. We will also refurbish the skate trails again. Just the right amount of snow to blend with the old and keep conditions snappy despite cooler temps. Going to be a great weekend to classic ski! Nice work to all the folks completing the Lotvola Cup virtual this week. New fast times posted this week but a reminder it's not all about being the fastest skier, just getting out and doing it. Did you see the photo yesterday of the mom pulling her youngan? Lotvola Cup completed. Awesome!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Frosty humid day made for a gliding and sliding beauty day! This morning we reset track on Rootin Tootin and touched up the center of the skate lane on Skaters Waltz, Kristin's Kutoff, Single Green and Suicide Hill. We've conditioned the snow on Suicide Hill such the hairdresser for Maplelag would be proud! Super silky lathery snow. So good. Skated in the afternoon on all the skate trails and was one of the best of the season, imo. The groom crew is locked and loaded for either a full day of grooming or touch up day. Depends on weather tonight, no predictions coming from yours truly. Just like every other day when there is snow on the ground, it's going to be a perfect day, dial in the wax and clothing and Just Ski!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

A glorious day on the trails! The sun made an appearance and was quite heartening. The wind had a bit of a bite from the southeast but that just got excited for the cold weather to come as we look forward to some honest classic skiing with the polar type waxes. This morning we scrubbed out the double tracks on Loon Return, Twin Lakes, JibFly and Mother North Star than dropped a new pair. The dew point separated from the air temp a bit more than we expected but we made some adjustments and the final result was very good. The snow remains a fabulous silky sugar slide. We didn't groomed the skate decks for the first time in quite a while but the texture is holding out nicely and the surface is skiing phenomenal. Keeping pulse on the every changing weather to decide what trails on tap for grooming in the morning. Looking like the remaining double track trails and possibly a singletrack trail or two. Tough to do much to those trails when they are skiing very nice and about as good as it gets. Plan is to have everything set by Friday noon before the deck tightens up. The fat bike trail is riding excellent to.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Another fantastic day on the trails. All skate trails groomed in the morning. The snow has transformed nicely and daily grooming has created a lovely sugary silky sensation surface! Try that for a tongue twister! Classic lesson in the morning, skate lesson in the afternoon found primo conditions for both. Skin skis are the absolute ticket right now or if you do wax, go warmer than the temp suggest or a Rex Power grip type wax is working quite nicely. Skate skiing you can fake any wax and still have fast skis. One local called the conditions "illegal" I said no worries, the trail patrol will not arrest you! Tomorrow morning we will double pass renovate scrambling the transformed goodness on Twin Lakes and Mother North Star trails, let it set up for about an hour than cut new double track. This is the week to call in sick or punch in some PTO!

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Trace of new snow overnight. Morning grooming on all skate trails, renovating the silky sugar snow with the dusting. Best skate ski conditions of the season reported by the locals. Classic tracks scrambled and reset on Sukkerbusk and Sap Run. The skiff of new snow added to the already magic carpet conditions making for a really nice day of skiing. Skate trails on tap for grooming again in the morning and select classic trails. Last two weeks for Midweek lodging, always ask for the skinnyski.com special!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Skaters Waltz, the extension, Suicide Hill and Single Green skate groomed this morning. At lunch time, took advantage of the high humidity and conditioned the snow on Sukkerbusk and reset the tracks. We had off and on freezing mist today but enough skier traffic to work in the welcomed moisture and by mid afternoon the snow was very silky and really nice skiing. The regroom on Sukkerbusk was possibly the best skiing for the afternoon. Skate deck was tightening up in the afternoon and really incredible skiing, super fast and just the right amount of frozen granulated mix for edging. Snow doesn't look to develop as previously forecasted or enough to warrant extensive grooming in the morning. Either way, Sunday should be another dandy day for winter play!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

After one too many Norwegian pancakes with lingonberries, we took in the skate trails first this morning. A fresh groom left a perfect skate deck -- flat, firm and fast with plenty of edge control. Just primo. Eventually we came back to the cabins to switch up for classic and went back out to hit the trails on the west side: Twin Lakes and Wavy Gravy. Again found great conditions with solid tracks and some better-than-amusement-park-rollercoaster rails to ride on some long downhill runs! Had a nice lunch to refuel before wrapping up our far too short vacation at Maplelag.

Photos:

(Bruce Adelsman)

Classic skied this afternoon over many of the trails, found very good conditions everywhere! Such a fun trail system, rolling hills everywhere and lots of places to work on your various technique issues (mine). Nearly all the trails are in the woods, which was nice today as there was some breeze. After a big supper, went back out to hit the solar lighted trail system and had a blast!

Photos:

(Bruce Adelsman)