Another glorious day of spring skiing! We were a little bit cooler overnight than forecasted and froze down hard extending the sweet spot skiing a bit longer today. Lots of happy skiers today enjoying the brilliant sunshine and pleasant temps. Skied all the classic trails around 10, Twin Lakes was super fun fast than softened up quickly on North Loup but still great glide thanks to the corn snow surface. The snow is dirty but skiing surprisingly well thanks to the tracks being clean on the bottom. Didn't plan on grooming today but with the deep base of snow and good coverage, but went out late afternoon and early evening setting new track on Sukkerbusk than combing out the skate lanes on Skaters Waltz and North Loup. Also dropped a fresh track on the side of North Loup. Doesn't look to cool down as much tonight. Most likely see just a surface glaze this evening and be a small window of fast skiing tomorrow. Not sure what the weather will bring the next 48 but will groom if meaningful and keep riding this spring skiing wave as long as possible! Moving forward the trails we will be focusing on will be the east side of Sukkerbusk to North Loup for classic and Skaters Waltz and North Loup for skate. The "Kamikaze" segment on skaters will mostly likely be closed after tomorrow. Use Sap Run connector to make loop of Skaters Waltz.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Awesome morning of spring skiing! Got out a bit later than I wanted but still caught a hour of primo creamy corn skate skiing. Conditions were fast but just enough loose for perfect edging. Skaters Waltz was especially firm from the late afternoon grooming yesterday and setting up nicely overnight with temps in the 20's under a beautiful "sugar/crust" moon. The area lakes were fantastic crust skiing for the first time this year and surprisingly, the edges as well. After the skate, Jonell and I had the opportunity to take some first time skiers out classic skiing. The tracks were just softening up and even at noon were well defined and great skiing on the corn snow. Skin skis worked perfectly. Grooming plans: We won't be grooming this evening or in the morning but the grooming from yesterday should hold fine overnight and set up with low's forecasted to be in the low 20's again. Best skiing tomorrow will be in the 830-1030am window. The only thin area I noticed was at the bottom of the hill to Twin Lakes. Everything else has excellent coverage with 1-2 feet of snow on North Loup still. Enjoy!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

The classic tracks at Maplelag were firm, fast, and fun this morning. Jay had groomed Twin Lakes, Mother North Star, Sukkerbusk, and North Loup (and maybe others). We skied Twin Lakes and Sukkerbusk, one of us on fish scales and the other on zeroes, both types of skis gave very good kick. When we finished at about 12:30, the tracks were just starting to soften so it was a good time to quit for the day. Very fine spring skiing to be had at Maplelag!

(Glenn Gifford)

A most pleasant day of spring skiing and grooming. The deep base of snow has now completely transformed to corn snow making for bit easier grooming and consistent skiing. Skied with Peder in the morning hitting all the fresh tracked classic trails. Really nice skiing and corn snow so fun to ski on as the glide stays consistent regardless of the temps. Late afternoon hopped back on the OG Bearcat snowmobile that hit 10k miles this week. The first four stroke snowmobille to groom Nordic ski trails in the country almost 20 years ago when the grooming manufacturers said it couldn't. This snowmobile has been unreal for early and late season grooming in warm temps and low snow when others are sitting on the sidelines. One reason why we can groom in mid 40 temps, sometimes warmer. Anyways, combed out Skaters Waltz and set new track on Twin Lakes, Sap Run and Sukkebusk. Earlier in the day "Machine Moors" set track on Mother North Star and North Loup in addition to combing out the skate lane. Temps are dropping down nicely this evening and the skies are clear. Should be a special morning of skiing Saturday. Can't wait.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We glazed over just enough last night to run the light Ginzu on the skate trails Skaters Waltz and North Loup early this morning. The base was still pretty soft but grooming improved the conditions. Classic was pretty soft today. Late afternoon we reset on track on Sap Run, Sukkerbusk and Skaters Waltz. We also compressed the deck a bit more on Skaters Waltz. Temps are warm but we are banking on years of grooming and skiing experience of when to groom in warm temps. This evening I skated and conditions were really fun. The base is still soft but grooming earlier compressed the snow and cheated the glazing over process. North Loup was pretty soft. Conditions are deteriorating for sure and the snow is pretty dirty but tomorrow mid morning should be some nice skiing on the trails groomed today. Early for fast, later for slow but recommended to be out before 2pm. Grooming plans: Depending on how warm tomorrow will determine what trails are groomed in the afternoon. Most likely the same ones as today.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Spring skiing conditions. Warm day on Wednesday really softening the snow. The dirt that blew in throughout the winter wind events is starting to show and facilitating the melting. The base should freeze down tonight and we will groom on the skate trails Skaters Waltz and North Loup in the morning. Conditions have changed quickly but the trails are skiable with a deep base of snow. Tracks have lost some definition but very skiable. Looks like tomorrow the better skiing will be later morning until 2pm. We will reset the main classic trails tomorrow afternoon. The driveway going into Maplelag is a bit rough but passable, recommended to have vehicle with all wheel drive etc.

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

A near perfect morning of skiing and fat biking gave way to warm temps and quickly softening snow. The snow is a bit dirty from Friday's wind and facilitated the melt once the fresh snow melted off. We set track this afternoon on Twin Lakes, JibFly and Mother North Star. Doesn't look to freeze down much tonight set everything up. Skiing will get slower quicker tomorrow before we have a good freeze again possibly tomorrow night. Grooming plans: We will touch up select classic trails in the afternoon Wednesday.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We enjoyed another day of below freezing temps. The sun was strong as it is this time of year and softened south facing areas but overall a great day of grooming and skiing. We cut new track on Sukkerbusk and Sap Run and renovated all the skate trails. The snow we pulled up was dry and fresh, and mixing with everything else made for a nice surface which to ski upon. Jonell and I skied at dusk on the classic trails groomed and was about as good as it gets for March 14th. Skied a few segments of other trails that had the dusting of new on top of the most recent groomed and was very nice silkylike experience. Tomorrow morning should be awesome on all the trails! We will also enter spring conditions mode tomorrow. Crisp and tight in the morning than softening in the pm. Recommended to ski sunset to noon. We also groomed the entire fat bike loop today. Should be fantastic riding in the morning. Moving forward we ask folks to ride in the morning hours to preserve the deck so we can extend the season as long as possible. Grooming plans: Tomorrow afternoon/evening we will reset tracks on select classic trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

A nice day of Sunday skiing! Fresh snow with an inch or so falling overnight blanketing the grooming from Thursday-Saturday. Temps warming up to the mid 20's, giving way to sunshine and pleasant weather. Grooming plans: We were set to groom select trails this evening but held off with snow in the forecast. We will be out in the morning setting new double track on select trails and also touching up the skate trails. A full grooming of the 25km fat bike loop also planned in the afternoon during the transition phase.
Operating plans: We will continue grooming select trails this week. We are closed for lodging but have the trails open for day use. With warmer temps possible this week, we look to transition to "spring" skiing. Plan for sweet spot skiing from 11am-1pm. Faster in the morning and than again in the afternoon. Most grooming occurs in the late afternoon and evening, skiing best from sunrise to 1pm or so.

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

A cool morning with temp checking in at -20. Made for another chilly morning of grooming but the groomers were out working the skate lanes and setting track on Wavy Gravy and Roy's Run. Sunshine took off the edge and was another great day of March skiing with dry January like snow. Snow moving in the afternoon and early evening with an inch or so falling. Grooming plans: Groomers will be off tomorrow, however should be some fantastic skiing in the fluffy new snow on entire trail system that has been groomed Thursday-Saturday and temps forecasted to be in the low 20's.

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)