Last day of February ranking up with one of the coldest days of the winter!! After a early morning low of -21, temp rising to near single digits with intense bright sunshine. Light winds in the morning picking up from the west in the afternoon. All in all, great conditions on the trails with 5″ of fresh snow the past week adding to the compacted base of 5-10″ on the ski trails and 1-2 feet snow depth in the woods. Fresh grooming and new tracks set Saturday morning on Sap Run, Sukkerbusk, Twin Lakes, Wavy Gravy, North Loup, Roy’s Run, Bullhead, Lucky’s Loype and Rootin Tootin. Skate lanes groomed Friday morning. Skiing is rated excellent. Grooming should hold for a few days and skiing should remain excellent with ideal temps forecasted.
Around 4″ of fresh snow on Thursday. Grooming after 2-3″ of snow working the new snow in on Sap Run, Mother Hen, Sukkerbusk, Mother North Star, JibFly, Bullhead, Twin Lakes, Wavy Gravy, Skaters Waltz and the extension, North Loup, Single Green, Double Green, and Kristin’s Kutoff. Light snow falling after grooming and wind causing some drifting in the open areas. Reports from skiers in the morning all excellent as folks enjoyed skiing in the new snow. Skate trails scheduled for grooming in the morning and tracks will be reset on most classic trails Saturday morning. A bit colder but bundled up and nice in the woods. Excellent snow conditions.
Snow falling today and as of 10:00am, close to 2″ has accumulated. Total accumulation expected in the 3-5″ range. Grooming on select classic trails today. Skate trails scheduled for grooming this afternoon and tomorrow morning and new tracks set Saturday morning for the weekend.
Wednesday report: Another dandy day during the last week of February. Wow, the month is flying by. Felt like January with single digit temps and a honest wind from the northwest but bright intense sun taking off the edge and it felt awesome out there today. A half inch dusting of big wet flake snow last night and flurries this morning before clearing off with beautiful intense sunshine. Grooming in the morning on Sap Run, Mother Hen, Loon Return, Skaters Waltz and Skaters Waltz extension. Skiing reported as fantastic today and conditions could not be much better. A good base of snow on the trails with the compacted base 5-10″ and snow depth in the woods 1-2 feet.Grooming also on the lake today packing out the snow and blading/pushing snow in the transition area from lake to trail. Lotvola Cup not until March 7th but prepping snow will season it proper for race day. Since the blade was on the Pisten Bully, a gaplike jump was built at the bottom of Mt Maplelag for the jibskaters.
A very pleasant day on the trails. Pretty much ideal for late February. Wind settled down from yesterday and sunshine out in full force in the morning before giving way to high clouds in the afternoon. Temp reaching 32 degrees but no melting on the trails. The streets might be slushy in town but the snow is dry on the trails. Southern exposed hill did soften up a bit and then froze down in the late afternoon making the tracks fast in spots but not icy, according to the groomguy. Chance of light snow tonight which would slow things down on the tracks and cooler temps the end of the week. Grooming planned on select trails in the morning that will freshen up the trails. Wind did bring down a few leaves yesterday but nothing that disrupts the skiing, really. All in all the trails are in great shape and some nice skiing. We are approaching the time of the year that the sun is quite powerful and even though the temp might be in the 20’s the snow might soften up. Waxing can be tricky but if prepared proper, some fantastic skiing. No wax skis always reliable and skating pretty much awesome with a good base of snow.
Another great weekend of skiing on the trails. Unseasonably cool weather kept the snow dry and crisp but deep blue skies and plenty of sunshine taking off the edge of any chilliness. The entire trail system except for Kristin’s Kutoff was groomed over the weekend including Roy’s Run, Loon Return and Island Lake trail on Sunday. The trails are in great shape and skiing is excellent. (If you have any trail photos from the weekend you wish to share, please pass them along to [email protected]) Touch up grooming this week as needed and any new snow this week will be groomed in. We will work on the transition zone from the lake to the trail for the Lotvola Cup which will be held Saturday March 7th. The compacted base 5-10″ and snow depth in the woods 10-24″. The deer have discovered walking on the ski trails is easier than walking on the crusty snow pack with fresh snow on tap so heads up for deer tracks on certain trails, in particular Wavy Gravy. All part of the experience of being in the woods and part of nature!!
Saturday morning sunrise looking down Mother North Star. Easy to identify basswood trees in the forest.Photo taken at Saturday morning sunrise in the skinny field and start of Bullhead lake trail
