One of the better years for snow conditions for Presidents Weekend in recent years. Sunshine, light winds and pleasant temps made for some great skiing over the weekend. Cloudy on Monday with thoughts of snow but nothing falling from the sky. Another mild day on tap today with temps in the 20’s before we cool back down with chance of snow and wind Wednesday and Thursday. The trails are in excellent condition with a few isolated spots “crunchy”. Considering the weather we were going through a week ago, the skiing is about as good as it can get. Personally the singletrack classic trails, Lucky’s Loype, Roy’s Run, Island Lake and the bootleg extension of Bullhead lake trail are perfect right now and recommend skiing those trails today. The trails will be re-groomed towards the end of the week and with colder temps and chance of light snow, skiing should remain excellent.
Fantastic skiing conditions. Light snows off and on since Tuesday accumulating to around 4″ has put the trails back in excellent condition with fresh grooming. The entire trail system has been groomed the past few days except for Roy’s Run and Island Lake and these trails will be groomed Saturday evening. Trees were frosted thick this morning, light winds and early morning low at -5 rising to single digits above in the afternoon. Many comments of “better than expected” and “can’t believe the snow” and “pretty much perfect”. A few crunchy spots here and there but all in all excellent conditions. The sledding hill is in great shape along with the ice skating rink. Should be a great rest of the Presidents weekend of skiing and winter fun.
Two inches of light fluffy snow falling on Thursday after 1″ of moisture rich snow Wednesday night. Fresh grooming Thursday morning on Sap Run, Mother Hen, Sukkerbusk, Rootin Tootin, Mother North Star, JibFly, Single Green, Double Green, Suicide Hill, Twin Lakes, Wavy Gravy, Skaters Waltz and the extension and North loup groomed for skate and classic. The trails groomed up very nice with a few soft spots and a few icy spots but the snow that fell Thursday taking off of the icy edge where the bottom of the trail is hard. Skating should be very nice with a blend of new snow and old snow. Trails not groomed today will be groomed either Friday night or Saturday morning. All in all the trails are looking very good with a base of 4-7″ and good coverage. Should be a very nice Presidents weekend of skiing. (Photos at bottom from Tuesday and Wednesday)
Maplelag guests on Sap Run Wednesday afternoon.Dylan Ramstad Skoyles and Jake skiing with coach Dan on Sukkerbusk as they gear up for the state meet on Friday.Dan, Jake and Dylan striding on Sukkerbusk.Fresh tracks set on Sap Run. Tracks set were very nice but still soft. Once it cools down, they will be hard and fast!A short section of skaters waltz groomed today. Entire loop will be groomed later and should be nice once it cools down more.Evergreen trees near Brant cabin dusted with fresh snow from today. Lee and Lindsay Lee along with Margaret Kuchenreuther getting ready to head out for a afternoon ski while fresh snow was falling Tuesday afternoon.Lindsay and Lee, Lee heading out on Sukkerbusk Tuesday afternoon.
Rain turned over to snow around 11am. Accumulation has been light with maybe two inches accumulating on the trails. This is better than rain!! The snow and base is soft/wet all the way to the ground. It will take around 12 hours or so before we can run any equipment on the trails as the base needs to freeze down. The trails are holding up fine and skiing right now is springlike skiing conditions. A handful of folks out on the trails today using no wax skis and skiing was reported better than expected. The warmer temps keeping the snow soft and trails skiable after hard and icy yesterday morning. Once it cools down again, it will get hard and very icy. We are hoping to work in a bit of new snow but either way will be grooming what we can to make the trails the best possible condition for skiing once it cools down again. Photos from yesterday.
An incredibly gorgeous morning on the trails capping off a nice weekend on the trails. Sun filtered through the trees that were loaded with frost. Light wind from the south giving way to warmer temps near 35 after a early morning low down to 9 degrees. Fresh grooming on Skaters Waltz and new track set on Sukkerbusk and North Loup. Between Friday and Sunday, the entire trail system was groomed 1-2 times and a 4km loop was tracked on the lake to accommodate a request for a track on the lake and reports from folks skiing on the lake were very good. The trails held up well with the southern exposed areas a bit icylike and overall fast conditions. Skin conditions good to excellent. Interesting weather on tap through Tuesday. We are holding on nicely to a base of 6-10″. Any moisture other than snow should be absorbed and hopefully a bit of snow at the end of the system. Once things settle down, we will work the snow over to provide the best skiing conditions possible.
