Author: SWNSC

We ended up being able to ski for most of March, but it only snowed a couple of times, forcing us to alter the tracks just enough to make it out to the good snow in the meadow. It snowed only once in April, with an oddly cold day in a string of overly warm and dry days, giving one last day of touring skiing. After that, we closed up shop and had a great cleanup day from club volunteers.

Well, with the dearth of new snow and recent warm temps, our great ski season is taking a beating these days. There is an interesting forecast for next week, so we’ll see if we get a stay of execution. Trails were regroomed earlier this week, but there are about 4 or 5 thin, narrow sections that require a lot of caution to ford. They’re quite short, but be careful. Skiing was stellar on Tuesday, but things change quickly with long, warm, and sunny days.

Weather is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re gonna get, especially around here this time of the year. That storm was weird, with warm rain below 8,000′, and wet slop above that until about 9,300′. The snow that did fall on the lower parts of the trail mostly just added water until it got colder and finally accumulated about 2″-3″, and above a certain level, was pretty good stuff. The new snow in the meadow trails was quite good.

We did get out and groom everything, then it snowed 2″ more (good snow) and the wind blew. So, there’s a mish-mash of conditions, but mostly are quite good. The skiing in the trees should be nice, with a good classic track (probably requiring some klister combo) and a firm skate lane. The meadow trails will likely be wind-blown drier snow. Gonna be cold these next couple of days, then there’s a warm-up over the weekend followed by another (bigger?) wet storm for next week. Roller-coaster weather season, for sure.

Things are holding and thankfully the intermittent warm weather from these past couple of weeks hasn’t killed our season. We’ve received just a bit of snow in between warm days, strange pattern, and now it’s cooler, so there’s still good skiing out on the trails. Be VERY careful on the now very thin and narrow “Front Hill” access trail from Camp May up to Point A. It is very narrow and icy when it’s cold. Hopefully, this warm, wet storm will grace us with a big dump of high-moisture snow, followed by a cold snap. Conditions reports are posted on the club blog site.