November Skiing (plus pre-season prep, broken stuff, fencing, weather…)

Whew, what a start to the season and November! We didn’t quite have the hay into the barn before the storms hit us and we had to scramble to get the fencing up (a HUUUGE thank you to everyone for helping out with that), and see if we could maybe get on top of all of that 38″ to 42″ of early season snow. It has not been easy, and there’s been a lot of continuing pre-season issues going on. We didn’t quite have the machine situation squared away yet, so that has been a big part of it the challenges. On top of that, trees have come down, the lone snowmobile can’t quite handle deep snow, grooming equipment was buried and not quite repaired, etc., etc.

The good news is that we did receive a New Mexico Outdoor Recreation grant for the purchase of a good machine for trail maintenance and grooming. For once, we will have something new and specified for what we’re doing. Also, our old Cushman Trackster (a.k.a. “Kermit”) is finally getting a major transmission overhaul. It was losing hydraulic pressure and even leaking fluid, so it was time to completely pull it and tear it down. A HUUUGE thanks to Logan for taking that on.

There have been a lot of parts ordering and night-time repairs going on, but hopefully, we’ll be in a better position when December comes around.

Grooming has been occurring, when time permits for a couple of old guys with jobs. Hopefully, it’ll be more consistent once we get the machines back online.

The hitch on the G2 groomer broke during grooming, causing the control box wiring to get damaged
Walt Wehner skied out to the abandoned groomer to retrieve the hitch parts, and weld-repaired it to a much better strength level!
Pretty good skiing over the weekend
Early grooming with the old equipment: Viking snowmobile and the original Tidd Tech Trail Tenderizer
Cooling the snowmobile down while grooming in the moonlight
This was the first night to get the groomer around after having to pack things out several rounds without towing anything
Kevin Reid out doing some pre-season trimming an digging out fencing before the REALLY big storm hit. This was November 5
Trying to beat the storm, but didn’t make it…

Still in need of repairs, all of this got buried

SNOW FENCING

As you may know from club group emails or Sanna’s post, we have a serious snow fencing challenge to complete this weekend and could use as much help as possible both days.

Athletes, please plan to help if you can, making sure to dress for deep snow using proper pants, socks, shoes and definitely some sort of gloves that are thin enough for zip ties but will keep your hands warm – bring multiple pairs of gloves up for sure.

Coach Sanna is leading a volunteer group Saturday at 9 am.

I will be up Saturday afternoon at 1 pm.

Both of us will be there Sunday morning – with more details on Sunday will be posted on Sat after we see where we are.

Thanks!

Dina

Fence hanging tomorrow 11/9 at 9 am

Hi All,

Our fence hanging party is on for tomorrow. There is still a lot to do.

Because of the snow, we need to see what is feasible and what needs us to wait until some of the snow melts.

Please come with warm clothes and gloves that allow you to work without taking them off.

Bring snowshoes if you have.

And bring your skis. In case we can’t do much, we can at least have a nice ski.

I’ll be at the trail head at 9 am with more zip ties.

Thanks,

Sanna