Southwest Nordic Ski Club

Hangin’ in there…

Not a whole lot to report, as we just seem to be in a long run of “no weather at all” type of weather. It’s nice out for gettin’ out, but we desperately need snow; not just for skiing, but for this long-running drought. It’s pretty bad. Anyway, groomers have been working on things and keeping the snow we have skiable. The front hill has taken a beating, but check out our new snow transport system:

Trails will be groomed as long as we have decent enough snow. It is looking like early February will be more active in terms of weather, so we remain ever the optimists…

A Season Update… Finally!

Well, it’s about time. We’ve been lacking in posting much about our trails and season, but there’s a REALLY good reason for that. For one, it was a LOT of work this year t get things going with far fewer volunteers than years past, then we had that disaster of a wind storm that destroyed the trails in various areas and caused lots of damage to things. We’re still reeling from that and are short in grooming staff, etc. It’s a tight situation. But… we do have enough snow to ski and groom, and things were saved around New Year, so we’re skiing, and that’s a good thing. We celebrated with our memorial “Chuck Calef Classic” club race & tour. What a wonderful day and celebration of our friend and hero, Chuck.

As it stands now, we’re in a bit of a heatwave and dry spell, so conditions are tough to keep in perfect shape. We don’t have a lot of active groomers, but are making do with what we have. Keep an open mind and use your “not best skis” skis 😉

Cold, blue conditions on January 2, 2022 for the Chuck Calef Classic!

Chuck Calef at the then “New Year’s Resolution Race” at New Year, 2012 (just after Las Conchas fire)

Pajarito Mountain Youth Bikefest Results and Story

What a great day, and GREAT job to all the racers!

See the write-up in the LA Daily Post:
https://ladailypost.com/first-pajarito-youth-bike-fest-mountain-bike-race-a-success/

Results:

	time
MILD course overall:
Oliver Garcia	44:43:00

MEDIUM course overall females:
1. Mila Moseley	41:11:00
2. Amelia Hill	50:05:00
3. Liv Niklasson	56:10:00

MEDIUM course overall males:
1. Luke Gibson	52:54:00
2. Calvin Morris	56:39:00
3. Wendell Starr	59:57:00

HOT course overall:
1. Isaac Olson	56:05:00
2. Jack Hawkins	57:24:00
3. Nikolai Nelson	59:39:00

HOT course age-group awards:
U16
1. Joab Morris	1:05:29
2. Axel Niklasson	1:09:06

U14
1. Luke Morris	1:06:49
2. Adis Bock	1:12:32
3. Zachary Gutierrez	1:17:03

U12
1. Ian McLean	1:07:11
2. Diego Leonard	1:13:58
3. Zach Gibson	1:14:04

age group 9-11
1. Levi Gibson	1:01:50
2. Quanah Moseley	1:02:20
3. Cullen McLean	1:06:11

Pajarito Trailfest Youth Mountain Bike Race added to this year’s schedule of events!

Click on Flyer to go to event information page

Finally, a local mountain bike race for youth racers age 18 and under. No licence is necessary, and the event is free! (thank you to sponsors and supporters!) Check here for details about the event.

Best Conditions of the Season… on March 25???

Woohoo for all of this new snow. It has really snowed a lot up on the xc ski trails and Pajarito Mountain these past few days, and it’s currently still snowing (Friday). We had a new grooming volunteer go finish the job that Logan started with rolling the big storm Tuesday/Wednesday, and he reported that it was snowing pretty hard the whole time he was out there, and it’s snowing again this morning. It should be pretty awesome out there right about now, and even over the weekend. Go up and ski again if you can!

Pajarito webcam shot around 10am, March 25, 2021

Slip Sliding Away

The March Meltdown is about to commence. We groomed that quick-hitting, wind blown 2″ from yesterday’s squall, and will hit it again tonight for the weekend, but after this, the dreaded SW H5 high-pressure dome is set to cook our snowpack for 2 or 3 days until there’s a possibility of a storm next week to stop the damage. By then, I’m sure we’ll have a number of bare patches to ford around the trails…enough to stop grooming we think. There may still be some good skiing out in the upper meadow, so we’ll have to assess that. We’ll likely keep the bottom, Camp May Rd practice area groomed a bit longer for some afternoon laps. It was certainly nice this week. It’s kind of a bummer, since we had such good conditions up until now with a less-than-optimal snow pack.

SWNSC Kids continue to practice until there ain’t a patch of snow left!

Rollercoaster of a Season

Trails are again, in great shape, after yet another season-saving period of wintry weather and snow. It was looking bleak again after our great mid-January period, but as has been the case this year, we got saved just in time. Things are great (front hill not included) the entire way around once again. Get it while it’s good. Who knows what the rest of this season has in store, but the forecasts don’t look too bad. If we make it into March for any length of time, we’ll consider it a win.

Canada Bonita Meadow looking spectacular on President’s Day weekend

20/21 Season Finally Kicks Into Gear

Keep checking the FB page or the blogger for condition reports. Groomers are staying on top of the new snow as schedules allow. At any rate, the conditions as of now (late January) are GREAT!

Using the ol’ workhorse Ranger to roller/compact after a fresh snow

Things have been improving and it’s great skiing!

New Snow!

Whew, we almost had to close up shop on the upper trails, but we got a nice little dose of much-needed snow. New groomer, Cameron Staples, got out early to roll pack it all, including Camp May practice area. He reports pretty nice conditions on the upper trails, and pretty good on the lower Guaje Road. It’ll still be thin, so keep bringing your “rock skis” until we get that big 10″+ storm. We’re kinda being strung along with these smaller storms. But, Enchanted Forest in Red River did receive 13″ as of this morning (Dec. 29). They’re totally set with great conditions for New Years!

Local kids skiing last week, taking a break at the rim of the Valles Caldera

Great conditions up at EFXC!

We put on a little informal SWNSki Kids intra-squad meet up at EFXC this past weekend, and were treated to wonderful conditions and a lot of fun. If you haven’t been up there yet, make the effort. It is definitely worth it! Also, they have a lot of used ski gear for kids, so ask Ellen Miller about that when you’re there.

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing and outdoor, text that says 'DANGER! FISCHER' — Used kids’ gear for sale up at Enchanted Forest XC Ski Area