Conditions Report from Wednesday Evening 12/6/2023

Things have deteriorated quite a bit from the weekend with the “heat wave” weather we’re experiencing. With only a couple of modest storms covering the ground, there just wasn’t much snow to start with. The warm temps in the 40s warms up the ground and melts things from above and below. So, expect soft, wet conditions during the day, and ice by mid-afternoon and night. There are also numerous exposed rocks, sticks, and grass, so be SUPER careful. There will be completely exposed spots within a couple of days, most likely.

We did get our group of juniors all the way to the top of the meadow and I think they learned how to get over their kick zones much more emphatically 😉

Learning to classic ski on variable surfaces and icy conditions builds early-season grit!

Grooming Report for 2023/12/05

Classic Track: Yes

Good evening everyone. Trails were regroomed last evening (Monday), with both skate and classic track groomed in. Keep in mind that it’s very much early season conditions with a LOT of little obstacles and rocks poking through. The classic track is hit and miss because it’s thin. Be super careful!!!

The upper trails were groomed completely, with track, but the lower road is still needing a bit of work, but is still not bad out to Point-O. We’ll probably keep it groomed to that point until we get more snow.

Just be careful with the early season conditions. There are a lot of hidden obstacles under the thin snow, so keep your eyes open for them.

Warm days mean freeze-thaw conditions. Icy in the morning and evening, then soft and slow during midday.

Grooming Report for 2023/03/21

Classic Track: No

Happy Spring to everyone! It’s always happier when we get into the good March flow of moisture. When we do see spring take off in full flight, the flowers and trees are gonna be amazing.

This week’s snow total, accumulated pretty much every day, has been impressive. There was a foot of new, heavy, wet snow up there this evening. I thought there was a lot from yesterday, but today’s total was even better.

Ben Southworth has been learning the ropes with all of this grooming business, and during these challenging March conditions, no less. After wading through the Sierra Cement to get to the shop and grooming implements, we had some digging out to do first. That was the start to a long evening.

Essentially, it was a bit of a struggle all evening. Heavy drifting and the deep, wet snow created some rough situations to deal with. We basically just broke trail at first, then finally did what we could with the groomers. The final result is not perfect, but with our newly procured YTS Ginzu groomer and good ol’ Tidd G2, we were able to get somewhat of a smooth, well packed surface by the end.

It still needs some polishing, but it should be ok for skate, and soft enough to be easy for classic touring too. We’ll see if we can get a track set in the next 2 to 3 days. That would be nice for the weekend.

So, get out to enjoy these late March conditions!

Grooming Report for 2023/03/07

Classic Track: Yes

Trails were groomed and classic track was set. It had been above freezing for a long period of time, making them soft and not structurally very strong on the surface. While it was freezing up while I was out there, there are a few places where the machine tracks left somewhat of a rut, mainly where wind caused drifts over the past two weeks. More grooming traffic and settling will alleviate that.

There’s still a good snow pack, but it’s definitely spring skiing now with these warm days and less cold nights. The meadow trails had good cold snow and will ski the best. Parts of the tree trails were also still cold dry snow, but there are parts that have transformed into slushy corn snow.

We have probably two weeks of grooming/skiing left if we don’t receive any more snow. Conditions should be good tomorrow through the weekend.

Enjoy!