All the trails are open and groomed.  Today we groomed the entire trail system. Skiing is excellent. A few rough spots on the lake crossings because of top water but skiable throughout. We picked up a couple more inches Saturday night/Sunday morning bringing our 4 day snow total to around 14″. We had no rain so the snow is packed powder, no crust or ice. All the trails are tracked for classic except Skaters Waltz, Skaters Extension and North Loup which are groomed for skating. The next week we will groom the skate trails daily and reset new tracks daily where needed. The temps have been nice, wind not an issue and skiing about as good as it gets!!

We woke up to 2″ of fresh snow and light snow falling most of the day accumulating to a couple of inches. Total new snow since “the storm” started is around one foot. The winds were not noticeable at all and about as good as it gets in the woods with pleasant temps and fresh snow. We packed and combed most of the trails and also set tracks on about 30km of trail. We will smooth out the three trails for skating, Skaters Waltz, North Loup and Skaters Extension and set new tracks on the trails we tracked today, Sap Run, Mother Hen, Sukkerbusk, Rootin Tootin, Mother North Star, Twin Lakes and Wavy Gravy. We will also set a track on Island Lake and Roy’s Run. We have been packing Bullhead trail but need a cold night to freeze down the top water on the lake crossings. We are able to groom across the ice no problem so the trail is open but can’t take grooming equipment across until it freezes. We had no rain at Maplelag and the snow is dry and dense. It is not crusty or icy. Conditions are excellent. A bit soft with so much new snow at once and a bit bumpy from early season conditions but otherwise about as good as it gets!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/December26thTrailReportPhotos02

Another 3-4″ overnight bringing the two day total of snowfall around 8″. Light snow falling off and on Friday with 2-5″ additional forecasted.  A bit warmer today so the snow is sticky and was a bit challenging to pack out early on but a few adjustments allowing the snow to pack out great and fantastic snow to build the base. We will resume packing the trails today and continue as the snow falls. Folks out on the trails enjoying the fresh snow and making their own tracks. We will set a few tracks this afternoon but hold off until the snow stops and possible wind.  Skating a bit soft but will eventually set up with more packing and cooler temps. Beautiful in the woods. The wind doesn’t seem to be a factor. We can see across the lake, folks traveling from the south are reporting winter driving conditions and the temps are almost balmy. The snow is sticky so it doesn’t blow around as much as dry fluffy snow.

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/December24thTrailReportPhotos02