Light drizzle  than falling temps made for fast conditions on the trails this morning. Around noon, snow starting falling and around 6″ has fallen so far as of 9pm. Chance of significant accumulations!!

We groomed all afternoon and in to the evening and will resume grooming in the early morning. The wind is pushing the snow around pretty good so we will most likely be packing the snow, setting tracks along the way with soft conditions expected until grooming can firm things up. Compacted base 6-9″. 57 km tracked for classic only, 15km groomed for skating.  The north end of Bullhead is a bit rough but skiable throughout or take skis off and walk.  All trails are groomed for classic.  Skaters Waltz/ extension Single and Double green, Suicide Hill and North Loup groomed for skating.  There is also a track set on North Loup for classic.
Total snowfall  this season has been 41″.  The trails are open for day skiing and the current fee is $15 to use the trails for the day.  (Maplelag ski reports on skinnyski and link to share ski experience!)

(photos from time trial yesterday on skinnyski.com click on high school, than results)

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/December30thTrailReportPhotos04

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/December29thTrailReportPhotos02

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/December26thTrailReportPhotos03

Prairie effect snow falling this morning accumulating to a half inch or so. Not a lot of snow but just the right amount to cover some of the forest matter on the trails. We also worked this new snow in to the trails groomed today. A track was set on the side of North Loup in addition to being groomed for skating. We also set a new track on Roy’s Run. Roy’s is 80% very good condition and the other 20th% is skiable throughout with some rough spots here and there. Other tracks set today on Sukkerbusk, Rootin Tootin and Mother North Star. All other trails groomed on Thursday afternoon. 60 of 64km open. 4-6″ compacted base. 45km tracked classic only, 15km groomed for skating.   We are grooming Sukkerbusk, Mother Hen, Sap Run, Twin Lakes, Wavy Gravy, Island Lake, Rootin Tootin, JibFly, Mother North Star and Lucky’s Loype for classic and Skaters Waltz/ extension, Kristin’s Kutoff, Single and Double green, Suicide Hill and North Loup for skating.
The entire trail system is open except for the east side (4km) of Bullhead lake trail. The east side is closed until colder weather, which will freeze the thin ice areas.   A nice start to the season with 23″ of snow this season, so far.  The trails are open for day skiing and the current fee is $10 to use the trails until December 20th the fee will go to $15

(Maplelag ski reports on skinnyski and link to share ski experience!)

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/December16thTrailReportPhotos02

A great weekend on the trails with good reports from skiers hitting the tracks. Hard to believe it is early December. It looks and feels like mid January. Light snows off and on over the weekend including Sunday night accumulating to 3-4″ of very light fluffy snow. Beautiful to ski in. The trails are taking great shape and pretty much in mid winter conditions! Very good to excellent early season. 60 of 64km packed/tracked/combed. 3-6″ compacted base. 35km tracked classic only, 15km groomed skate only, 10km packed (open for technique of choice).
The entire trail system has been packed/tracked or combed (including the two soccer fields and back bowl)except for the east side (4km) of Bullhead lake trail. The east side is closed until colder weather, which will freeze the thin ice areas.   Roy’s Run was pack-tracked on Friday (packed with track set right at same time) today and 75% is in good condition with soft track and other 25% is rough. We could not groom the entire loop because of water issues but still have a full complete loop using bootleg trail and forest access roads.  A nice start to the season with 20″ of snow this season, so far. We will be working on the trails this week preparing them for the high school Nordic ski camps. The trails are open for day skiing and the current fee is $10 to use the trails.

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/December6thTrailReportPhotos

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/December5thTrailReportPhotos02

Bit warmer day today with temp in upper single digits, light winds and sunshine making for a great day on the trails. Tracks set on Twin Lakes, Sap Run, Mother Hen, Sukkerbusk, Poki Loki and JibFly. Some sections the tracks are nice, other spots thin, down to the ground. With “rock” skis, classic is fair to good. Skating very good on Skaters Waltz and handful of folks hitting the trail this afternoon.  Great skiing for Thanksgiving. Some of the best conditions ever. Skaters Waltz in great shape for early season skiing. Packing on 53 of 64km of trails the past few days. Some trails in better shape than other but a fantastic start to the season. Lots of sticks to clear in some trails but we are working on the trails daily to put them in the best shape possible.  The compacted base is 1-3″ and total snowfall this week has been 8-11″.The trails are open for skiing at no charge. We have no lodging available at this time. Best skiing on Skaters Waltz, JibFly, Twin Lakes, Mother Hen, Sap Run and Sukerbusk. One low area to watch for on Sukkerbusk. We will groom again in the morning on Skaters Waltz, Rootin Tootin and Skaters extension.

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/November26thTrailReportPhotos02

http://picasaweb.google.com/6birdman6/Thanksgiving2010SkiingPhotos