Grooming January 7, 2021
Sorry, no pictures. We are still working on that.
Forestville: Continued warm weather and thin base has groomers reviewing the situation. Andy is going to test the surface to see if a groom helps and proceed accordingly. Part of the day’s plan will be to roll pack the “Mead Hills Bypass” section on the Noque’. We need to get things ready for the Noque on the 23rd. Coverage on all trails remains good but there are thin spots and dirt showing in a number of areas. I have been able to ski around all trouble areas. However, Michael, a serious skier and respected luminary on such matters suggested use of “rock” or at least, one of your less favorite training skis.
Fit Strip: The Fit Strip was roll packed the week of new years but I expect this warm spell at the lower elevations has rendered the trails all but unskiable. Think snow.
Big Bay Pathway: Meditation and Hidden Grin was groomed on 1/2/21. I expect it is still skiable but would like to hear some boots on the ground information. Best Mountain and Ridgeline will be closed for 2021.
Saux Head: All trails were skate lane groomed on the 1st. I expect it is still ok but have not heard first hand information in a few days. Let me know what you find.
Snow Bike Trails:
North Trails Grooming:
Late Sunday night we groomed to clean up ruts and smooth the trails on the following:
Basin Loop (Silver Lead, Collinsville, BLP Rocks, Blue Heron, Upper Blue Heron) and the Forestville Trails (Midnight Snack, Ramblin Man & Wildcat)
Coverage is thin with exposed rocks and roots, especially at lower elevations Use caution on BLP Rocks as there are a couple of icy areas.
South Trails Grooming:
South Trails were groomed Sunday.
Mt. Marquette loop, Main loop, Enchantment loop, and Old Camp Ridge……OCR still needs some work but is ridable.
Also groomed Eh-line but its not going to be ridable for a bit yet.
*****warning****
Watch out for the ice on the bottom of Mt. Marquette loop (aka Jeep Trail). We sanded it the best we could, but its still going to be slick.”
WTLGR: One of the great things about snow is its whiteness. Imagine winter where there is little if any snow. North of the 45 parallel we don’t get many “gray” days. If you knew where to look, yesterday wasn’t gray either. After addressing gritty affairs of the day a bike ride looked in the offing. However, with an almost monochromatic scene near lake level I ended up leaving the bike in the on deck circle yet again. We are right on the edge of not being able to ski at all but on the right side of that divide. Temperatures remain below freezing for most of the day so we lose very little if any base. And, the light mist at lower elevation was a steady snow by the 11k mark. By Co Rd 510 the on-and-off snow showers had left ¼ to ½ inch of high water content snow on the trail. It was beautiful. The skate surface was forgiving if not fast. A smart guy would have waxed for conditions but it was not as slow as Tuesday. For those of us that did ski, we knew it was the right call. Expect more of the same today sans the snow showers. Enjoy.
Sondo