November 28, 2018; Grooming Report:
Andy scratched the surface on the Noque’ to 17k, Animoosh. Muckwa, Migizi and Chiwagi via the hill by pass. Expect good to very good skate skiing but watch for the thin spots under the power lines at 10k and under the hemlock groves. I continue to use my good skis. I don’t even know you folks that actually have “race” skis so I don’t know what to tell you. There is still too little new snow to re-set the classic tracks. They are fair to good.
Way too long report: No WTLR report today. See the TLTR below but be forewarned, it is Too Long To Read.
TLTR Report:
What is a grooming report writer to do? I mean we have only a dusting of snow to talk about. Don’t get me wrong, skiing is great. (Keep in mind, “great” is not on the continuum of Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor and To Win a Bet skiing but is more of an emotional reaction to the fact we are into the third week of skiing and it is still November.) However, without snow storms to name or misery factors to calculate one could understand getting grooming report writer’s block. Again, this is why we have at least three winter sports. I know many of you continue to bike all season and but for being undercapitalized, I too would have a snow bike for such periods. The trick is to have a sport that is ideal for each weather situation presented. In Minnesota (pronounced Minnesooota in the vernacular) or, as my father called it, East Dakota, they have ice hockey. Don’t get me wrong, we have ice hockey here too but in much of East Dakota they will go months without enough snow to shovel and every pond in sight has beautiful ice and kids with steam rising from their backs. Our first winter living north of St. Paul I pondered life without enough snow to ski. One early December morning I bundled up and got on my road bike and saw literally hundreds of ponds with Zamboni smooth ice. It was supernatural! After my ride I grabbed my skates and stick to complete the biathlon. We often have to shovel our rinks so we don’t produce nearly the number of NHL players but have more variety and fun as a result. However, with cold nights and no snow this week I am keeping a close eye on our “pond” down the street. I drilled a hole in the 40’x80’ man made pond and found an inch of ice; enough to hold one standing carefully but that is not what one does with ice skates. Four inches is recommended for skating so think “cold”. Now I can enjoy getting new snow and not getting new snow.
Enjoy winter
Sondo