December 8, 2019 Grooming Report
Forestville: Last night Andy cleaned up the skate lanes on all trails up to 17k. The Bombi grooming from the day before has left us with great classic tracks and a wide flat skate lane. A clean up Ginzu groom of the skate lanes under these conditions will leave skiing near race ready again. Classic skiers do find a few “leaner” whips in some sections but even the outside pole plans are fairly firm. Yesterday skaters found firm pole plants with a few exceptions (provided you are using training baskets).
Way to Long Grooming Report: So, Joe wanted to see the “fun part” of drywall finishing. I had to admit, I didn’t know how to find it. As detailed in Robert Pirsig’s classic, I am sure it is just like deboning a chicken or performing maintenance on your motorcycle; the Zen is there if you can find it. Failing at that we blew off the finishing project and it was the smart move. We skied to the “Upper Mead Gate” just half a K short of 510. (please note, grooming stops at that gate; we did not bail. If you do ski to the turn around spot you had best stem on the way down that hill so you can stop at the gate.).
Skiing was spectacular! Fast, hard but forgiving snow combined with bright sun, temperatures in the 20s and light air made the day better than drywall finishing even if one could find the Zen.
A big thank you to yesterday’s trail crew. You still have a chance to be our hero at the Big Bay pathway and on the single tracks. See the work bee schedule below.
Work Bees:
Sunday, December 8, 1pm: Meet at Big Bay Pathway Trailhead
Anytime: Head out and snowshoe pack the singletrack!
Trail Head Building Will be Open this Weekend: We are going to have the Forestville building open limited hours this weekend. It will be staffed by our new intern Ryan on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10am-4pm. Please pardon our dust. During construction the space inside is very limited for warming so please plan accordingly but rentals will be available as are memberships. Skiers should remember, the building will close at 4PM so plan accordingly (ie, maybe leave your stuff in your car just incase you take an extra loop and return after 4PM).
Saux Head: All trails were groomed and track set yesterday. The trail is in very good skiing condition.
Big Bay Pathway: Sven and crew are still working on clearing trails from the storms. See above for work bee schedule.
Fit Strip: Not groomed yet.
Snow Bike South Trails:
As of Saturday morning
• East of 553
• Mt Mesnard loop (granite/jeep) & chapel spur in good condition, 4-6 psi.
• Cx race course for today 3-5 psi, occasional soft spots.
• West of 553
• Main loop (benson/freak/smiley) groomed and getting good, 3-4.5 psi.
• Other loops remain closed by trees for now, storm recovery continues.
Snow Bike North Trails: Heading into the weekend, most sections of North Trails have been regroomed to pack down the traffic and loose snow, with The Pine – Penstock – BLP Rocks loop firmest for biking and other activities.
Equipment and Facilities Update: If you have been to Forestville for the early November skiing you will have seen lots going on. We are expanding the trail head and will be done soon. We plan to be open before Christmas. New grooming equipment has been purchased for both skiing and snow bike grooming. We will detail equipment and trail head facilities over the next few weeks.
To learn more about the NTN, to join, volunteer, become a sponsor or make a comment, please visit www.noquetrails.org .
Sondo