Grooming March 24, 2020
Today’s report is brought to you by the Staff and Volunteers of the NTN: We have experienced excellent skiing every day since mid November due to the tireless efforts of the NTN staff including Lori and Kellie in the front office as well as Andy, Doug, Jeremiah, Roxin and Mike (others too I am sure) in the saddle and an army of volunteers to numerous to mention. I am so sorry to miss anyone and I am sure I have. In any case, last night’s groom was the last of the season unless orders are amended. See more details in the Way Too Long Grooming Report below.
Trail sponsorships are available. Please visit www.noquetrails.org and follow the links. You too can be feted in an up coming grooming report.
SPRING SCHEDULE IN EFFECT: Trail Head is closed and the privy is locked. Practice save social distancing and enjoy the beautiful skiing.
| Forestville: ALL TRAILS PISTON BULLY GROOMED AND TRACKED LAST NIGHT. EXPECT RACE READY CONDITIONS TODAY. Andy went out last evening with the plan to groom the Noque to Co Rd 510 including the Mead by pass as well as all trails in the system west of the trail head. Unless there were mishaps, expect race ready conditions on all trails.
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Way too Long Grooming Report:
Please support our government officials as they deal with difficult and complex decisions. We have voiced our opinion that grooming should continue but understand there are other items on the Governor’s plate.
We did check (not really) to see if publishing a “Non-grooming” report would be allowed. That will be permitted. One of the concerns weighed (not really) was the question of what grooming report writers would do following the order’s issuance. This will be the second time in over a decade that we have switched to the Non-grooming report format so early in the season; remember the year it was 80f on St. Patrick’s Day.
Typically, power till grooming (ie, Piston Bully or Bombi groomers) ends when the base is less than 12”. This year that will not take place for weeks. You have both experienced how well the Bully performed on boiler plate thaw/freeze ice. We were all looking forward to a month of shirt sleeve, sun glasses, race ready skiing; but, it wasn’t to be. Following the end of power till grooming, once several west facing sunny trail sections are bare we have to park the Ginzu Groomers. However great skiing continues after grooming ends and those ski days are reported in the Non-grooming Report”. These are serious reports (well…) because we firmly believe you both wish to put off application of storage wax until the last possible date.
So, we will study conditions based on thaw/freeze cycles and report on crust skiing, snow bike conditions and warn of the bare spots as they appear. In the olden days that was the only thing we could do as grooming was all but non-existent on cross country trails a few short decades ago. We would take regular mountain bikes out in the cold morning and ride on snowmobile tracks until mid-day sun made them too soft. We would go crust skiing through the woods in the cold morning air. I expect both of you have experienced an out an back crust ski where the “back” part of the ski ended up being a no-fun-tour due to over shooting the “too warm” end of the Goldilocks Zone.
In any case, you can rest easy, I will not be sitting in the dark waiting for November. I’ll see you out there, from a safe distance. Enjoy.
Saux Head: All trails were groomed and track set Saturday but we are in a typical spring thaw/freeze cycle so you will need to look for the “Goldilocks Zone” to avoid icy or slushy trails. I always go to the graph at the bottom of the detailed NOAA site to see when temperatures are forecast to climb above 32. https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=46.5557&lon=-87.4411&unit=0&lg=english&FcstType=graphical
Big Bay Pathway: No report at press time
Fit Strip: Grooming has been suspended. Expect some bare spots.
Snow Bike Trails; All trails in excellent shape this morning. Last night Jeremiah groomed the top part of granite point, main, enchantment, oak hill, jeep trail. Over the weekend all trails were groomed. The north trails were also groomed over the weekend. Check out the fantasy golf calendar type picture below. This week’s freeze thaw cycle will keep trails in excellent shape through the foreseeable future provided everyone avoids leaving deep ruts during the thaw part of the thaw/freeze cycle. Go ride!
North Trails Sunday
To learn more about the NTN, to join, volunteer, become a sponsor or make a comment, please visit www.noquetrails.org .
Sondo