Informal Ski Club Time Trial on Sunday, Jan 3 at 9:30AM

SWNSC will put on an interval start race (ie: a time trial, with individual starts) on this coming Sunday, free and open to one and all, (ie: no entry fees) and only booby prizes! Here are the details from Clay's press release:

"If you're around and not too hungover from New Year's festivities (or if you are and need a different kind of "Hair of the Dog" treatment...), consider coming up to the cross country ski trails for a club training time trial. It'll be about 10km in length, or you can opt for a shorter version of about 6km. There will be classic track set, along with the skate lane, of course. Format is just like the Tuesday evening bike time trials -- I'll go off first and serve as "timer," but you need to time yourself, as this is just for fun and not very official. We may also have a backup timer. We'll plan on sending the first skier off (me) by 9:30am, so be up there earlier for warmup and getting your name on the start list. We'll meet at the "Coat Tree" at point B on the trail system (see map: http://swnordicski.org/USFS_Pajarito_Ski_Trail_Map.pdf) The course will likely make one big loop from B, through all the letters in a "clockwise" direction, re-enter the woods at pt. M, go to pt. J and repeat the upper woods and meadow sections, then continue past pt. M (staying left) on the second lap down through pts. O, P, R, then make the sharp turn at pt. A and head back to pt. B. If you want to skip the second round of the upper section (M-J-K-L-M), then you can opt for the 6km version and just head straight down to the lower trail (N-O-P-R) and turn at pt. A to finish at pt. B. Be aware that there may be people out skiing for fun and that the course is NOT closed. So, ski in control and keep your eyes out. It's just for fun and training. Everyone is welcome! Hope to you see you there." There will be a timer, and the interval starts will be at 30 second intervals.

Trail Report 12/28/09 9pm

Hi all,

We've run into some pretty big snags with the machinery...we need to fix a few things and purchase some parts, but we're managing to hang on by a thread. Please help if you can by paying your dues and/or donating. If you enjoy skiing close to home, it's a bargain! One of the groomers who fell victim to a bad breakdown (and heroically went back out the next morning to perform a fix out on the trail), suggested we attach a donation bucket to the broken machine. Despite our great relationship with the Forest Service, they would probably frown on that.

Anyway, despite the grooming equipment snafus, the trails have been mostly regroomed since the major Christmas weekend traffic. Skate lanes have been refreshed (mostly) and there's fresh classic track on all but TJ's and Dave's Dogleg, and the front hill, where the snow is still thin.

Things are still in good shape!

Trail Conditions: update

In spite of very heavy holiday traffic on the trails, extra cold temps day and night have kept the skiing very nice. The classic tracks are pretty wide now from apparent large numbers of skiers using heavy touring skiis, but the widened tracks are firm and not glazed.

The new snowshoe trail shows evidence of a lot of use as well.

Next storm on Monday-Tuesday should allow our hard working groomers to freshen things up nicely.... remember, if you haven't joined SWNSC yet, or donated, that we spend around $3000.00 each Winter grooming and the funding is entirely from memberships and donations!

Here's a new report of the work John and Denny did last night:

"Here's a quick report - the main trail system is packed, the tidds were run and track was set with the 6ft Tidd. The high side (no track set side) of the trail could use some widening in spots, and the shortcuts and cutoffs need attention. I think we are set for Christmas and then some unless someone gets inspired to hit the high side. "

Trail Report 12/23/09 2pm

Season's Greetings!

The Nordic trails received anywhere from 6" to 8", and now probably more as it has been snowing off and on during the day.

The new snow was packed with one big pass with the rollers, leaving the classic tracks intact where possible. Things will be soft for a couple of days.

There are plans for more packing and grooming tonight and tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Club Training TT on January 3, 2010

Hey gang,

If you're around on January 3, aren't too hung over, and are interested in getting in a good hard workout effort, come meet us up at the Nordic trails in the morning for an impromptu time trial. It's just a low-key training thing, but it'll give you and idea how your skiing workouts are going.

We've done these club things in the past and they're fun and low-key. I will personally buy the fastest male and female finishers burritos in the ski area lodge afterward! (...or, beers later in the afternoon if that's what motivates you more =)

It'll be a "freestyle," but it'll be groomed for both skate and classic. We'll likely get started around 9 or 9:30 am or so. We'll post more as we get closer. It's New Years Resolution time again, so come on out.

Trail Report 12/21/09 (new)

Happy Winter Solstice!

Trail was extensively groomed over the weekend to clean up the ridges, ruts and sides. This should really help things level out with more snow...when and if it comes.

A classic track was set today at noon, while it was warmer so it would pull in a little deeper. Bear in mind that the coverage is still in early-season form, so there may be a few thin spots and obstacles in the skate and classic track. Classic track was set on the entire system.

There have been some hikers and snowshoers on the upper "skiing-only" trails, and they inflicted some pretty good damage with the nature of the post-holing. It's a shame, as the track looked great before they did that.

Looks like it's turned from hard kick wax to some sort of klister blend. If you ski early, it's simply a mixture of universal and ice klister. If you ski after things soften up, a mixture of universal and something warmer will be the ticket, but it'll be sticky in the meadow where the snow never transforms, so keep it thin. It's probably better to go with "no-wax" skis if you don't like the variability in those conditions. Grip tape works great for that condition too.

It's supposed to snow tomorrow, so get it while the gettin's good.

trail Conditions: update

Grooming report from Ken Kisiel:

Ran the 4’ Tidd with wings attached on the main trails. Used the teeth to remove the grooves in most areas and also refresh areas becoming icy. Also got down the cutoff from TJ’s to the garage twice and back to Point A. I think it was an improvement. The Tidd teeth broke up ice and removed the grove while the wings knocked down the snow on the edges without exposing hazards.

Trails in great shape

In my 5 years here in the alamos, this is by far the best shape the trails have been this early in December. After a Friday ski and a saturday snow shoe I declare them great. Still some aspen shoots need to be cut, still some rocks and sticks need to be buried, but you barely need to be careful. Some pics:
point a:


point J, note the new wider trail going around the rock.:


Meadow:


Overlook at the tip of "pauls Portal" the new snowshoe trail:


Also check out more photos here

Grooming report 12/11/09

From Clay:
Lots of hours went into getting the trails into shape after this last storm. But, things look great for the weekend...probably one of the best early season grooming jobs despite a still thin base.
Just about all of the "regular" trails are groomed, but be careful on the meadow sections from point L down. There are a few hidden obstacles here and there, plus some clumps of grass where the wind scoured the snow a little thin. There are also some tops of big rocks that are not quite 100% covered. Maybe next storm will make it possible to ski with good skis...best to stick with rock skis for now.
There's also a classic track, but keep in mind that it's early season and obstacles had to be dodged in places, and in some others the track may be a little thin.
Be sure to get your memberships renewed. The club always goes through a lean spell this time of the year which results in some of the volunteers footing the bill until the donations and member fees come in. It has always worked out, but just barely!
Here's to the new ski season. Happy skiing!

Help out by snowshoeing and skiing!

If you are thinking about going up on our trails (see map on the homepage under The Trail section) on your backcountry skis or snowshoes this week, please consider making your own tracks (vs following in existing ones) to stomp out as much of the full width of the trail as possible - it will really help the groomers get the machines up there after the storm to make nice skate and classic ski lanes!

If it has NOT been groomed (ie no machine tracks of any kind) its actually helpful to snowshoe on the upper trails too despite the signs. The signs that say not to are only meant for when its groomed. So this is a good chance to get on the upper trail before the grooming closes access to anything but skis.

Also, Paul, Dave, Tom and Donna made record time before this snowfall to create a brand new snowshoe specific (no machines on it!) trail off of Canada Bonita main trail! We are hoping to post official 'Snowshoe trail' signs in the next week on it. More info, map and photos to be posted soon on the swnordic.org site. The county also started a snowshoe rental and learning program. We will post links to it in the same place.

Btw, the trail will be called Paul's Portal after our own Paul Graham since he was the one to find the best path while working with Tom and Donna. That path also luckily required less deadfall clearing than was originally expected. Dave W worked hard most of Sunday to clear the deadfall from the trail! Made for a brand new trail in about 2 days! Although more work to still be done with signs etc. See Tom's previous post on how to find the trailhead.

Have fun and a HUGE thanks if you do try to stomp some snow out for us!!

New Trail for snowshoes: Paul's Portal

Over the weekend and just in time for last night's big snowstorm a team consisting of Paul Graham, Dave Wykoff and Donna and Tom Berg created a new snowshoe trail East of the main multi use trail portion of the SWNSC trail system at Pajarito. Signs are not up yet, tho the whole trail is flagged and easy to follow. To find it take the Guaje Canyon Trail 282 down the hill a few hundred meters past Point "A". After the flat section following the hill at "A" keep looking right (East) and you'll see orange ribbons leading down into the woods. Follow the flags about a half kilometer as the trail winds its way out to a nice overlook of Los Alamos Canyon and the townsite beyond. Right now it is an out-and-back trail, but we hope next year to have it loop back to the main trail somewhere around Point "P". We'll get some signs up in the next week or so.

Ken's trail report

Here is an update on Wednesday night's trail work and snow conditions from Ken Kisiel our ex club president:

"Denny and I removed the aspen down on the lower road and worked the two lower cut-offs off TJ’s adding downfall to the downhill side. We also built up around the larger rocks also. Should be an improvement in both skiing and grooming. Also trimmed a lot aspen shoots. Snow is still holding on most of the trail. Another 6” will allow for some initial packing."