Sandia peak skiing, service rd

I skied classic on the service rd today and it was quite good considering the recent warm conditions and lack of grooming.  Looked like plowing may have been initiated already at the gate to the parking lot.  So the last day to ski the service rd may have been today.  Check with Jay at tram to verify.
I saw Klaus Weber up there teaching some hs students to ski on the service rd.

New snow

Sandia peak received several new inches of heavy wet snow  yesterday and early today.  I and my gf Shi skied in a classic track along the west side of the service road to just beyond the snowboarder area.  Someone else (name was Andrew I think--an MD) skied from the parking lot).  Tom K was also going up later and will classic so there should be a few km of skied in trail (if it doesn't get post holed or snowshoed over).  Only 3 people up xc skiing no one else on road at all.  If this could be groomed we would have great skiing until April for sure.

Sandia peak skiing

Shoveled top of first hill north of ski area.  Classic skiing ok on service road.  Quite warm up there.

Trails meeting

We need all available skiers who are interested in groomed trails in the Sandias to attend the trails meeting with the USFS and other groups on Wednesday March 18th from 4 to 5:30 at the Tijeras library.  Steve Roholt will be moderating the discussion.  

Skiing & Trail Report 3/13/2015

Still some great [spring] skiing to be had on the Nordic trails!  Trails got a fresh grooming on Wednesday evening, making things all smooth and fresh again.  Thanks to all the volunteer groomers who have stepped in to help out since the last round of storms.  It has kept things skiable until the really go through the spring burnout.

It's time to go back to rock skis, though.  Those areas that suffered the "June-uary Thaw" are now looking dicey again, but the rest of the trail is still awesome.  Perhaps we'll get an "end-of-season" touring track pulled back in, but if it doesn't snow again, we may call it for grooming operattions (if it doesn't snow again soon).

Here are some pics of the trail yesterday:

Still some coverage in the burn area, but lots of foot-hikers are starting to ignore the signage =(

Great views of Pajarito Mountain (this is probably the worst of the Nordic trail)

Just around the "New Point B" zone...full coverage

Nice and smooth skating, but a little warm and soft.  It made me think of exactly where to be stepping on my skis!

Some really lovely sections!

So different with all the light in March

Lots of trees are thinning themselves out along the trails

Meadow sections in really nice shape

Looking back to the east

Update on skiing in Sandias

From Steve Roholt comes this report:

Great skiing on service road, spring conditions good coverage. 

Last weekends grooming made it like this.

Contrast with the ungroomed 10 k loop below. 

Fredrik not able to groom the past few weeks. The 

skiing should be good for a few more weeks, especially if we get a couple

more storms.

Grooming

The service rd was groomed very nicely bu the downhill area.  Good skating.  Classic is not too bad either but no tracks as Fredrik was unable to groom.

Trail Grooming Photos 2/28/2015

Very nice storm!  But, some weird weather did follow it.  Fortunately, we only got snow on the trails and it should hold up pretty well until the end of March, barring any weird tropical anomalies.  Saturday was just beautiful classic skiing.  Sunday was nice too, but a bit wet and sloppy.  It was a good time to play around with different skis and klister.  I have a pair of "Zero" skis that have hardly ever been used, but they worked great in those wet snow conditions on Sunday. 

Anyway, enjoy these pictures of our Saturday morning "re-groom" job.  We had actually groomed the night before too, but it was still snowing heavily and we ended up with at least 10" more overnight. 

(click to make the pictures bigger) 

NMCup xc ski races and fun events Sat-Sun March 7-8th.

This coming weekend (Sat-Sun March 7-8th) our Southwest Nordic club and Enchanted Forest will hold NM Cup XC Ski races at Enchanted Forest XC Ski and Snowshoe Area!! Info is below. The list of events this year include a pace race relay, great for newbies and mixed ability participants! Come up if 
you can, should be a lot of fun!! Race courses will be groomed especially for these events.

Never been to EFXC? Here is a first-timer info post we have on it including driving and rentals info: click here.

Don't want/aren't ready to race? Just come up to check EFXC and the events out and see how much fun it is (and see that anyone can race, even those learning how to walk often race :). Kids will have others to play with after and before events, it should make for a very fun weekend! Still not comfortable? Take a private or group lesson from EFXC's knowledgeable staff! Call ahead about lesson times.

Registration is day of each event at the EFXC base lodge. 

8:45-9:15am for adult races and until 11am for kids races and relays 

You will sign a waiver and get a race number. If participating both days please save your number to use it both days.

COST: each participant will need to buy an EFXC day trail pass for each day they are racing. Races are free with purchase of trail pass.

Althea racing with her grandpa

List of events!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday March 7th

--5/10k classic races (individual/time trial start, 30sec apart), 

--0.25/0.5k  kids races (flat, 1/2 laps around the base area), 

--3k kids race using blue and green trails (out Powder Puff back on March Hare loop, has hills and downhills)

--Pace Race relays: 2 people per team. Guesstimate your time and the winner is the team whose total time is closest to their own guesstimate. Length of each leg will vary from 0.25-1km based on each participant's ability. All loops are around base area. Great for cheering each other on and a fun way to mix participants of all abilities together! If you have an odd number of interested folks, we will find you a pair just before the race :)

Sunday March 8th

--7.5k/15k skate races

--0.25/0.5k  kids races (flat, 1/2 laps around the base area)*

--3k kids race using blue and green trails (out Powder Puff back on March Hare loop, has hills and downhills)*

*kids who know how to skate are encouraged to skate in the Sunday races, but classic will be fine as well for kids races.