It's been snowing since late morning, with some heavy squalls passing through. Looks like the good dose of snow we were needing and hoping for...with a good, solid base underneath. Woohoo!
Please be patient with our volunteer grooming operation, usually conducted by us "old" guys after a full day of real life. I think there are plans for a couple of guys to go up tonight and do some packing laps, with another volunteer scheduled to go up tomorrow. It'll likely be soft throughout the weekend, with plans to groom on Dr. MLK, Jr. holiday (Monday).
We'll try to get a classic track pulled in, so hopefully that'll be the really good option for classic touring in new, soft snow.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Trail conditions 1/15/2020 - GREAT!
Hi all,
Hopefully you've been out skiing since the weekend's little "refresher" doses of new snow. It was just what we needed after the little freeze/thaw hardening of the older snow last week. Nothing got really bad or anything, it's just nice to have some "freshies" to work with while grooming. One day last week saw some more firm conditions for the first time this season. Snow-pack is still holding well and I think things look great at the moment. There's a pretty good storm in the forecast for tonight through Friday, so hopefully that will really add to our already great ski season.
We did get out Monday night to blend/grind in the new snow on the Lower Guaje Trail, then bust drifts and wind-slab crust in the meadows, and then simply "mash" in the new/tracked snow on the upper tree trails from L-J-down to A, etc. (we groom in a counter-clockwise direction). It was a mish-mash of conditions and situations that required setting the teeth down in some spots, lifting then in others, and then combining methods in yet others still. No two parts of that trail system are the same!
Logan Ott also set some good track on most the system, so classic is great too. Travis Gibson went back up last evening to clean up the drifting and untidy passes from Monday nights' efforts. We had to pull out different equipment to run everything, so it needed just a bit more work here and there. A big thanks to those guys, and to Kevin Reid for keeping up the shade fencing maintenance work. The fencing is SO incredibly crucial to the grooming and continued great ski conditions.
Ski on!
Hopefully you've been out skiing since the weekend's little "refresher" doses of new snow. It was just what we needed after the little freeze/thaw hardening of the older snow last week. Nothing got really bad or anything, it's just nice to have some "freshies" to work with while grooming. One day last week saw some more firm conditions for the first time this season. Snow-pack is still holding well and I think things look great at the moment. There's a pretty good storm in the forecast for tonight through Friday, so hopefully that will really add to our already great ski season.
We did get out Monday night to blend/grind in the new snow on the Lower Guaje Trail, then bust drifts and wind-slab crust in the meadows, and then simply "mash" in the new/tracked snow on the upper tree trails from L-J-down to A, etc. (we groom in a counter-clockwise direction). It was a mish-mash of conditions and situations that required setting the teeth down in some spots, lifting then in others, and then combining methods in yet others still. No two parts of that trail system are the same!
Logan Ott also set some good track on most the system, so classic is great too. Travis Gibson went back up last evening to clean up the drifting and untidy passes from Monday nights' efforts. We had to pull out different equipment to run everything, so it needed just a bit more work here and there. A big thanks to those guys, and to Kevin Reid for keeping up the shade fencing maintenance work. The fencing is SO incredibly crucial to the grooming and continued great ski conditions.
Ski on!
Monday, January 6, 2020
Resolution Classic Results - January 5, 2020
Conditions were fantastic for this year's Resolution Classic "Tourace" - we call it that because it's hard to give it 100% when you're just out there having fun. You're kinda racing, but also looking at the views and just enjoying the conditions, so it's halfway between a race and a tour.
Speaking of conditions, there was plenty of snow that had just a bit of transformation from what had been pretty much new snow conditions for two weeks, to a more frozen and faster type. Some of the course was rocket fast, but some sections were still cold and grippy. The day before was fairly warm, but it froze up hard overnight and didn't warm up much during the race, keeping things firm and fast.
It was a day to apply a slightly warmer grip wax, somewhere in the violet/purple range, or a very thin and short section of universal klister - that's what I opted to use, but very thin and very short under my foot. It provided solid kick when my technique was good, while also allowing my skis to glide well. The snow was the type that would have allowed a pretty good range of things to work, depending on where on the course you really wanted the best kick.
The track was set in a "best line" path in the trail, which made for a smooth course that is quite a bit easier to ski than when it is groomed for both skate and classic (classic track way over on the low side of the trail). It skis quite a bit differently when it is set like that with wider turns and straighter lines. It was kinda sad to go groom it out after the day was over.
So, here is the tale of the tape. Great job to everyone who came out to enjoy pretty much perfect classic conditions. You've achieved your New Year's Resolution!
Speaking of conditions, there was plenty of snow that had just a bit of transformation from what had been pretty much new snow conditions for two weeks, to a more frozen and faster type. Some of the course was rocket fast, but some sections were still cold and grippy. The day before was fairly warm, but it froze up hard overnight and didn't warm up much during the race, keeping things firm and fast.
It was a day to apply a slightly warmer grip wax, somewhere in the violet/purple range, or a very thin and short section of universal klister - that's what I opted to use, but very thin and very short under my foot. It provided solid kick when my technique was good, while also allowing my skis to glide well. The snow was the type that would have allowed a pretty good range of things to work, depending on where on the course you really wanted the best kick.
The track was set in a "best line" path in the trail, which made for a smooth course that is quite a bit easier to ski than when it is groomed for both skate and classic (classic track way over on the low side of the trail). It skis quite a bit differently when it is set like that with wider turns and straighter lines. It was kinda sad to go groom it out after the day was over.
So, here is the tale of the tape. Great job to everyone who came out to enjoy pretty much perfect classic conditions. You've achieved your New Year's Resolution!
2020 Resolution Classic Tourace |
|||
| 10km Course | |||
| Name | Start Time | Finish Time | Race Time |
| Clay Moseley | 00:50.0 | 29:16.0 | 28:26.0 |
| Sanna Sevanto | 01:40.0 | 31:54.0 | 30:14.0 |
| Travis Gibson | 02:05.0 | 32:45.0 | 30:40.0 |
| Scott Baily | 00:00.0 | 31:22.0 | 31:22.0 |
| Zach Leonard | 01:15.0 | 33:30.0 | 32:15.0 |
| Liz Quinney | 03:45.0 | 36:04.0 | 32:19.0 |
| Andy Jones | 05:00.0 | 42:11.0 | 37:11.0 |
| Tarik Saleh | 04:35.0 | 42:48.0 | 38:13.0 |
| Kevin Reid | 04:10.0 | 44:13.0 | 40:03.0 |
| Siobhan Niklasson | 02:30.0 | 42:55.0 | 40:25.0 |
| Dina Pesenson | 00:25.0 | 42:21.0 | 41:56.0 |
| Paul Gooris | 03:20.0 | 50:54.0 | 47:34.0 |
| Steve Venturoni | 02:55.0 | 57:22.0 | 54:27.0 |
| 5km Course | |||
| Levi Gibson | 06:25.0 | 25:36.0 | 19:11.0 |
| Mila Moseley | 07:15.0 | 26:42.0 | 19:27.0 |
| Zach Gibson | 07:40.0 | 28:27.0 | 20:47.0 |
| Diego Leonard | 06:00.0 | 28:38.0 | 22:38.0 |
| Madalyn Baily | 06:50.0 | 32:12.0 | 25:22.0 |
| Chris Michel | 09:20.0 | 35:33.0 | 26:13.0 |
| Axel Niklasson | 08:55.0 | 35:58.0 | 27:03.0 |
| Anders Niklasson | 10:10.0 | 38:03.0 | 27:53.0 |
| Lindsay Gibson | 09:45.0 | 39:04.0 | 29:19.0 |
| John Ullman | 10:35.0 | 40:08.0 | 29:33.0 |
| Phoebe Reid | 08:30.0 | 38:51.0 | 30:21.0 |
| Aida Saleh | 08:05.0 | 38:48.0 | 30:43.0 |
| 3km Course | |||
| Luke Gibson | 12:00.0 | 29:21.0 | 17:21.0 |
| Quanah Moseley | 12:50.0 | 32:37.0 | 19:47.0 |
| Harper Reid | 13:15.0 | 36:13.0 | 22:58.0 |
| Liv Niklasson | 13:40.0 | 37:21.0 | 23:41.0 |
| Samantha Baily | 12:25.0 | **** | **** |
January 6, 2020 Grooming Report
Trails were groomed (sadly) after yesterday's great classic-only "Resolution Classic" event. I think everyone who came out to pre-ski and do the event all agree that our trails are hard to beat when groomed for classic skiing. They were so much fun like that.
Anyway, temps were warmish for a couple of days and that means that a few sun-exposed segments saw some snow transformation for the first time in a while, but mostly it's still nice mid-winter crystals conditions. We had to finally "grind" some of it up, which makes for some nice faster skiing.
So, everything has been re-groomed, business as usual, for both skate and classic.
Friday, January 3, 2020
January 3, 2020 Snow & Grooming Report
That little quick-hitter storm resulted in about 2" to 3" new snow on the trails. It was colder, dryer snow, so kinda perfect to mix in with the wetter frozen stuff underneath. The meadow trails were completely snowed over and filled in and needed to be regroomed.
Again, we've been slowly getting the edges groomed and doing a few other things on top of the grooming, so it's still not 100% complete, but getting there. Last evening, the lower Guaje Trail out the meadows was groomed, leaving old track on the lower trail, setting new track in the meadow trails. Had to groom the main ski trail "shortcuts" for Sunday's classic race/tour, so the upper trails only received a single pass on the high side. That sort of wiped out a lot of the classic track set the other day. We'll be setting a new track on Saturday evening.
For now, things will be nice for skating, especially for tomorrow. There will not be new track set on the upper trails for tomorrow, but there will be good track on the lower trails and the meadow trails.
Looks a little warmer over the weekend, so expect some variability from sun to shade.
Conditions are great, so enjoy!
Again, we've been slowly getting the edges groomed and doing a few other things on top of the grooming, so it's still not 100% complete, but getting there. Last evening, the lower Guaje Trail out the meadows was groomed, leaving old track on the lower trail, setting new track in the meadow trails. Had to groom the main ski trail "shortcuts" for Sunday's classic race/tour, so the upper trails only received a single pass on the high side. That sort of wiped out a lot of the classic track set the other day. We'll be setting a new track on Saturday evening.
For now, things will be nice for skating, especially for tomorrow. There will not be new track set on the upper trails for tomorrow, but there will be good track on the lower trails and the meadow trails.
Looks a little warmer over the weekend, so expect some variability from sun to shade.
Conditions are great, so enjoy!
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Grooming Report(s) Catch-Up for NEW YEAR - January 2, 2020!
Very sorry for not having kept up with this grooming reports blog. There has just been NO spare time to do that this past month or so. There was a LOT of industrial work just to get the trails functional again after the crazy storms of late winter last year, over the summer, and then this fall. We didn't get much snow in November, until that hurricane snowstorm hit over Thanksgiving that left us with yet another big mess of trees down, etc. It has been nothing but catch-up ever since.
Anyway, trails have been groomed all December, and we recently opened the Upper Caldera Loop and the Outer Limits Meadow trail! They look great, if not still a little bumpy. We seem to perpetually be short on grooming volunteers, so we make do with the very few hours spread among two or three guys. Things are groomed pretty well as of today, but will be groomed again for this weekend's SWNSC Resolution Classic club events. Hopefully this quick little storm will leave us with just a nice topping to go over the tracks from the high volume of traffic we've had over the holidays.
Come out and join in the fun this weekend:
Saturday - skate sprints in the meadow (leave trail head by 10am, meet in meadow about 10:30 or so)
Sunday - Resolution Classic (no skating), best line tracks, ~3km, ~5km, and ~10km loop options; first skier off from Point A promptly by 9:30 AM. Just show up to put your name on the list!
Anyway, trails have been groomed all December, and we recently opened the Upper Caldera Loop and the Outer Limits Meadow trail! They look great, if not still a little bumpy. We seem to perpetually be short on grooming volunteers, so we make do with the very few hours spread among two or three guys. Things are groomed pretty well as of today, but will be groomed again for this weekend's SWNSC Resolution Classic club events. Hopefully this quick little storm will leave us with just a nice topping to go over the tracks from the high volume of traffic we've had over the holidays.
Come out and join in the fun this weekend:
Saturday - skate sprints in the meadow (leave trail head by 10am, meet in meadow about 10:30 or so)
Sunday - Resolution Classic (no skating), best line tracks, ~3km, ~5km, and ~10km loop options; first skier off from Point A promptly by 9:30 AM. Just show up to put your name on the list!
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