Grooming Plans for the weekend

The new G2 tracksetter actuator arrived, so, with Juan's help on Wednesday before kids' group, we got it installed thanks to Juan for helping me get going!  That was a scramble, and of course, the only time it snowed that day was right when we were trying to do all of that and had the tools out to get wet and messy.  

You probably saw that Tom went up and got the full meadow trail (well, maybe not quite down to point-M, but long enough...) aligned and packed.  I went up after the Wednesday practice with Kermit and the G2 and set the tiller and bar way down hard to break up the chunks and bumps.  It was 5 full slow-going laps before it looked OK enough to ski, but it probably needs 5 more laps with the tiller and bar in pretty deep to really get it smooth.  The tiller and leveling bar will really smooth out the ruts, bumps, and uneven spots, especially with the good snow depth.  You do have to lift it (the tiller/bar) up over the usual rocky zones and more abrupt bumps like those annoying water bars on the lower road, near point P -- we need to get those out this next year.  Sam Gardner helped me get the other ones (put in after the Cerro Grande Fire) out probably 20 years ago now, but those smaller ones near Point P are still there and cause a problem when you're running the tiller down.

But yeah, the meadow was looking good after the 5 laps.  I think Tom is gonna head up sometime today to till and level other parts of the trail, then we'll go up (Kevin helping?) to run it all again and then finally set the "best line" track at the end.  It should be pretty smooth with that many passes and the tiller down.

I'm asking for some quotes for a Ginzu 60" groomer.  It'll be a foot wider, with more articulated tilling than the G2, but it is expensive, so I'll have to get Sanna to help me with some budgeting.  I think we've kinda maxed out the G2, and we can just use the old Tidd Trail Tenderizer (TT) when it's rock-ski, low snow conditions.  It just doesn't put down a very good surface unless it's super soft.

Anyway, it should be really sweet classic skiing tomorrow for the Chuck Calef Classic (come race or tour the course -- you can choose either).

Little bit of grooming - leveling and tilling

 After all the storms that rolled through last week and the week previous, the grooming techniques need to change up a bit.  We have to go from "packing things down" and being able to soft-groom things, to putting the tiller and leveling bar down, which is slower and a bit more tedious, but produces that nice smooth corduroy surface we all love... and the firm, deep classic tracks.  

We also started packing in and tilling out the big meadow loop, which is just now starting to take shape.  It also needs a lot of tiller passes before it's 100% smooth, but we'll get it there.

Tom went and rolled the edges of the trails that had gotten narrow, then the meadow loop, then switched to the G2 to till out some ridges (Tuesday evening).

Last evening, I got the G2 tracksetter motor-powered actuator installed (the old one broke), set a few classic tracks on Camp May for practice, then went back out after dark to run the tiller and leveling bar on the upper meadow trails.  I made 5 passes and got things even wider in spots, and the new meadow loop is starting to smooth out a bit.  It'll take another 5 before it's really in good skiing shape because it was just so lumpy and bumpy out there, and the snow was setting up hard in the frigid cold.

Speaking of cold -- I probably would have run more passes, but even with a little heater in our little "Kermit" snowcat, it was FREEZING and I was getting cold, so I had to pull the plug and get back home.  It was definitely a cold one last night!  

I'll go out Friday night to till up the trail, then set the "best line" classic track for the Chuck Calef Classic club fun race on Saturday.  You don't need to be in any sort of race shape to participate, and it's free.  We just do it for the challenge and to celebrate our old friend, Chuck Calef.  Be sure to wear your most awesome outdoor wool sweater to commemorate Chuck!

Overall, conditions are still awesome with lots of snow and cold temperatures.  This is what we live for, so go ski!!!

Grooming Report 1/25/2023

 We're back to updating the grooming and conditions blog.  It's hard to figure out which site/media source people use most frequently, so we try to keep the "members" email list (become a member!) updated first, then move to the Facebook page and this report medium, the "grooming/conditions" blog.  We hope you enjoy reading these!

After all the snow since January 1, we've been keeping on top of the roll packing and grooming, but it's a volunteer operation so sometimes it takes a day or two, and isn't always perfect, but we try.  We have had a few equipment issues, as per the usual, but we get them fixed as we have time.  We should have the main grooming implement's (the Tidd G2) tracksetter back in operation by the weekend.  It sets the best track.

Travis and Nick went out Monday evening to do more rolling and make a pass with the old Tidd (the "Trail Tenderizer"), which does a decent job of grooming the trail.  

We'll be using the G2's tiller and leveling bar a bit more to flatten and smooth the trail out, so it should ski pretty smoothly in the coming days.  That was a nice period of snow, so we now have something to work with to level and smooth things out.

Tom went out again last evening to bust in the meadow trail, then roll-packed it a lot and generally widened everything around the system.  He followed up with the G2 to smooth out a few ridges.  More grooming to come Thursday and Friday.

Remember that we'll be hosting the "Chuck Calef Classic" club fun race this Saturday (first skier off from Point B at 9:30 AM), with a "best line" classic track.  That means it'll be somewhat out wide, near the middle of the trail, so skating will not be any good until we erase the track later in the evening.  We'll re-groom for normal skiing configuration on Sunday.

Get out and enjoy these super-great conditions!!!

going, Going, GOING... gone? (March 5-7)

Sorry for the long gap in posting a conditions update here. Things get really crazy with work, family, coaching, and of course all of this grooming business. After yet another long drought stretch that almost had us pulling the plug in February (NO!!!), we got that great week of snow and cold weather that saved our season...again. Funny how this year has been. Each month had a storm right in the middle that kept us in business and gave us one wonderful week of skiing, then followed by too much warm, dry, sun. I have to say, I didn't expect much out of this year and it has been frustrating, but overall I think it surpassed my expectations. We have had a fair number of very good days of skiing, just not a deep and resilient base to keep it going. We've definitely had a lot of days on rock skis and further degradation of skis that will become rock skis...sigh. 

So, here we are at March 5th and looking down the barrel of a "heatwave" forecast for Sunday-Tuesday. That's a bummer since we did pick up about 2" of new snow yesterday that the groomers went out and roll-packed down to preserve and keep it from blowing away. Word on the trail is that it is VERY good conditions, save for the odd thin and bare spot here and there. Tonight, we'll go up and perform the full ice-grind and groom for one last glorious Saturday, before the meltdown commences on Sunday. 

The kids' club will be having a practice biathlon in the upper meadow (kinda early), so be aware of that, but don't let it stop you. Come watch them scramble and ski their hearts out, while trying to remain calm while shooting the targets. It's kind of interesting to see. 

 After the big meltdown, the National Weather Service is hinting at an interesting an much wetter forecast for late next week and beyond. They're staying coy about the details, as all of these hopeful pattern changes have not quite materialized the way they would first report, but if it does turn out to be true, we might pull the equipment around again if it's worth it. 

 Thanks for all the wonderful support, and here's to a better season next year.

More new snow for 1/26/2021

I think we're finally getting out of the "low and pathetic" conditions reports into the "this is great!" category of trail reports. Not to be too greedy, but I do think we could use just a bit more snow to make things last for a while longer. We just barely got over the hump of getting those giant volcanic rocks covered, so one more good round would really help things out. We're keeping the trails rolled and compacted as each wave comes through. It takes a long time to set a classic track, so we kinda wait until it lets up so it doesn't just fill in. When it's soft like it is now, a track isn't really necessary anyway. Looks like a break in the action starting tomorrow through early Friday (with some warmer temperatures), with another quick-hit storm right at the start of the weekend. Another round is expected throughout the day today. Groomers will be up each night working on the trails, so check it out!

Trails report for January 23, 2021

We got up to the trails to groom around a quarter to six, did some work to the machines and unearthed our "good snow" groomer, which has been frozen to the ground, covered in fall leaves, then buried under the less than optimal snowpack thus far. Things are improving, so we think we'll be able to pull it out and finally use it this season! One more round of snow, and it's gettin' called into action. We went out to set track and shovel a couple of the thin spots, which went well. It started snowing while we were grooming, but we went ahead and finished the job. It came down pretty hard just as we were leaving, so that was great to see, but obviously, it was going to fill in the tracks...oh well, we need the snow badly. Everything was regroomed and mostly all set with track. Things have improved and it's now mostly possible to ski even the lower meadow without issues if you know the right line ;-) Today, I was able to ski without hitting a single thing, even on the front hill, which is obviously still very thin. With each round of snow, we'll do our best to pack/groom/set track, but there may be some delays depending on volunteer availability. It's a hard job and takes a LONG time to do each session (at least 3 to 5 hours). Thanks to all of you who have renewed your memberships and/or supported the club. It keeps the program running and the trails groomed! Please get out and enjoy these good conditions!!!

Grooming report 1/22/2021

 Dang...again, apologies for the long delays in updating the news blog.  We suffered a mysterious mechanical on one of the machines and it took a big effort to go rescue it and get it repaired.  Too many things to do with so little time...

Anyway, woohoo for the new snow, ~13" of wet stuff that quickly got saturated in the next day's sun and compressed to a firm 7" or so.  That really saved us and things are not so bad out beyond Point-B or so on the trails.  Parts of the lower Guaje Trail (aka "Lower Road") are still a little thin, but mostly all good after lots of packing and grooming.  The lower meadow below Point-N on the system index is still bumpy from the huge grass clumps, but if skied carefully, is quite passable now.  

The front hill is still super thin and has rocks all through that middle steep, narrow section.  Use EXTREME caution through there and don't even think about snow plowing in that section unless you really do not care about your ski bases.  You will hit rocks.  We always tell people to twist your poles around 180-degrees so that the ski baskets are in the "up" position.  You can carefully "walk" yourself down with your arms/poles until you're through that bad section.  Or, do the prudent thing and take your skis off to walk (stay on the high side, not in the middle) around it.  At any rate, it's short and you can ski just about everything right now.

We rolled everything twice, then pulled the smaller groomer through.  We need one more good storm to pull out our fancy, big "Tidd" groomer with the tiller and leveler.  There's just not quite enough to do that just yet.  Perhaps after the weekend.

The plan is to get a classic track set tonight on the parts of the system that allows it right now...the upper tree trails mainly.  There should be good skiing this weekend.  

Rolling with the compaction device down

The new snow groomed out nicely

Report for January 14, 2021

We've had a lot going on, if not a lot of snow falling on the trails. The entire system was roll-packed after the small storm over the weekend, and there continues to be some OK rock skiing throughout. It improves as one skis up and around the shadowy Canada Bonita ridge. Above Point J, it's not bad at all. Below that, use extreme caution and learn where those big volcanic rocks hide and wait to take your ski's base from you.

Camp May Rd practice area was regroomed last evening (Wednesday) to run some tests on the machines. There is both skate and classic set, and the snow is great.

The machines have required a lot of tweaking this year, so perhaps the dearth of snow has been a semi-blessing in disguise for the groomers. We *might* now have them all back in working order, but it has been a bit frustrating. It was just a bunch of little things, and that joyride that the vandals perpetrated back in September did a real number to our poor old Ranger. Little gremlins keep surfacing, but hopefully we're past that now. We'll see. It had a clutch failure and the anti-sway arm stabilizer was completely broken and required full replacement. That is always a fun type of job in our teeny-tiny shop space. For now, we're able to groom if we get new snow, so that's always the focus.

We'll report back on things if one of the other groomers can peel away and refresh things. Plans are in the works for this evening.

The NOAA is predicting some type of snowstorm for late in the weekend or perhaps Monday-Wednesday timeframe. The prediction seems to be improving, so hopefully we'll be able to stay in business. It's getting a bit lean out there in places...

Not much to say...except that we NEED MORE SNOW!!! (January 6)

 Not much to say here.  I haven't personally been up to groom, having to deal with a few mechanical issues with the machines.  Cameron Staples has kept things in shape, but we are running perilously low on snow and so the skiing reflects that.  Be SUPER careful when you head out into the trail network.  There are great sections, then some that are just super thin with obstacles hiding just below the surface.  

This next storm looks like it'll only give us a glancing blow, but hopefully something will come out of it.  We'll see.  Do your snow dances!

Happy New Year - January 4 Report

 Happy New Year to everyone.  Hope you've been able to get out and ski on our thin but well-maintained snowpack.  The trails have remained in pretty decent ski shape, despite the dearth of snow.  Ugh...we need a big storm!

Anyway, we'll keep working on making things skiable as long as we can.  This is the very reason why we keep the trails maintained all year and hang up all of that fencing.  We have to be ready for this very scenario.

I think we'll keep trying to groom every 3rd day or so for now, so keep that in mind.  It should be pretty OK skiing for about another week or so, if it doesn't get too warm.  

The upper ski trails are best, and the lower road was groomed the other night as well.  The lower half of the meadows are not so good, so use EXTREME caution in those areas.  The front hill is also very rocky, so the advice is to ski carefully up, then take your skis off and walk that rocky section (walk on the high side of the trail, PLEASE). 

Keep your fingers crossed for more snow!!!

12/30/2020 Grooming Report

 We went back up last evening to finish the full grooming work after Cameron ran the roller/compactor in the morning, following the little storm we got.

It was nice and cold, and with just enough snow to set a partial system classic track.  It will be thin in spots, but the upper trails have a pretty nice classic track, plus the skate lane looks good too.

It's supposed to stay seasonably cool, so hopefully this lasts for a little while, or until we get more snow.  It just doesn't look like any sort of whopper storm is coming anytime soon, but there are chances of little quick-hitter storms on the horizon.  As long as it's cool and we get some doses of snow here and there, we'll be OK.

Enjoy, and please support the club by joining or donating (see the registration site on our webpage).

Snow & Grooming Report 12/29/2020

 Finally, some much needed new snow!  It wasn't the big dump we were hoping for, but it keeps us in business.  It was in the neighborhood of 6", so that's pretty good.  Here's the report from our new grooming hand, Cameron Staples:

*********************************

Groomed this morning with the roller and wing down. The snow is looking great, hopefully it doesn’t get too warm today. 

Did two loops. 

Made some mistakes: going out on the lower trail once you get to the snowshoe trail fork I went left on the first pass and wasn’t sure if that was correct, so went right on the second pass. Sorry about that. 

Also groomed out in the meadow out past the fence and just did a lollipop turnaround. So didn’t groom the full meadow loop. Went back To the upper trails and got mixed up a little but made everything work out fine. Had to detach the roller and do a turnaround because on the second loop I didn’t turn right where it loops around and has the really steep turn hill. Made it smooth and used the shovel to correct my mistake (hopefully well enough). 

Did some passes on the camp may road and when I got back people had already walked all over it. Figures haha

Conditions Update for 12/23/2020

Merry Christmas on this cold and blustery December 23.  Not a whole lot to report - we've tried to keep up with some mode of trail maintenance with the little bit of snow that we're farming and trying to hold onto.  We did install more sections of fencing where the trees have continued to fall and allow too much sun to shine on the snow.  That should help conserve what we have and keep the ground frozen enough for when we do get more snow, which is in the forecast for early next week...fingers crossed!

Trails were regroomed last evening, but no new classic track was set with the low snow conditions.  We might try pulling something around in a day or two to get at least something set.  It'll be a thin track, but it'll be nice to have something to ski in.

Hopefully, the surface conditions aren't total boilerplate today and tomorrow.  We tried a different thing to grind up the surface before running the "Tidd" groomer.  

As it has been, and is getting worse by the day, there are a lot of rocks and obstacles on the lower part of the course, with more grass and twigs on the upper part.  The wind will probably lay down some tree trash too, so please keep your eyes peeled for that stuff.

Use extreme caution in the burn areas of the system, and especially the front hill.  If you do take your skis off to walk, walk to the upper side to avoid making holes in the middle.  (thanks!)

The upper part of the trails should still be nice for skiing, so it's worth it...

Season is ON! 12/15/2020

 Finally, we received enough snow (barely) to go out and groom.  We also got some damaging wind, but it wasn't too bad and we were able to clean it up and get the trails packed and groomed.

It's super thin in many sections, so be SUUUPER careful and use your rock skis.  Mostly, the lower road is groomed and skiable from A to O, as are the upper trails, which ski a bit better.  We also got the upper meadow and Caldera loop packed in.  

It's all lumpy and bumpy until we get more snow, so keep that in mind.

Here are some recent snow pics of the trails and the mess we had to clean up:

SWNSC shop

SWNSC kids skiing on Camp May Rd

Clearing downfall out on the trails

Good skiing the next day out on the trails

LATE grooming report March 6, 2020

Trails were groomed to perfection Tuesday night, but alas, these super warm days are taking a toll on a few sections.  Most of the coverage is still fine and probably skis great in that 10am to noon window, but it's probably icy in the early morning and early evening.  There are about 4 or 5 short sections that are very thin and narrow, then it's great and totally good skiing before and after. 

We gotta do some "shade augmentation" work this next summer and fall, so please make some time to volunteer.  There are other things that need doing as well...so please come out and help!

Anyway, everything was groomed and track was set, etc.  I'm not sure if any of the other groomers are going to have motivation to groom before the weekend, but I'm out until next week due to this weekend's Demo Days by Salomon and Fischer, up at Enchanted Forest XC ski area.

Here are some pics of the grooming on Tuesday and the great skiing the next day:

Trail conditions report 2/19/2020

There was about one inch of new snow from last night.  The sun came out pretty strongly for a bit, so it softened up.  A single grooming pass was made on all of the front/low trails: Lower Guaje Trail, the "NO" hill from Lower Guaje into the lower meadow, back into the main ski trails from Point M to J, then down the lower stuff.  The upper tree trails and the upper/outer meadows were not groomed, but have some soft, new snow on top of the frozen crusty stuff.

The front hill is getting quite lean with narrow and thin ice, especially in that steep, south-facing middle section.  Be very careful there.

There may be more grooming this evening by one of the junior kids team parents, but generally speaking, conditions are holding alright for now.  The classic track is a bit old, but with the new skiff of snow, it is still good skiing.  Tomorrow is supposed to be cold, then maybe a wet storm over the weekend.  Hopefully we get a good dump of heavy, wet snow, followed by cold weather.

Trail Conditions (?) 2/18/2020

We don't have much to report - the weekend got pretty warm, so there was some thawing on those sun-baked parts of the trail.  The forecast calls for some new snow tonight, although not much, so we'll wait to see what plays out before heading back out with the groomer.  It'll likely be refreshed by Thursday or Friday.  Looks like an even bigger chance of some warm, wet snow over the weekend.  Stay tuned for that one as well.

Last Friday afternoon, Kevin Reid did go back out to refresh the skate lane and finish putting some reflective wands out in the meadow so we don't get lost every time it snows or drifts.  A big thanks for that.

For now, we stay in a holding pattern to see what happens.  Regardless, we'll report back by Thursday/Friday.  Still a lot of skiing to be had this season!

Grooming Report 2/13/2020

Well, this winter, while not the biggest or snowiest, or coldest, is turning out to be pretty OK.  Just when we start getting on the dry side with some melting, we seem to be blessed with just enough to keep conditions pretty nice for a few days.

Travis and Zach got out with the YTS roller and compactor to get things started and skiable after the storm.  It was really nice skiing with the kids junior team last evening, with cold temps and all.

I got out with our Yamaha Viking and G2 groomer just around sundown thinking it would be a quick job with the faster machine.  Well, things don't always go to plan, but it wasn't too bad.  With the new snow filling in the meadow trails, the packing work got a bit off course since we haven't had a chance to set out any reflective wands all season.  The ironic thing is that a club member donated some to us and set them by the Point-L tree, but we haven't gotten them set out.  They were still leaning on the tree as I drove right by them after getting stuck out in the meadow!  sigh

Anyway, after wrestling with getting the snomo and groomer stuck a couple of times and wrestling with it out there, I finally found the correct alignment and was able to get most of the meadow groomed, but it looks kinda weird for now.  I also found that our various paths through there have drifted us over a couple of buried fence posts, so it was REALLY time to get those reflective wands set out.  I did that at noon today, so just keep an eye out for them.  Two of them are directly on the tops of buried steel fence posts.

Things groomed out well for both classic and skate.  Kevin Reid has plans to groom the skate lane again Friday evening.  Should be nice skiing over the weekend, but will probably be icy again by Monday.  Be careful on the narrow front hill ice path!

It's about time we got some photo documentation of how nice our conditions have been this year (click on the pictures to see them in larger size):

Camp May Rd beyond the gate.  Paul Allen grooms it for us when he's working the Pajarito Mtn shift.  Good man, Paul!

Point A, looking down the Lower Guaje Canyon Trail

Point A, looking up the xc ski trail

Nice view of the eastern shoulder of Pajarito Mtn

Our difficult sun-exposed, fire ravaged "Front Hill" section.  The shade fencing really has done its job this year!

A section on TJ's trail, between Point E and F on our trail system index

Looking at Point E on TJ's

Nice little narrows on Dave's Dogleg

Looking east, over the Rio Grande Valley and the southernmost tip of the Sangre de Cristos

Sun splashed tree section, above Point J

Typical curves in the climb out toward Canada Bonita

Getting higher, just above Point K

Another curve, above Point K

Nice classic skiing today

Upper Baca meadow loop

Looking down the Canada Bonita from the rim of the Valles Caldera

Looking up to the top of the Canada Bonita and the Caldera Rim

Nice view of Cerro del Medio magma dome in the Valles Caldera

Hairy Sasquatch that is commonly found out in the Canada Bonita

Final curve at the top

Another view of Cerro del Medio ~10,000 ft

Trail Conditions Update 2/10/2020

It's been a little too hectic to keep everything updated with info.  We're down to a super bare-bones grooming crew, so those long hours spent grooming means no discretionary time to keep things posted.  We're doing the best we can on the trails, so hopefully you're able to get out when it's all groomed and good.

It did snow last week, got really cold for a couple of days, then the temps went UP after a nice cold day on Thursday, during the night!  That's weird.  So, Friday, and especially Saturday were warm.  Those sections that are very sun-baked (front hill, etc.) took kind of a beating.  Everything else stayed nice, however.  There's still plenty of skiing, but things did transition quite a bit.  Sunday was nice.

Things were groomed completely on Friday night.  Lots of drifts out in the meadow, so those zones are pretty wonky.  We did get out Saturday evening again to regroom for all the full-moon baskers, and so the skate lanes were magnificent yesterday and stayed nice since there was a good cloud deck that kept the temps and sun in check.

Looks like a storm on the horizon, so stay tuned.

Trails groomed 2/05/2020

Oof, that was a long night!  There was quite a bit of new snow for what seemed like not much of a storm.  The total amount was hard to figure out, but it looked like anywhere from 5" (bottom) to nearly 8" at the top.  Sometimes that happens.

Anyway, the entire system was packed/groomed out, but may be just a bit soft out in the meadows.  The tree trails and stuff down low will be firm right away.  It was very cold, so it set up fast.

Kids ski program this afternoon starting out about 4pm.  We'll have a classic time trial this Saturday, about 5km or so, so come on out if you're up for that.  First skier off at 9:30AM.

Enjoy!