Guaje Ridge trail work completed

Update from Lynn Bjorklund of USFS and Southwest Nordic Ski Club:

Trail work on the upper half of Guaje Ridge trail from Mitchell Trail to Pipeline Road has been completed (for now).  It certainly isn’t perfect, but we are trying to get the most accomplished with the funding.  All those awful locusts have been cleared, the trail widened in spots, a minor reroute constructed, and drainage features added or improved.  Check it out and let me know (comment here) what you think.  This is OUR [due to cost share agreement between USFS and SWNSC] contract with volunteers making it possible, so feedback on how we are spending the money is solicited.  Reineke, our contractor, will be off on another job this next week.  Then the week of Sept 24, they will be back and starting reconstruction of north Mitchell Trail to what used to be Guaje Reservoir.  Next on the agenda in October will be work on the Pajarito Nordic Ski Trails.  We have to wait until after the first frost to protect the Jemez Mtn Salamanders, and we will need a cultural survey clearance that is scheduled for the first week in October.  So, if all goes on schedule, perhaps the second or third week of October we will get the work done up there that will be directed by Clay. Depending on weather and soil conditions, work on reconstruction of the trail up Guaje Canyon may get started.  Once the soils freeze up, then trail work will be over for the year, but the Nordic Ski Club will then be picking up on volunteer hours that will help fund work starting next Spring.

Trail Contract starting on Guaje Ridge/Mitchell Trails

Note regarding upcoming trail work from Lynn Bjorklund of USFS: 

Thanks to SWNS Club, Volunteers, and Clay Moseley!

A contract trail crew will be starting work down Guaje Ridge Trail and north Mitchell trail this next week. There will be daily ATV traffic up and down Pipeline Road that is authorized as approved administrative access so that the contractor (Reineke trail construction) can get chain saws and trail equipment to the start of the trail off Pipeline road. There will be hand crews only on the actual trail, with no motorized equipment except a chain saw to clear downed trees and hazard trees. The Guaje Ridge/Mitchell Trails will be greatly improved soon, and all those locusts and aspen shoots removed off the trail.

Thanks to all the volunteers who made this possible, and especially the Southwest Nordic Ski Club who has partnered with the Forest Service to assist in the rehabilitation of all the fire affected trails in Los Alamos County. Under this agreement, there must be a 50% match of volunteer hours to utilize the federal funding for these contract crews. Clay Moseley waded through the maze of forms, RFPs, and contracting process to make this a reality amidst his own impossibly busy schedule.

 

The contractor will be working the trails that are more remote, such as Guaje Canyon and Caballo, for the next several years while Craig Martin leads local volunteers on the closer access trails.  The sign-in sheet for all these volunteer efforts explains that they are actually volunteering for the Southwest Nordic Ski Club to help meet the match to obtain the federal funding.  Over the next few years we will need something like 1300 volunteer hours to fully utilize these funds. All the upcoming fall work parties and winter grooming hours will count towards this goal.  

 

We are also planning to have Reieke do some additional work on the nordic ski course later in the fall to get the trails in better shape for this upcoming season. 

Pics from the 4/21 work party

The shade fence was taken down, Clay went off into the yonder to cut trees down with Kermit. Sanna, Clay and John avoided being photographed. A good time was had by all.

Thanks to all the volunteers, groomers, members and skiers for the great season, see you when the sunfencing goes back up this fall.

Trail Work Session Tomorrow Morning

We'll have an easy, 3 hour trail work day on Saturday, 10AM at the trail....  this will be April 21st.

We'll be taking down all the plastic sunfencing that kept the snow shaded this past winter.

Because of the fire last Summer we had to put up more fencing than normal ($2500.00 worth!) and so we have more to take down, so we'd love to have a big turnout for this one.

Please join us!

Thanks,

Tom Berg

Pajarito Pinhead Challenge this Saturday 3/24

Hey folks, my favorite race that I am terrible at, the Pajarito pinhead challenge, will be this saturday morning, at the Pajarito mountain ski hill. The pre race instructions are at 8:20am, the race goes off at 8:30 am. Get there a bit earlier to do some minor paperwork.

Depending on snow the race will be a Race up to the top of aspen lift via dogpatch for skinners, or the zero road east for skaters and then:
1. Stop there
or
2. Ski over to the west side and down why not and then back to the lodge via salamander gully. (this is a different downhill than last time)

I am guessing the full race (2) will occur, but snow conditions could take a turn for the worse. Decision will be made tomorrow or sat morning.

Come on out. The race is free. There is good beer and bands at skiesta starting around noon.

Pajarito Trails Groomed 3/9

Groomed for both skate and classic. Meadows were looking sweet with the classic tracks. The trees look good too, but the tracksetter dug down into the old, dirty, icy stuff, so it looked a little ditry but actually was a nice track.

Get you some skiing, looks like we got 3-4" new snow on the trails

Skiing on Sandia crest

Well, looked like Sandia Peak did the road once again last nite. There was 1-2 inches of new snow on top of that. The classic was good; skating would be as well (actually excellent because no one is walking around on the snow up there right now). The UNM loop was quite nice for classic as well. Someone had also skated the loop a few times.

Monday Night Grooming

Made a total of 4 passes.  Ran the  footer for two laps and got rid of the rotten tracks.  Then two laps with the 6 ft setting track on the last pass where I could.  Some places it is OK and others two tractor weights were not enough.  The snow I had busted up on the first lap had set up like concrete by the time I got to setting track.  Need to tow the 4 footer with the chains in conditions like this, but I did not have time for that.  Should be good skating tomorrow.

On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 9:59 PM, Dennis Newell

Skiing on Sandia crest, etc.

The service road was groomed Thursday nite very wide (like a 3 lane highway in spots) for skating.
Hardly any footprints! It is packed hard except where a little new snow accumulated in a few spots. It was very cold up there today but when it warms up a bit the skating should be excellent.

Also some good news from a meeting Fredrik had with the USFS; as quoted from fredrik's email
"

Meeting went okay. They are okay with making the upper loop “as wide as possible”. The problem with the upper loop Is that it is in an area with lots of trails and needs to be closed off for winter. Ryan mentioned that he would rather make a loop below the service road and we talked about the old trails that we had their about 10 years ago. He is open to make these wider and mark as “UNM Ski Team Ski Loops”. That could be a good solution since very few people would use these trails except for skiers. We should check out those loops again this spring and I am planning on meeting with Ryan again in May to go over them. I now we had a loop that went down from the gate and did a loop above the big open “clear cut” area and then back again. We should also look at the entire trail we made from the ski area to the gate below the service road. He seems more enthusiastic about widening and even leveling some of these old roads and trails than doing more work on the upper side.

I do not think we will ever be able to close the service road from people walking or snowboarding but we can continue to try.

As I see it our priorities should be:

1-Find place to leave a machine on top close to the ski area. I will talk to them this spring. However, I do not want to leave my $10,000 machine up there all winter so this leads to another problem. We need to find people willing to donate to buy a machine that we can leave up there.

2-Looking at the lower loops and see if it is possible to make them flat and wide enough if we groom continuously.

I talked to Louis and he has skied up there a couple of times. I think it is more about approaching the ski area and ask if there is a place where we can have a machine. It has to be away from their operation so that it is not in the way or is operated on the ski area trails during operation. There might not be a place like this. The other option would be to make a storage place somewhere off the lower look where no snow boarders and not too many other people would have a reason to go. To make a makeshift storage area down there far enough away from the service road might work if we can put signs and mark the machine. Not sure if FS even have to know about it if we are not building any permanent structures. The main point is to have a machine and some equipment that Ron and ???? could drive over the trails a few times when I am gone. We can mark the machine with UNM Ski Team and have a permit on the machine and that way you all can be volunteer coaches and work under UNM’s permit.

The problem is that it is only 2 guys at the FS that can do any work for us as far as cutting trees etc. However, they are willing to help out and they are willing to let us put up signs to designate some trails as ski trails."

Ron

Saturday Grooming update

John set classic tracks this AM as well...conditions are truly great in the woods.  Meadow may be blown in but thie short hike needed to get into the woods loops is worth it.

Pajarito Trails Groomed 3/2

Hey guess what?
Shiny new grooming on 6" of new snow. Just groomed skate for now.

Go grab you some march skiing. Watch those rocks and bare spots.

Pajarito Trails Groomed 2/29

Special leap day grooming for you.
Groomed for skate and classic from point D to point Q. The burn area is melted out bad. Usual late season rock and bare area warnings apply.

Skiing on Sandia crest

I spoke with Steve Gallegos of Sandia Peak earlier this week. He said he would groom the road either Wednesday or Thursday night.

Trails Groomed for Classic/Skate

The pajarito trails were groomed for classic and skate last night. On top of grooming after Sunday's storm, conditions should be excellent. Be really careful on the front hill, the first bit of the upper and lower roads. Thin and bare spots abound. Upper woods and meadow should be excellent. Winds abound. Drifting can occur. Watch for downfall, especially in the burn region. Help clear larger downfall off the trail if you can. Grooming elves are short staffed, but are knocking themselves out to keep the trails in good conditions. Never thought we would be skiing into march post Cerro Grande. Get them a beer or burrito or a beerito. Or something.

Skiing on Sandia crest

Fredrik set classic tracks on the service road which was already groomed by the alpine area for skating (very wide) and on the UNM loop and the lower part of switchback. I wished more people could witness how much work he does to do this grooming; I am always impressed by how much time he spends. The UNM trail need to be widened in spots for skating and classic to happen and much leveling of the trail would be very helpful, but we need more volunteer help to make this happen.

Skiing on Sandia crest

Steve Gallegos of Sandia Peak said they will groom the road tonite. Also Fredrik will go up yet again tomorrow to groom. Classic skiing was not too bad today with a skied in track. And fortunately the snowboarders we encountered were polite enough not to walk on the single track on the road (for the most part). We asked them not to and they complied! Wished all of them were like that.
That's why we need signs to inform the user public.

Skiing on Sandia crest

The area around Ellis got about 10" of snow the night before last. The UNM coach, Fredrik Landstedt, had groomed on Tuesday so Tuesday night's snowfall obliterated that effort. Fredrik attempted to groom again on Wednesday Afternoon but could not park! This has happened 3 times this year so it must be very frustrating to Fredrik. Fredrik has made some big efforts this year to groom this area when the team is in town so please be aware of that. We will cntinue to pursue Sandia Peak Ski and Tramway and the USFS to be able to keep grooming equipment up there so regular grooming can be done. Please call or email both Ryan Reineke at rreineke@fs.fed.us and Kerry Wood at kwood@fs.fed.us if you support this. Also please be aware that Sandia Peak Ski Area (contact is Steve Gallegos) has been incredible this year with grooming the service road consistently and frequently with their alpine groomers. We also will pursue working the USFS to post some signs up there about the grooming that is done and who is responsible for doing it; perhaps with some etiquette guidelines. Please email the two rangers named above if you support this as well.

Trail/Grooming Report 2/15/2012

Trails have received about 14" of new snow from the last two storms. Things look very nice, especially below and above the burn area. Funny thing is, the snow depth varies from 60" to 0.60". Luckily, the 0.60" is only in a couple of short sections. As has been the case since the January thaw, the snow is very thin in parts of the burn area, mainly on the front hill and just beyond Point A, both upper trail and lower road. But, that situation has improved and if you're very careful and just "double-pole" and really tip-toe through the thin stuff, you can avoid hitting rocks...for the moment, anyway.

Please be very careful when skiing down the lower road, and avoid snowplowing at Point A.

It was a lot cooler up there this evening, so things should set up from the grooming work. Trails were groomed for both classic and skate. Classic tracks will be very nice for the next few days.

We're down to a rock-bottom skeleton volunteer grooming effort. Things may not get groomed in the most timely manner. If you or someone you know are willing to pitch in, PLEASE contact us.

Excerpts of an Alley Loop Race report

Friday morning, Clay and I went out for a warm up skate. There was about 2" of new snow on the ungroomed trails. We got fresh fun tracks on Mikes Mile. It was like 2" of ball bearings on well groomed trails. I shot some video. CB is a really beautiful place.


Pre race team Southwest Nordic Beer Drinking and Ski Club:



We hit the last tricky descent and I went wide around a lapped 10k skier, while the guy behind me took the quick inside line passing me easily. The descent has a really fast curve and I got further waylayed by a guy in a Gorilla costume. He sort of did not make the turn at all, and I slowed way down to avoid hitting him. I did talk to Gorilla man after the race, turns out he rented the gorilla suit to spectate in at the tour of colorado, but the rental company would not take it back after a couple of days of him running up mountains alongside the peleton, so he had to buy it, for $80 bucks. Seems like a great deal to me, no hard feelings Gorilla Fella.....


To read the rest of the report, see Alley Loop Race Report on Moscaline

Grooming/Trail Report 2/6/2012

We've been receiving little doses of snow all week, and now the total is just about a foot new since all this started. It's been a strange week of weather with little clouds coming in and dropping these bits of snow, but we'll take it! Temps have been cool, not cold, but we'll take that too.

This evening, Denny went out and groomed the entire system and set classic tracks too. He reported 3" on top of the blading work by John B. So with all of that new grooming work, skiing should be stellar all week. Looks like small chances for little bits of snow through the weekend. Let's hope that comes true.

The local Espanola Ranger District of the NFS has been working with the Valles Caldera org to go out and visually get an archeology assessment for the long-sought-after grooming extension onto the little section of land at the top of the trail system. It would add an easy 1+ km of nice skiing (and easy grooming) to the system. Hopefully, we'll hear something before this winter is over.

Thanks to the groomers!!!