The Ground is White

We have 1 cm of snow on the ground; a few more cm required before we can start skiing.

On the Right Track

It is -9 outside and snowing lightly. We've had some flurries since yesterday and there is now a white covering on the ground. Not enough to ski on, but at least we're heading in the right direction. The forecast calls for more flurries today, with possible accumulations of 4 cm. so, with any luck we might be able to ski soon.

No Skiing Yet

It's been a week since my last post, and things have only gone from bad to worse. We have lost 99% of our snow and the temperature outside right now is +3. Colder weather is supposed to return tomorrow, but the only snow in the forecast is "flurries". That will not likely provide us with enough snow to ski on for as least a few more days.
When we do have adequate snow cover, I'll let you know.

Looks like a Wet Christmas

If the weather forecast proves to be correct, we are in for some very mild, wet weather over the next few days. The little bit of snow we now have on the trails will likely disappear.
I will not make any further posts until I have some good news to report.

Saturday December 20 - Needed: More Snow

We've had a trace of new snow since Thursday, but not enough to make the trails skiable.

Time to do the Snow-Dance

Well, we have returned to below-freezing temperatures, and I've been out to inspect the trails. The good news is that we didn't lose all of our snow. General snow-coverage is about 5 to 8 cm, but there are many bare spots or places where grass is sticking up through the snow. Skiing is not recommended at the moment. We need some new snow. Not too much is needed; 5 to 10 cm would get us back to skiing again, now that we have some base on most of the trails.
There is no significant snow in the short-term forecast. A major system is predicted to come through around Christmas eve or Christmas day, but at the moment they are not sure if it will be rain or snow.

Skiing not recommended today

The warm temperatures are taking their toll. The thermometer topped out at +2 today. We still have fairly good coverage, but there are definitely some thin spots and everything is very wet. Best wait a couple of days before trying skiing again.
I just received this photo from a friend who snapped it on the Mainline trail on Saturday morning about 8 a.m. Things were very nice there for one day!

Ski Conditions Sun. Dec. 14

Just in from skiing. Temperature at 7:30 a.m. was +2. Snow is wet and packing: good for making snowmen, not ideal for skiing. Also one or two bare spots beginning to show up.
I will not groom again until freezing temperatures return; looks like Thursday at the earliest.

Conditions Sat. Dec. 13

I've just come in from skiing, using a head lamp to light my way. Temperature is right on 0 at 7 a.m. Skiing is still good, but the snow texture has become a bit heavy and sticky. This will probably get worse as the temperature rises to +3 during the day.

Plenty of snow!

I've just come in from 3 hours of grooming and an hour of skiing. Yesterday's snow storm left us with about 20 to 25 cm of soft powdery snow on the trails. In fact the snow is so soft and deep that the groomer kept getting bogged down, so I had to keep detaching the roller and pre-pack the trails with the ATV alone, then go back and re-attach the roller and snow-comb.
In the end, 95% of our groomable trails were packed and flattened. Some of the trails in the central area were also track-set.
Skiing is good: I would rate it 7 out of 10. Based on the weather forecast, it should be about the same first thing Saturday morning. Temperature is supposed to rise to +3 later Saturday, so conditions will likely deteriorate.
At any rate, we now have a good base, which will hopefully survive the warm temperatures of Sunday and Monday, and that will be the foundation of our trails for the rest of the winter.

December 11 - Snow is Falling

Well, it looks like we are finally getting a significant snowfall. Once it stops, and assuming there is enough accumulation, I will be getting out and grooming. The first grooming will probably just be packing without tracksetting.

No News is Bad News

Nothing new to report on snow conditions on our trails. We still have just a trace of snow on the ground. The forecast is calling for about 10 cm tomorrow. We'll wait to see if that turns out to be correct.

conditions Fri. Nov. 28

There is a dusting of snow on the ground, and it is snowing lightly now (5:15 p.m.) but it looks like we are going to lose whatever snow we get. The forecast calls for very warm temperatures over the weekend.

Wed. Nov. 26 - a dusting of snow overnight, but not enough to ski

No significant snowfalls in the forecast. Looks like it will be at least a few days before we can ski again. The blowdown I mentioned yesterday has been cleared, along with a couple of leaners in the same area.

Conditions Tues. Nov. 25, 2014

It is 0C with light snow flurries, but no measurable accumulation, so no skiing today. However there is a snow squall watch in effect, so anything could happen.
Today I cleared about a thousand twigs and small branches off the trails, blown down by yesterday's wind storm. Just one larger tree to be cut with the chainsaw; that should be done tomorrow.

No skiing today

As you can imagine, with temperature of +15 there is no skiing today, but there is plenty of wind. Once things have calmed down I will be out checking the trails for fallen trees and limbs.

Snow Gone

With an overnight temperature of +5, our snow has virtually all disappeared. It is expected to stay warm today and tomorrow. We hope to see a return to colder temperatures and a chance of snow flurries beginning Tuesday.

Ski conditions Saturday Nov. 22, 2014

I just came in from about 30 minutes skiing. It is -4, snowing very lightly, and a bit windy. There are a few bare-ish spots where it is windy, but overall the skiing is quite nice. I would rate it 6 out of 10. This is our 5th day of skiing this season.
However, conditions are likely to deteriorate rapidly as today progresses. We are expecting freezing rain, then rain, and temperatures rising to well above 0.
Warm weather is to continue for the next 2 to 3 days, so it is likely we will lose all our snow.

Ski Conditions Wed, Nov. 19, 2014

I just came in from 45 minutes skiing. Temperature -10 with a mainly clear sky.
We received about 1 cm additional snow overnight. However, with the wind that accompanied yesterday's snowfall, distribution of snow is very uneven. There is lots of grass showing through and some places are blown off almost bare.
I would recommend that skiers wait until we have a bit better coverage.

Also, trail #12 and the portion of #1 between the two junctions with 12 are not open yet, because there is still a crop of soybeans in that field.

Skiing begins today

I've been skiing today. It's not fantastic, but is tolerable for a fanatic. We have an average of about 7 cm of snow on the ground. 10 to 15 cm more is predicted by tomorrow. We're not grooming yet; waiting until there is a bit more snow. It's -5 Celsius with a strong west wind.

The new map is here!

We're happy to present our newly-revised trail map for 2014/2015.

First Snowfall this season

November 1st brought our first snowfall of the 2014-2015 ski season. It's only a couple of centimetres, not enough to ski on, but it's a step in the right direction. Here are some photos of a couple of the trails.

New trail map on the way

We're working on a new trail map showing everything that's new this year. GPS tracks of the new trail sections have been recorded, and will be incorporated into the new map. We hope to have this ready by the end of October.

Fall is here; can skiing be far behind?

It's September 24 and that means it's fall. But the weather is as nice as any day we had in the summer! Preparation continues for the upcoming XC ski season. Some of our new signage has been put up.

This year I am going to try to keep the ski trails just for skiers, so that the grooming will stay better.  Walkers and snow shoers are permitted to use the main Bruce Trail and the 2 official Bruce Trail side trails. All the other trails are open just for the winter and just for skiers. We'll see how effective this sign is.
I've also been working on the groomer. The photo below shows the entire grooming assembly: snow cat, packer/leveller with snow comb, and track setter.

 

The packer/leveller may look like an aluminum boat, and that is what it used to be. However, with a few concrete blocks in it, I think it will do a good job of compacting and levelling snow. Hopefully, it will track better behind the ATV than the roller I used last year, which had a tendency to slide off to the low side of the trail. I've also improved the snow comb drag by adding friction-reducing plastic sheeting, and flexible side skirts.

I can't wait to try these new features! The track-setter still needs a couple of modifications before the snow flies.

Clearing the trails

We've been out pruning trees along the trails. This has been a wet summer - great weather for trees, grasses and weeds to grow long and tall.

A look back at last year

Here are a couple of shots of our trails, shortly after grooming on a nice day in March 2014. We hope to do even better this year. Out of our total of just over 12 km of single track trail, we will be grooming 10.5 km. The remainder, which is too narrow to permit grooming, can be skied on a back-country basis i.e. cleared of obstacles, but not packed or track-set.

Preparation underway for winter 2014/15

As summer draws to a close, those of us who enjoy the pleasures of skinny skiing are starting to think ahead to the months when the ground will be covered with a blanket of pristine white.
Our 12 km of trail are being mowed through the summer and fall to keep down the tall grasses and weeds. Pruning of tree branches protruding into the trail has begun.
Since last winter, a number of trail sections have been widened to permit grooming, which was not possible before.
Two new trails have been created: The Ash Grove Trail provides a sheltered alternate route to Stonehedge, which is often windy and prone to drifting. Similarly the Pasture Trail provides a sheltered alternative to a portion of the Mainline that has always been windy and subject to snow drifting.
Some new home-made grooming equipment has been acquired, and will be tried out in the early part of the winter to see if it's better than our current roller and snow-comb.