Next year, everything will be groomable

We are continuing to work on widening the one section of our trail network that was too narrow for the groomer. Only 15m of trail remains to be widened, out of the original 95 metres that were too narrow. I need a minimum width of 1.6m to get through with the groomer.

Trees lean, and then disappear

A dead ironwood tree fell and was leaning over the Hockleycrest trail near the north junction of Mainline. It was only a matter of time before it came all the way down onto the trail. So my son Peter and I got out and removed it. No more ducking under!

before

after

Another project finished

The project to correct a bad cross-slope on the Mainline trail just north of its junction with Pasture trail has been completed. Hopefully next winter the groomer will no longer slide off the side of the trail anymore. The area I re-worked was 28 metres long; I finished the last 8 metres today.

Work continues year-round

Although we do our skiing in the winter, and most maintenance work is done in fall and winter, operating a XC ski trail network requires work all year round. I've been working on a couple of projects that will hopefully make for better skiing next winter. The one remaining piece of trail that was not wide enough to groom is being widened to a minimum 5 feet, so the groomer should be able to pass through next year. I've finished 44 metres of widening, and have 51 metres left to do. Another trail section that had a nasty cross-slope on it is being levelled so that the groomer won't slide off the side anymore. On this job, 18m has been done, and 9m is left to do.

March 31 - a little snow

Overnight we received about 3 cm of new snow, on top of bare, unfrozen ground. I've been skiing this morning, on trails with a grassy base. It is possible, though not great. I wouldn't want to try any of the rougher trails that have rocks and tree stumps in them. Temperature currently 0, rising to +2 with rain, so not an ideal day to go skiing. Stay indoors today.

End of Season?

It is the first day of spring, with no snow on our trails. Unless we get a freak, major snowstorm in the next couple of weeks, it looks like our ski season may be done for this year. I will not be posting any more reports, unless there is something significant to say.

Sat. March 18 - no skiing

There is no snow on the trails, so no skiing today. However, the maple sap has started running, so if you came for a walk on the Hockleycrest trail, you would see my buckets on the trees.
I just read on the website of Stokely Creek Lodge that they are closed for the season. This is the place I went to in January to ski. It's about 50 km northwest of Sault Ste. Marie. What a shame they are closed so early. It's not due to lack of snow, since they still have over 30 cm on the trails. It's due to lack of skiers! It just isn't worth their while to stay open and groom the trails when very few skiers are coming to ski. This is the problem with their location; it's so remote from major population centres that it's very hard to attract paying customers.