Ice Storm Recovery Continues

Ski conditions are slightly improved today, as a result of yesterday's grooming, removal of storm debris, and a couple of centimetres of new snow. I have gone over all the central trails and a portion of the southern trails, removing hundreds of fallen tree branches. Sunday's combination of high winds and freezing rain was not kind to us.

I will continue this morning on the southern trails, starting by clearing one large tree across the Mainline trail in the sugar bush.

Trails are still quite icy, and should only be tackled by very good skiers. You should also be prepared to take off your skis and walk down some of the bigger hills.

3 p.m. Update: The southern trails have been cleared and groomed. There were 3 trees to be cleared with a chainsaw, plus about a thousand little branches to be picked up. Also, it has been snowing lightly to moderately since mid-morning, so we are getting a few centimetres of fresh powder on top of the ice. Every little bit helps.

Northern trails still need to be checked, cleared and groomed.

Probably Not a Ski Day

 I've labelled today as "probably" not a ski day. It certainly won't be a good ski day. I skied a little this morning, and it's possible; but that was on flat, level ground. Under current conditions, hills would be treacherous.

The wet, slushy snow of yesterday morning took quite a long time to freeze. As it did, some new snow arrived on top of it, from a persistent flurry that continued for several hours. The result is that we have about 3 cm of new powder lying on top of old icy crust. With the groomer, it might be possible to break up some of that crust and mix the old granular snow with the new powder.

I will try a little bit of grooming this morning, and see what the result is.

In the meantime, I do NOT recommend skiing here today.

The weather forecast says we might get more snow later today, in squalls. It would be nice if this happened, but you certainly cannot count on it.

NOON UPDATE: I've groomed a small loop, about 1 km long, and then skied it. The result is a small improvement over before, but not sufficient to make for safe, pleasurable skiing. Grooming under these conditions is also very slow. There are many tree branches and twigs on the trails, which must be cleared so that they don't get tangled in the grooming equipment. I have to stop and get off the ATV about every 20 metres to clear debris, which makes for very slow progress.

I will groom some more this afternoon, but the objective will not be to create good skiing today; it will be grooming "for the future", by preparing a better base as a foundation for future snowfalls.

Not a Ski Day

 Today is not going to be a good day to ski. We have lost a lot of snow since yesterday morning. Snow remaining on the ground is soft and very wet at our current temperature of +1. However, the temperature will be dropping quickly during the day, so the snow will soon freeze and become very icy.

It's also very windy, so there will likely be tree branches down on the trails in numerous places.

Please do not come to ski today.

Still Good Skiing - If You Hurry!

 Skiing conditions are still good on our trails this morning. But freezing rain is predicted to start about noon and continue for the rest of the day. So, if you want to ski, get out early and allow enough time to get home before noon.

Thank you to those of you who have put a little cash in the donation box at the parking lot. Your contributions help to cover the cost of maintaining the trails, which consist mainly of fuel for the ATV and regular maintenance on our equipment.

Much Better

 Yesterday's storm did not bring us the predicted 10 cm of new snow. Nevertheless, the 5 cm we did receive has made ski conditions much better than before. The snow we got was mixed with ice pellets, so it is much denser than ordinary, fluffy powder snow, which means that on ski trails it behaves as if it is deeper than the measured amount.

I groomed all the central trails late yesterday afternoon as the snowfall was coming to an end. I will pack the southern and northern trails this morning. I'm not sure if there is enough snow depth to set a track; I will experiment and see how it turns out.

There are still some thin spots under conifers, but these are smaller and much improved.

It looks like these good conditions won't last very long; tomorrow's forecast calls for freezing rain or rain.

Noon Update: All remaining trails have been groomed, and many sections have been track-set. The track went in fairly well in most places. It's very good skiing right now.

Waiting for the Snow

 According to Environment Canada's weather radar, it's already snowing outside. But I've just come in from skiing, and it is not snowing.

As of now, trail conditions remain the same as the past 2 days: thin coverage and a little bit icy. Hopefully that will change later today, as the forecast promises a snowfall of 5 to 10 cm, lasting until about 6 p.m.

8 a.m. Update: No more waiting. Snowfall has started!

Expecting More Snow

 Conditions on the trails this morning are not bad. On a scale from 1 to 10, I would give it a 5.

Most trails are flat packed granular snow. There are some places, maybe 5% to 10% of the network, that are very thin and icy. These are mainly where the trail passes under a dense canopy of conifer trees.

One of my main objectives in grooming yesterday was to create a relatively smooth, flat, firm base for the next snowfall, and in that I think it succeeded. It looks like that next snowfall will be tomorrow, with estimates in the vicinity of 10 cm of snow, possibly mixed with ice pellets.

The temperature outside right now is a comfortable -1, predicted to drop during the day. If you come skiing, be aware that the granular snow is fairly fast, so it will be important to control your speed on downhills.