Nice Skiing Today

 The ski conditions will be nice today. Tuesday night's 5 cm snowfall was packed in grooming yesterday morning, and the temperature did not quite reach the freezing mark. We received an additional 2 or 3 cm of snow in flurries yesterday afternoon, and it's snowing lightly now. So we have a little bit of loose powder on top of the packed base.

The current temperature is -8 with a predicted high of -2.

I will not do a complete grooming today, but I will go out and tidy up some areas that got drifted in yesterday afternoon.

9 a.m. Update: Drifted areas around the south field have been regroomed, as well as a few other trails in the central area. Skiing is very good on either groomed or ungroomed terrain.

By the way, we now have 60 cm of snow on the ground, according to my snow measuring stick.

New Snow

We've received about 5 cm of new snow overnight. At the current temperature of -3, this is nice, dry powder with good glide.

Depending on which forecast you look at, the temperature is expected to rise to minus 1, or perhaps as high as plus 1 this afternoon. That would change the characteristics of the snow, and make skiing more difficult.

I will start grooming first thing this morning, and hope to finish before the temperature reaches the freezing point.

There will probably be some drifting this afternoon, and possibly some snow squalls which would bring more snow.

10:45 a.m. Update: All trails have been groomed, including track-setting where appropriate. The temperature has not yet reached 0, and we are having a fairly heavy snow flurry right now.

Skiing is good.

Winter Returns

 It's a cool minus 16 here this morning. At that temperature, the glide is a bit slow, but that will improve later in the day as it warms up to -8. Ski conditions are good. All trails were groomed yesterday afternoon.

We are expecting another snowfall tonight, possibly in the 5 to 10 cm range.

Cooler and Better

 Yesterday's temperature went just a little above 0, and the result was that skiers in the afternoon had sticky snow to deal with. We don't have that problem today. The temperature has dropped to -5, and we have 3 to 4 cm of nice dry powder snow on the trail surfaces. This snow is soft under your ski and has great glide.

The cooler weather also gives me an opportunity to groom. I will be out this afternoon to pack the entire network. Once that is done, the skiing should be very good.

3 p.m. Update: All trails have been packed and skiing is good. One thing I noticed today for the first time this year: snow in sunny spots is beginning to melt, even though the air temperature is minus 5. This happens every year, of course. It's a sign that the intensity of the sunshine is getting stronger, and it signals the beginning of the end of the ski season. But don't worry; we should have at least a couple more weeks of skiing.

And More New Snow!

 Our skiing depends on the weather, and the weather continues to be "interesting". We had a light snowfall for much of the day yesterday, at a temperature of +1. Some of that snow melted on contact, but some of it stuck around on top of the older snow.

Now that the temperature has dropped to -4, yesterday's snow has frozen into a soft crust, which collapses easily under your ski. This has been topped by a centimeter of new powder that has fallen overnight, and continues to come down.

The result is a fairly nice surface to ski on, with enough loose snow for control, and decent glide. The forecast says we will get a bit more snow today, especially this afternoon. And the forecast high is -1. If we can keep the temperature below the freezing point, then skiing should be not bad today.

More New Snow?

 The weather has been a real roller coaster lately, and it looks like today may continue that trend.

We got a mixed bag yesterday, with above-freezing temperatures, some rain, and some big fluffy snowflakes. At the current temperature of -1, we have a soft frozen crust of new snow over the packed base from Wednesday's big snowfall. The skiing right now is not bad, with acceptable glide and enough softness on the surface to provide control.

As the day progresses, the temperature will likely rise to 0 or +1, and some additional snowfall is predicted. This might lead to very sticky snow that clumps up on the bottom of your skis and makes it impossible to move forward. It all depends on temperature, moisture content, and the waxing of your skis.

We have plenty of snow, but it's a bit of a crap shoot whether we will have tolerable skiing or a lot of frustration.

Spring Skiing

 We started out yesterday with beautiful powder snow, but by mid-afternoon the temperature had reached +2 and the snow was transformed into moist granular. That is still the case this morning, as the temperature has remained just above the freezing point overnight.

I was pleasantly surprised by the skiing this morning. The glide was a bit slow, but not sticky, and actually quite nice to ski on. Whether that will continue for the rest of the day is hard to say. The forecast says the temperature will remain around +1 all day, but there might be either rain or snow flurries, so conditions could change.