Back from vacation

I wish I could tell you that this is on the Hockleycrest ski trails; this is the place I spent the past week skiing on beautiful trails with beautiful snow. That's the Carter Notch Inn at Jackson New Hampshire, a great B&B situated right on the trails. This was taken Wednesday morning, after a 4 inch snowfall Tuesday. Another 6 inches fell on Friday, so conditions there are fantastic.
Meanwhile, I see we've had a bit of new snow back home too. I'll be out on the trails tomorrow, doing what I can to make them better for skiing. Looks like we may get a bit more snow Sunday night into Monday, so things should be improving.

On Vacation

For the next week, I will be away in Jackson, New Hampshire, cross-country skiing in the White Mountains. If you want to see how the pros do it, have a look at their website www.jacksonxc.org
There will be no postings of conditions here, and no grooming of the trails until next Sunday at the earliest.
Based on the weather forecast, I don't expect much change in conditions here, as there doesn't appear to be any significant snowfall coming in the next week.

Saturday January 24

There has been no change since yesterday. Current temperature is -5, with a bit of fog. The high will be close to 0, and there is a chance of some flurries or freezing drizzle.
We need more snow.

Friday January 23 - No Change

Snow and trail conditions are basically unchanged since Tuesday. We have an ice crust base with about 1 cm of soft snow on top. Control is difficult on downhill sections of trail.
We need at least 5 cm of new snow to bring us back to truly enjoyable skiing.

Tuesday January 20 - Good News / Bad News

I've been out skiing to assess the trail and snow conditions. The Good News is that Sunday's mini-thaw did not totally wipe out our snow cover. We still have complete coverage, but the base is an icy crust. Sunday evening's snowfall left us about 1 cm of soft powder on top of the ice.
Some parts of the system are still quite good skiing, especially those where nobody has walked. Hills are icy and will be difficult. The Mainline trail, wherever it follows the main Bruce Trail, has been badly trampled, leaving a very lumpy base which is not sufficiently covered by the new snow. The Mainline, unfortunately, is the trail you need to use to access virtually all the other trails.
So, unless you are an expert skier with very good downhill technique, I would recommend you not ski here until we get another snowfall of at least 5 cm.
I went over the Mainline and Harmony trails with a scraper this afternoon, to knock the tops off the high spots and hopefully fill in some of the low spots. This has improved things somewhat, but we still need some new snow before the skiing will be enjoyable again.

Monday Jan. 19

Yesterday did some damage to the trails. The temperature remained at +1 most of the day, with a mix of drizzle and wet snow. The snow on the trails settled and became saturated with moisture. Only in late afternoon did the temperature drop to below freezing and some really nice fluffy snow began. This will have helped, but I don't know yet whether there was enough new snow to restore the surface conditions.
At this point I would estimate that conditions are only fair.

Sunday January 18

Skiing has deteriorated a bit since yesterday. It is currently +1 and light wet snow is falling. There may have been a bit of rain overnight. Some parts of the trails are definitely feeling a bit icy this morning.
Things may improve as the temperature drops and snow flurries continue.

Inconsiderate hikers

I'm really ticked off. Today, a large group of hikers came through and trampled the groomed Mainline trail, in spite of the fact that there are signs asking them to walk along the edges. Some people have also been walking on trails that are meant only for skiing (despite signage telling them to keep off). These people are either really selfish or really stupid.
Setting aside this little frustration, otherwise things are pretty good. I track-set all the trails in the central section this morning, and skiing is good.
The weather is supposed to get a bit mild overnight, peaking at +2, then dropping again. This will be accompanied by some precipitation, maybe a little rain, maybe some snow flurries. We'll know tomorrow morning.

Saturday January 17, 8 a.m.

It is -15 and snowing lightly outside. Snow and trail conditions are basically unchanged from yesterday; skiing is generally good. By this afternoon, temperature should be up into the comfortable range around -3.
We might get some rain overnight and into Sunday, but we'll deal with that if and when it happens.

Friday January 16 4 p.m.

It's -11 and clear outside, with a moderate north wind. There have been a couple of snow flurries today. We have received 2 to 3 cm of new snow since Wednesday. I was out this morning with a snow shovel, levelling snow drifts on the northern part of the Mainline. This afternoon, I groomed with the roller and snow comb: Mainline, Hockleycrest, Harmony, Tamarack, Gazebo, Around the Pines, Pine Cut, Tornado Alley, Ash Grove, Field and Forest, Roller Coaster, Logger's, Southfield, and Northfield Circuit.
Skiing conditions are good. The weather is going to be very cold overnight and tomorrow morning. Warmer weather (around 0) coming in later tomorrow and on Sunday.

Wed. Jan. 14 - a beautiful day for skiing

It's a beautiful sunny, calm day out there; -6 with no wind. I've just skied the entire network and found it generally good.
The southern portion of #7 Around the Pines, someone has driven a truck over the trail, so the snow is a bit messed up there, but still passable. To avoid this, stay on the north half of Around the Pines and use Pine Cut to complete your loop.
There has been a bit of drifting in the northern section. I'll go out with the groomer this afternoon and freshen up that area. Here's a shot of The Pasture, taken about noon Wednesday, and then one of West Side Story.

Tues. Jan 13

We received 3 to 4 cm of new snow yesterday. This new snow has not been groomed. I've left it on the surface to soften things up a bit. Ski conditions are generally good.

Sunday January 11

Just in from skiing. Conditions are still generally good. There are a few thin spots, mainly in wind-blown areas.
Current temperature is - 10 and it is much less windy than yesterday. Predicted high is -5, so it should be a nice day for skiing.

Things are in good shape

In spite of the cold and wind, skiing was good today. I saw a few folks on the trails and they were enjoying themselves.
Grooming has been freshened up on most of the trails today, to eliminate snow drifts in the windy areas. All trails that can be groomed have been done, at least with a packer and comb, and some in the central area have a track set.

Minus 17

I've just come in from skiing. It's cool this morning, currently -17 with a moderate wind blowing. Environment Canada says it will warm up to -9, but The Weather Network says -14 for the high, so take your pick. Snow conditions are good; yesterday's grooming has stood up pretty well. I will freshen things up a bit later on today.
If you ski today, try to stay in the bush and avoid open windy areas. For instance, in the southern section, Mainline, Tamarack and Harmony will be good, but avoid Around the Pines. In the central area, avoid West Side Story and Stonehedge. The Ash Grove is excellent this morning, and The Pasture will be very pleasant too.

Track Setting Begins

I have set some tracks on trails in the central area this afternoon, and began track-setting toward the north. However, I had some breakage in my grooming equipment and was unable to finish. It may all go for naught anyway, as we have been having snow squalls and blowing snow, which are filling in the tracks. There was a pretty heavy squall from about 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., bringing about 2 cm accumulation.
In spite of all this, if you are willing to brave the cool temperatures and wind, the skiing is actually quite good.

Friday - Conditions improving

It's currently sunny, -8, and windy here. We've received about 3 cm of new snow, but accompanied by strong winds so it's not evenly distributed. In some places it's 7 or 8 cm deep, while in others the snow is blown right off, down to the icy crust. I've rolled and combed the southern half this morning. I'm going to try setting a track in some of the trails this afternoon.

Thurs Jan 8 Update

I am not on site at Hockleycrest today, but based on the weather I am pretty confident that not much will have changed since yesterday. The forecast mentions possibility of squalls and flurries. Any new snow will simply improve the ski conditions, so things should be good today. In open areas exposed to wind, the grooming will get drifted in by blowing snow, but that shouldn't be a serious problem. If the wind is blowing hard when you come skiing, I would suggest you try the Pasture Trail (#9) rather than Mainline between the 2 junctions of #12.

If you are reading this blog, I would appreciate any comments you have, whether you find it useful, etc. If you ski the trails, please leave a comment letting us know if you enjoyed it, or whether there were any problem areas.

Another Update

All the trails in the central and northern section of the network have now been rolled and "combed". The sun is starting to shine and temperature is "up" to -17. However, the wind has also come up so it feels pretty cold out there. Here is a picture of the Roller Coaster trail just after grooming, about 12 noon.

 

Here is one of the Mainline, toward the north end:

 

This was taken on West Side Story (#5) Wednesday afternoon:

 

January 7 Update

I just came in from skiing the north half of the system. With the temperature now standing at -20 the glide is slow, but I would rate the conditions as Fair to Good. It is still snowing lightly but steadily. I will go out later to pack and smooth the surface.

1 to 2 cm overnight

We received a little new snow overnight. It is -16.5 and windy outside, and the temperature is supposed to drop during the day. If you're a ski fanatic you might want to try skiing today; I think there is just enough snow on the trails to make them acceptable.

Tuesday January 6 Conditions Improving

It's -11 and breezy out there, with occasional light flurries. What we've been left with after the warmth and rain and then a return to cold temperatures is about 5 cm of icy crust, topped by about 2 cm of fresh powder. The crust, however, is not uniform, having been walked on and skied on before the cold returned.
I've been out with the groomer, breaking the crust and smoothing out the lumps and humps. This will make a decent base for any new snow that comes. 4 or 5 cm of new snow would give us nice ski conditions.
The forecast is predicting snow squalls with up to 10-15 cm of accumulation. But will they come? Who knows?

Window of opportunity opens ..... then closes

Yesterday afternoon between 2 and 4:30, when the temperature was -3 and the snow was still falling, skiing was good. Then the snow changed to rain and freezing rain - not a happy ending if you're a skier.
This morning it is 0 outside. There is a crust of ice on the trees and on top of the snow. Underneath, the snow is very wet. Skiing is not recommended today.
The good news is that much colder weather is moving in later today. This may be accompanied by snow squalls, which could bring significant snow accumulations.

Precipitation in several forms

It is noon hour Saturday and things are happening outside! Right now it is snowing fairly hard and should continue doing so for another couple of hours. After that the forecast calls for freezing rain, followed by rain, with temperature rising overnight, then dropping again tomorrow.
There may be an hour or two this afternoon when we have decent ski conditions. After the rain and warmth have passed through, we'll see what is left.

Still Waiting

We got about 1 cm of snow yesterday, and another 1 cm of new snow overnight. That brings our total on the ground to about 3 cm; still not enough to ski on.
There is a storm predicted for Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately it looks like it is going to bring us more rain than snow.