Sunday, Jan 31 - No Skiing today

The temperature rose to +3 yesterday afternoon and remained there overnight. We have lost some of the small amount of snow we had and there are numerous bare spots. With today's forecast calling for +6 and rain, things can only get worse. Sorry folks, today is not a good day for skiing.

Saturday morning - tolerable - for now

I've just come in from my pre-breakfast ski with the dog. We got a little bit more snow on Thursday evening, which means skiing is just possible. There is about 3 cm of soft powder over the base, which is either ice or earth (with occasional rocks and roots). So the conditions for skiing are barely tolerable. The temperature today is predicted to rise to +3, so things will not get better later on. Tomorrow's high will be +5 with rain, so that is not very encouraging either.
Now I have to unburden some frustration: sometime since Thursday night's snowfall, someone has been walking on the ski trails. This was not just on the Bruce Trail or one of its official side trails, but also on several trails that are marked clearly as for skiing only. It is difficult enough to maintain good snow conditions for skiing, without having selfish, inconsiderate people trample the snow with hiking boots.
Please, please, please, if you are walking (or snow-shoeing) restrict your travels to the main Bruce Trail (white rectangular paint blazes) or a BT side trail (blue rectangular paint blazes). And when you are walking on the joint use trails, please walk along the edges, not right down the middle.

Thursday Jan 28

I have returned from Horseshoe Valley, where the skiing is still good today. I'm sorry I can't say the same about the Hockleycrest trails.
Some sections of our trails were virtually bare after Tuesday's melt and rain. Since then we've received about 2 cm of new snow, but it is not enough to provide adequate coverage. TRAILS ARE CLOSED TO SKIING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. Sorry folks, Mother Nature is not on our side.

Wednesday - return to cooler weather

After yesterday's mild weather and rain, temperatures have dropped and we have a little bit of new snow on the surface. I am not at Hockleycrest today, as I am at Horseshoe Valley to ski, so I don't know exactly what conditions are on the Hockleycrest trails.
I suspect however, that we lost more snow than we gained, and the trails are probably quite icy today. I would not recommend skiing until we receive at least 5 cm of new snow.

Monday Jan 25 - Thank you

Somebody left some money in my voluntary donation box beside the parking lot on 5 Sideroad recently. THANK-YOU! Each time I do a complete grooming of the network, I use about 15 litres of fuel. The support of trail users is very helpful and much appreciated.
We are in for a challenging couple of days, today and tomorrow. Temperatures are predicted to rise to 0 today, and to +4 tomorrow, with possible rain or snow. So, this could be good news or bad news. We will have to wait and see just how warm it gets, and what kind of precip we receive in order to assess the effect on trail conditions.
I suggest we stay off the trails today and tomorrow to minimize damage.

Sunday Jan 24 Morning

I've just returned from my morning ski with the dog. It's comfortable out there at -8, with a predicted high of -2, so it should be a nice day for skiing. There may be some flurries later today; any additional snow we get will only make conditions better.
The trails are hard-packed granular snow with a little bit of packed powder on top. Yesterday's grooming is holding up nicely in most places. Unfortunately, we had a couple of very inconsiderate hiking groups come through yesterday. Significant sections of the Mainline trail were trampled across the entire width, in spite of signs asking walkers to stay on the edge of the trail. In addition, a small group of ignorant hikers walked on several of the trails that are for skiers only.
The skate loops are both packed and in good condition.
The Pasture trail is skiing very nicely, as is Roller Coaster. If you haven't tried these, you should.

Mid-day Update

All trails have now been groomed. Trails in the central section have been track-set, although the snow was not quite deep enough to set a good, deep track. The south portion of #7 Around the Pines, and the west half of Pine Cut are hard-packed and icy as a result of cars and trucks driving on the trails. The folks at the Tai Chi Centre are preparing for their maple syrup operation, so they have been driving in to work on the sugar shack, and collecting firewood along the trails. Sorry about that; I have not control over what they do.

The Ash Grove trail after grooming

Saturday Jan 23 - A Pretty Morning

It's a very pretty morning outside as the sun rises. A bit chilly at -14, but there is no wind, and all the trees are coated in hoar frost.
We have had about 2 to 3 cm of new powder snow since Wednesday, so the trail conditions have improved. I will be grooming later this morning, at least with the roller and snow comb. I will do a trial section of track-setting to see if it is effective.
With a predicted high of -6 and sunshine, it looks like a very nice day to ski.

Trail #10 Field and Forest at 8 a.m. today

Where the Snow is

I skied yesterday at Highlands Nordic near Duntroon. That is where the snow is. Nice powder surface and good coverage on all their trails.
Meanwhile at Hockleycrest we continue to scrape by with a thin crunchy coating. The forecast says we might get some snow next Monday and Tuesday.

Wednesday morning

Our conditions have not changed since yesterday. We had a few light flurries last night and the odd flake continues to drift down, but there is no significant accumulation.
The trails are skiable, with a hard packed icy base and one to two cm of soft snow on top.

A Near Miss

Some areas received heavy snow from squalls yesterday and last night, but we continue to receive only a fraction of the snow predicted. According to the forecast, we should have gotten about 5 cm of snow between Sunday and today, but instead we have added about half a cm of new snow to our base. Consequently, conditions remain about the same - thin and a bit icy.
I was out skiing this afternoon, trying to asses whether to groom or not. I came to the conclusion that it would not be worthwhile; there just isn't enough snow to work with.
We're having a light flurry right now. I'll report in the morning whether there has been any significant change overnight.

Slowly but surely

A persistent snow flurry yesterday morning gave us 1 to 2 cm of new powder over our firm base. The surface condition is gradually getting softer, which helps with control on hills and overall enjoyment of the ski experience.
Today's forecast calls for fairly strong snow squalls from Lake Huron. If we happen to get lucky, we might pick up around 5 cm of snow, which would be really beneficial. My next grooming will be Tuesday afternoon at the earliest, more likely Wednesday morning. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday - getting colder

It's minus 5 outside right now and the temperature is expected to drop steadily through the day. We received a tiny bit of new snow overnight - about 1 cm - so conditions are about the same as last night. Skiing is OK but not great.
I will not be grooming here today; I will be over at Mono Centre with the groomer for the Town of Mono Winterfest. Lots of fun to be had there: skating, sledding, skiing, food, games, prizes. If you're in the neighbourhood, why not drop by?

Saturday Night fever

As predicted, the temperature dropped during the day and by mid afternoon it was -5. The wet snow of this morning froze and became a porous icy crust. I went over some of the trails in the central area with my crust buster, and I think the result is a better (looser, less crusty) surface. I had one skate skier here this afternoon and he thought the south skate loop was quite good.
In spite of our best efforts, conditions generally are still icy and the snow cover is very thin. The hills in the southern part of the network will be difficult in these conditions. There are flurries and squalls in the forecast for early next week. I would suggest you wait until we have more snow before coming to ski.

Saturday morning - Wait and See

The warm weather passed through during the night, accompanied by some rain. The temperature now is minus half a degree and it's beginning to fall. We have not lost much snow, but the snow on the ground is very wet and definitely of the packing variety. I will have to wait until the snow temperature through the entire depth of the snow pack has dropped below freezing before I can do any grooming. Otherwise we would end up with hard-packed glare ice.
My suggestion would be to wait until tomorrow before trying any skiing.

Friday: weather is not as bad as expected

The temperature here is now -1 and it hasn't risen above 0 all day. We have actually received about 1 cm of new snow since yesterday, but right now it is definitely of the "packing" variety. This is a much better outcome than we were expecting from the forecast. There are a few more critical hours before we can definitely declare that the warm weather is behind us. By tomorrow morning, chances are it will be about -2 and the snow will probably be a bit on the crusty side. I will let you know after I've been out for my morning ski.

Thursday update

I've been over the northern portions of trails #1 and #3 with the groomer this morning, and smoothed out some drifted sections. I also packed the south skating loop and gave it a try. Although the snow cover is thin, the skating is pretty good. This is the south skate loop only; I have not done the north skate loop.
If you want to come and try skate skiing, email me at salydave@sympatico.ca and I will tell you where to park for easy access to the skate trail.
Light snowfall has continued all morning, giving us an additional 1 to 2 cm. Now we have to wait and see what Mother Nature sends us tomorrow!

Thursday January 14 - some improvement

I've just come in from a short ski. The temperature is -9 and a light snowfall has continued since last night. New accumulation is 1 to 2 cm. so there is some improvement in the ski conditions. Nevertheless there are still many thin spots with either ice, rocks or tree stumps just below the surface.
I will take the groomer over a couple of drifted areas on Mainline near Southfield and further north, but there is not sufficient new snow to justify grooming the entire network.

Tomorrow's forecast is of concern; Environment Canada says it will be well above 0 with rain. The Weather Network predicts it will rise to just a little above 0 with possible snow. Let's hope The Weather Network is right.

To ski or not to ski, that is the question.

I've just come in from over 3 hours of grooming. The new snow we've received since Sunday amounts to about 5 cm on average. There are places where it is drifted much deeper than that, and there are places where the wind has blown away most of the snow. I have packed almost everything. It is possible to ski, but the ice that remains from the old snow that melted last weekend and then re-froze is not far below the surface. To make for pleasant, safe skiing we need about 5 cm more snow. There have been some light flurries today, but not enough to really increase the snow depth.


A shot of the north skating loop, showing how thin the snow is.

One of the things I encountered while grooming this morning was a large butternut tree fallen across the Mainline trail near the bottom of a pretty fast downhill section. I went and got my chainsaw and cleared what would have been a very unpleasant surprise. See the photos below for Before and After shots. As I arrived at that spot, I also saw 3 deer and about a dozen wild turkeys.

Fallen tree across trail #1

Site of the fallen tree after I had cleared it.

Snow

Hopefully, there is now enough snow to ski on. I will be grooming tomorrow, and will report whether we have good coverage everywhere.

Winter Returns

Well, the weather conditions certainly changed quickly. I'm not sure there is enough snow on the trails now to resume skiing, but according to the forecast more is on the way. My goal is to groom on Wednesday, Jan. 13, after the heaviest period of squalls has passed.

Saturday January 9 - warm with rain

It is +3 and raining lightly this morning. We have already lost some snow, and by the time colder weather returns we will undoubtedly lose a lot more.
The good news is that, starting Sunday afternoon, cold temperatures and snow should return and continue all next week. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
For today, however, no skiing.

Wed. Jan. 6 - No improvement

I've just been out for a short ski. Conditions are much the same as they were on the weekend. We have a hard icy base with about half a cm of soft snow on top. It is possible to ski, but I don't recommend it. Under these conditions it just isn't much fun.
There is warmer weather coming in over the next few days. We will probably lose the small amount of snow we now have.

Feast and Famine

While we generally do not have as much snow as we would like, there are spots where we have too much. One such is at the east end of the soybean field, where the Mainline Trail crosses between the 2 junctions of trail #12. The wind blowing across the field picks up all the loose snow and dumps it in drifts across the trail. I went there this morning with a shovel and levelled it out. Later this afternoon, I took the groomer over it to make it even better.
I also used my shovel to fill in the bare spots on #1 between #1a and #3, using snow from the bush along the edge of the trail. After running the roller/comb over it, I can say it is much better than yesterday. I also rolled and combed the south skating loop a couple of times, so it is quite good.

If you would like to come and skate ski, please email me at salydave@sympatico.ca and I will tell you where to park so you can easily access the skating trail.

Sunday January 3, 2016 Morning

I've been out for a short ski. Conditions are basically the same as yesterday. The predicted 2 cm snowfall for last night did not materialize. At the moment we are having some very light flurry activity but there is no additional accumulation at this time.
The surface is hard and icy. There are some bare spots and rocks close to the surface. Skiing is fair.

Noon, January 2

I've been out with the crust buster on the southern trails, so conditions there are slightly improved, but still hard, crusty and a bit uneven.
AVOID THE LARGER STEEPER HILLS ON MAINLINE, HARMONY, AND ESPECIALLY GAZEBO. The best entry and exit trail is #7 Around the Pines, a trail I rerouted this year to provide a more gentle access to the other trails.
I have set track on almost all the trails in the central section, and here skiing is good.

Overall rating of the trail conditions is only FAIR. Hopefully we will get more snow tonight and tomorrow.

Later New Year's Day

We've seen some improvement since this morning, mainly due to 2 factors:
1. We received a little new snow in the form of flurries, throughout the day
2. I built a new piece of grooming equipment this morning - a kind of scarifier I call the bed of nails or the Crust Buster. It is a drag consisting of 9 rows of 3 and a half inch nails, supported by a pair of old skis so it doesn't dig in too far. In the afternoon, I dragged the Crust Buster over a number of trails in the central and northern parts of the network. It did a fairly good job of breaking up the icy crust and levelling out the footprints and ski tracks that were molded into the crust before it froze. Then I took the roller and snow comb over the trails to pack and further level the surface. I even set some track on some trails in the central area. The result is a much improved ski experience ON THE TRAILS I HAVE GROOMED. Please note that I have not yet groomed any trails toward the south end, close to 5 Sideroad. I will try to get to those tomorrow.
We are expecting flurries to continue tonight and tomorrow, followed by a snowfall of 2 to 4 cm Saturday night. If the forecast is correct, then conditions will continue to improve.
There is one section of trail with significant bare spots on it; Mainline trail #1, in the north end between the junctions of #1a, and #3 has been washed out by water running across and along the trail. This is a perennial seepage area which will take some time to freeze and get covered with snow.

underside of the crust buster, snowing the nails and skis

Crust buster lying flat, in its working position

New Year's Day 2016 - Morning

It is -3 outside this morning, with very light snow flurries. Our ski conditions are basically unchanged since yesterday. It is possible to ski, but it's not very good. We need lots more snow.