New Year's Eve update

Skiing was great this morning before the temperature warmed up. I cleaned up the grooming in the central and northern parts. A few modifications to the set-up of the track-setter seem have produced better results.

Hockleycrest Trail #3 just after grooming.

Toward noon, the temperature got up to 0 and the snow got really sticky. It was not fun to ski on. We are having a pretty heavy snowfall right now (3:48 p.m.). Let's see what tomorrow brings.

More snow predicted - but watch the temperature!

We had a light dusting of new snow overnight, and more is predicted for today: 5 to 10 cm more. However, the temperature is forecast to reach 0, so that could lead to some stickiness. I will be out with the groomer to touch up a few areas, such as those that were trampled yesterday by inconsiderate hikers who can't read signs (or won't obey them).
Ski conditions today are good, and should continue that way through tomorrow.

Very good skiing today

I've just come in from skiing under the stars (with the help of a headlamp). Yesterday's 8 cm snowfall, plus another couple of cm that we got overnight, have transformed our trails into near perfect skiing conditions. Current temperature of -5 and forecast high of -4 are ideal for snow and for skier comfort.
I will be out grooming at first light, and should have everything done before noon.
Here's an update. All trails were groomed by 10:30 a.m. A few spots (the same ones that were totally bare a few days ago) are still thinly covered, but 99% of the network is really good.

Mainline trail (the section that skis southbound only, between the 2 ends of Tamarack) at about 11 this morning.

It is enough!

I just returned from a day in the city, and found about 8 cm of new powder snow on top of our old icy crust. I have packed and combed most of the trails in the central area, and skiing there is now good. I will groom the rest of the trails tomorrow morning.
It is still flurrying here, and there is a chance of snow squalls tonight, so there could be even more snow by morning. Based on the forecast, it looks like we should have fairly good conditions until about New Year's Day.

Some snow - but is it enough?

Flurries yesterday resulted in about 1 cm of new snow over our old icy crust. With not much happening on the trails, I took advantage of the lull to install a new roller on my groomer. The plastic drum I've been using for the past 4 years had developed a large crack. My earlier attempt to repair the drum by applying a galvanized steel patch was not very successful, as the steel soon began to show cracks as well. So, I now have a brand new 45 gallon plastic drum installed - slightly bigger and thicker than the old one.
We're getting some snow this morning, but the forecast predicts it will only amount to a few centimetres. After the general snowfall, there is the possibility of squalls that might bring more snow, but those are a hit-and-miss proposition.
I will let you know when we have enough new snow to resume skiing again.

Pretty much the same

We've had a dusting of new snow overnight. It's not enough to really change the surface conditions. Trails remain hard and very icy. Skiing is not recommended today.

Our trails survived!

Assessment of the ski trails is finished, and the news is generally good. We still have good snow coverage on 99% of the network. There are about 4 places where the ground is bare. I have removed a couple of small trees that fell over the trail, and about 300 small branches and twigs.  As stated earlier today, the remaining snow is very coarse and icy, and skiing would be no fun today. However, what we do have will make an excellent base for the next snowfall, which could come as early as Thursday. In the meantime, please don't ski here; you can get an excellent workout on snowshoes today (I know, because I just did).

Return to near-normal; assessing damage

After yesterday's warmth and rain, things have returned to near-normal here this morning. Current temperature is -2. There is still snow on the ground, but it is definitely of the crunchy variety, in other words - ice.
It will take me some time to look over the entire network and assess the condition. I've been over about half the trails with the scarifier this morning. Most trails still have reasonable snow cover. There are a few thin spots and at least one area that is totally bare: the south leg of #7 Around the Pines, where it passes through the pine plantation. The biggest problem is that the trails are generally very icy and very fast. For today, I would say No Skiing.
The forecast is fairly good, with plenty of flurries, and a possible general snowfall on Thursday. If those bring us even a few cm of snow, then we might be back in business within a couple of days.

Warm and Wet

It's currently -5 here and there is freezing rain/ice pellets falling outside. A predicted high of +11 with 10 to 15 mm of rain can't be good news for our trails. The only good thing about this is that it will only last a short time. Cooler temperatures will return tomorrow, with lots of flurries in the forecast. I'll let you know how things are once this mess is all finished.

Turkey time coming soon

In spite of the icy conditions, the whole family got out for a group ski today. Actually, conditions weren't that bad as long as you stayed away from big hills. Tracks that were set on Friday and not used yesterday were really quite nice, and the skating loops were good and fast.
As I was skiing the #12 trail Southfield, about a half hour ago, there were about 15 Christmas turkeys foraging there. When you ski #12 you can see lots of evidence of both turkeys and deer scratching away the snow to get at the remnants of the soybean crop that was planted there this past summer.
Not looking forward to the freezing rain and liquid rain that is forecast for tomorrow.

Christmas morning

After a mild day and some melting yesterday, the temperature is just now beginning to drop below freezing. Trails will be icy and fast today; it would probably be best to stay home and eat turkey.
Our big weather challenge will come tomorrow, as a warm front sweeps through, accompanied by rain and possibly freezing rain. With a high of about +10, we will definitely lose some snow. I will assess the condition of the trails on Tuesday when cooler temperatures have returned.
It would probably be wise to take a couple of days off skiing until things stabilize. In the meantime, Merry Christmas and thanks to all who have come, skied, enjoyed, and left a donation in the box. It is appreciated.

Saturday morning

We've had about 3 cm of new wet snow overnight. It is excellent snow for snowballs or making snowmen, but not the best for skiing. With an expected high today of +3, it would be a mistake to groom this snow; it would just result in a hard packed icy surface when the temperature drops tonight.
We will have one day of colder temperatures tomorrow - Christmas Day - before the chinook blows through on Monday.

Friday late afternoon - surprise!

The skiing today has been much better than I expected. In spite of above-freezing temperatures yesterday afternoon, the snow is still quite powdery. Today's temperature topped out at 0, but the snow did not get wet and sticky. A pleasant surprise.

This is trail #12 Southfield, the portion that is groomed for both classic and skating

Friday morning: tricky conditions ahead

We have a mixed bag of weather coming at us over the next few days, and that is going to make for some difficult ski conditions.
The temperature went above 0 yesterday afternoon, and is now -4, so if you come early today you will find icy, crusty snow. Later on, as the temperature again climbs above 0, it will get softer and stickier.
Tonight, they are predicting a snowfall of 5 to 10 cm, so we might see better conditions briefly tomorrow morning, before it again warms up to +3.
The real challenge is going to come on Monday, when the forecast calls for +9 with rain. We will definitely lose some snow as a result of that.
Grooming over the next few days will depend on what kind of temperatures and precip we actually get. I will not be investing a lot of time and fuel into grooming snow if it is only going to melt away within a day or two.

Better coverage - tricky temperatures

After a snowfall of 2 cm last night, our trails have better snow coverage. The new snow was just enough to cover the needles and leaves that were slowing things down yesterday. I have done some light snow-comb grooming and set some new track in the central portion of the network this morning.
However, we are experiencing that scourge of nordic skiers - a temperature of zero degrees C. That means tricky waxing and probably some stickiness. Depending on how you are waxed, you might end up with big clumps of snow stuck to the bottom of your skis. If you come, be prepared for that. A good glide wax along the entire length of your ski, even the central grip area of no-wax skis, is a good idea for this kind of snow. There is a liquid glide wax that can be applied on the fish-scale portion of no-wax skis.

Trail #5 West Side Story, about 7:30 this morning

A little clean-up

I've spent the day doing some tidying up on the trails. The tree that was fallen across the Mainline trail near the north end was cleared this morning. I also did some light grooming with the rubber snow comb on some drifted areas. After lunch, I used the roller and comb to tidy up heavily drifted areas including the north skate loop. Unfortunately there is not much I can do to get rid of the millions of needles and leaves that have blown into the groomed tracks. I don't have a giant vacuum! We are expecting a bit of new snow tonight. That should help.

This was the tree that fell across Mainline near the north end; a dead ash, about 20cm diameter

An example of beautifully groomed ski tracks, filled with tiny goldenrod leaves.

Wednesday morning

I've just come in from skiing. It's a lot calmer now than it was yesterday afternoon and evening. The result of the strong winds is that the groomed track is filled in with blown snow in many places. Also, in a lot of places, the tracks have accumulated a lot of "stuff" such as pine needles, spruce needles or the tiny leaves from goldenrod plants along the trail. This is not too serious, but it definitely slows down the glide.
Some snow is predicted for tonight, so I think I will wait until after that happens before doing any serious grooming again.

Who has seen the wind?

We have had a pretty strong wind here this afternoon, from the south west. That means there has been (and still is) quite a bit of drifting, although in different places than last week. There are also a lot of small tree branches and twigs down on the trail. I have one entire tree that I know of that needs to be cleared; it's on the Mainline trail at the far north end. I should have that removed tomorrow morning.
Skiing is not quite as good as it was, but is still pretty good for December.

Monday morning - great skiing continues

There has been little change in conditions since yesterday, except it's a bit colder. I think yesterday's grooming should hold up and provide very good skiing again today, so I will not be grooming again until tomorrow at the earliest.
I saw several comments on Facebook that people have been out enjoying the trails.

Field and Forest Trail #10 Sunday Morning

Sunday morning update

Since I made my first post this morning before the sun was up, I've been out skiing and doing some grooming. I've now set track on most trails in the southern and central part of the network.
The skiing is superb right now. To top it off, we now have sunshine and blue sky. There is a bit of wind from the northwest, so it feels a little cooler than the -5 reading on the thermometer, and we may get a bit of drifting on the north field. All in all, skiing couldn't be much better than this.

Another Day of Great Skiing

We had just a tiny bit of new snow overnight - perhaps 1 cm. More importantly, the freezing rain that was in last night's forecast did not materialize, so we have powder, not ice.
Yesterday's grooming should still provide very good skiing today. I will just add a bit of track-setting in some areas.

Saturday afternoon update.

Well, the snowfall that was supposed to last all day stopped about 10 this morning. This gave me a chance to roll and comb all the trails. The last of them, including the skate loops, was done about 3 p.m. Then I got out on skis to try it out, and it was really good! We had a bit of precip late this afternoon that I would best describe as drizzle, although the temperature was -2. As I look out the window now, it is beginning to snow again.
I would love to hear from anybody who skied here today, particularly after lunch. How was it for you?

This was the view on #7 Around the Pines about 9 this morning, before grooming

Saturday morning - More Snow

It has been snowing since about 9 last night, so we have about 10 cm of new powder on top of the packed base at the moment. Snowfall is predicted to continue throughout the day, ending sometime tonight. We can expect about 10 cm more before it's done. There is also a risk of freezing rain this evening; hopefully, that doesn't happen!

Skiing today will be good - if you can get here. Road conditions might be difficult.

The snowfall stopped in mid-morning, so I got out and did some grooming. Most trails have now been done, with roller and snow-comb only. No track-setting today. I will try to pack the rest of the network this afternoon. Skate loops have not been done yet.

Excellent skiing

Today is calm, with only a little wind and about 15 cm of new snow. I've groomed virtually all of the trails now. A few areas where snow was extremely deep are still a bit soft and rough. I went skiing after I finished grooming. Skiing is excellent. It doesn't get much better than this.
More snow is coming tonight and into tomorrow. For a short time Saturday, there may be some rain, before the precip changes back to snow. I will probably not groom again until this event is over on Sunday.

Friday - time to groom again

Well, winter was late arriving, and for the longest time we had either no snow or not enough snow. Now, ironically, we almost have too much. At least, we have gotten more snow in a short period of time than we can handle. Yesterday's snowfall brought us another 7 cm approximately. Now that there is a brief lull, I will be out grooming today to try to get things in shape for the weekend. There may be some drifted areas that will not be perfect, but I will do my best.
More snow expected tonight and tomorrow (and possibly a tiny bit of rain or freezing rain - hopefully not much).

Thursday - more of the same

Blowing  and drifting snow continue, both on the trails and on the roads. Perhaps best to stay in until things settle down a bit.

Wednesday afternoon - near blizzard

We are having what I would call a moderate snowfall right now. The problem is the wind, which is howling from the west, and causing serious drifting on the open field trail sections. I have been out with the groomer to tidy up the drifted-in sections, but it's pretty futile as long as the wind keeps blowing. If you come to ski, try to stay on trails that are in the bush; they are still offering pretty nice skiing.
Sections to avoid are the piece of #1 Mainline at the east end of the south field, between the 2 ends of trail #12, and the east end of the north skating loop. The Pasture trail is a great alternate to the drifted portion of #1 because it is down in the hollow and sheltered from the wind.

Moonlight Skiing

I've just come in from skiing under the light of the full moon. Nice! Our snow conditions are about the same as yesterday - generally good coverage, with a few thin spots under conifers, or where the wind has blown the snow away. It's colder today, currently -12, and there is still a wind, so there will be drifting in open areas. I will do some touch up grooming of drifted areas later today. After that, the next grooming will probably be Saturday.
The forecast calls for flurries today, and possibly a snow squall which could bring significant snowfall if it happens to sit and stay over us. Temperatures over the next week look really good for getting and keeping snow.

Grooming done

I've just finished grooming. All trails have been done at least once with roller and snow comb. I set track in a few places where I thought there was enough depth. Current temperature is -5 and there is a bit of wind blowing from the west, so we are getting some drifting in open areas. The groomed surface may be covered with blown snow in some places, particularly on Mainline at the east end of the South Field, and on the Northfield Circuit.
Ski conditions range from fair to very good.
Skate loops are packed, but may have some drifted spots.

Grooming underway

The snowfall of Sunday night and Monday morning gave us about 10 cm of new snow. Tonight I packed the skate loops and also set a little bit of track on some of the central trails, including Stone Hedge, Ash Grove, Central Park, Hockleycrest, and West Side Story. I will do more grooming tomorrow morning, and hopefully will have all trails packed before noon. On rougher trails, where there are rocks, roots and stumps, I will not be setting track until there is more snow.

A Quantum Leap Forward

We had a nice snowfall yesterday and overnight, approximately 15 cm of beautiful powder. I did some initial packing of trails in the central area (including the skating loops) about 4 p.m. yesterday. All trails will need to be packed again once the snow stops. Grooming will not be done until Tuesday.
There are still some thin spots due to drifting and under some of the conifers. Skiing today will be fair to good.

Slight Improvement

We received 1 to 2 cm of new snow yesterday in flurries, so trail conditions have improved slightly. Snow coverage is still thin. We are expecting a significant snowfall tonight; time will tell how much that turns out to be.

Skiing Not Recommended

In spite of a very promising forecast of flurries and snow squalls, we have received only about 2 cm of snow since Wednesday. Our coverage is still very thin. Although skiing is possible, I would not recommend it right now. Hopefully, we will get some more snow over the next few days.

Flurries and possible snow squalls

We've had some flurries, but not a lot of accumulation. The forecast says we might get squalls with significant snowfall in isolated locations, but that hasn't happened here yet. I'll keep you posted.

Holding Steady

Last nights mixed precipitation didn't do us any harm. For a while we had a rain/snow mix at a temperature of +1, but in the end we picked up about 1 cm of new snow accumulation. Temperature  is now 0 and is supposed to drop during the day. The weather office is calling for lake effect snow tomorrow and Friday, possibly with significant accumulation.
So, no skiing right now, but we're heading in the right direction.

Conditions Deteriorate

As feared, the temperature this afternoon was too warm. We've lost considerable snow and there are now lots of bare patches. I did groom some of the smoother trails in the central section, not for the purpose of skiing now, but to create a smooth firm base for the snow that hopefully will come over the next few days.
For the moment, No Skiing.

Trail Report

I've just come in from skiing. Right now it is tolerable on the grassy flatter areas. I would not try rougher areas yet. We have about 5 cm on the ground (less under the branches of conifers). Last night, at temperature of +2, the snow was very wet. This morning, at current temperature of -2, the snow is frozen and slightly crusty. Today's weather will be critical; forecast high is +4, with a mix of snow and rain predicted for tonight. Depending on what actually happens, conditions may get either better or worse. After tonight, the forecast looks very promising - continuous below 0, with flurries every day.
My recommendation would be Don't ski today; wait and see what happens.

p.s. my ski this morning revealed that we are sharing the trail with rabbits, turkeys, coyotes, deer, and at least one human who cannot read signs that tell walkers to keep off the ski trails.

We have some snow, but is it enough?

Overnight, we received about 7 cm of wet snow. However, with temperatures predicted to go above 0 today and the next couple of days, I'm not confident about it staying around and being skiable. I am not at Hockleycrest today, as I have to spend the day in the city, so I will not be grooming.
Cooler temperatures and flurries are forecast for the end of the week.
I would recommend waiting a few more days before trying skiing.

Still No Snow

Although there are a few flakes of snow in the air, there is none on the ground, so we will have to wait a little longer before putting on the skis.
At least we are seeing a cooling trend in the temperature, with daytime highs just above freezing and overnight lows below 0.
I will advise when we have some snow on the ground.