Wed. Feb. 21 - Snow gone

Recent warm temperatures have melted all our snow. Trails are closed until further notice.

Trail #3 this morning

Fri. Feb. 16 - Don't ski

Yesterday's warm temperature turned our snow to slush. Now the temperature is dropping below 0, so the trails are very icy. I do NOT recommend skiing in these conditions.

Wed. Feb. 14 - No grooming for a while

Here sits my ATV, on Trail #3 Hockleycrest, near #19 Stonehedge. It won't move (until somebody comes from the repair shop and tows it away!). Sorry folks, but there won't be any grooming until it's repaired again. Conditions right now are a bit icy, but will probably get slushy later today as the temperature rises above 0. Skiing is not the greatest right now.

Tues. Feb. 13

The trails have developed a bit of icy crust on the surface, so they are fast, and a bit tricky in places. I managed to re-groom some of the central trails this afternoon, before the machine died on me. Those that I got done are skiing better.
I would suggest only very good skiers come at the moment.

Sunday update

All trails in the south half of the network have been packed this morning. The northern trails are not groomed, and will not be done today, as I'm having mechanical issues with the ATV again. The skiing is very good, on both the packed trails and the "back-country" trails. Around mid-day, we received some additional snow mixed with ice pellets; this amounted to about 2 cm. Precipitation has now ended. The snow pack is still predominantly powdery.

Sunday, Feb. 11 - Back from the North

I have just returned from my week of skiing at Stokely Creek Lodge near Sault Ste. Marie. I know there is new snow on the trails at Hockleycrest, and I will be going out to groom this morning. The photo below was NOT taken at Hockleycrest; it's on the Hakon Lien trail at Stokely Creek.

Sunday, Feb. 4

We received some new snow yesterday afternoon and last night, and are expecting about 5 cm more today. The skiing is getting better every day. I am not on site today, and will not be around over the next week, as I am headed to Stokely Creek Lodge, north of Sault Ste. Marie, for a week of serious skiing in serious snow country. This means there will be no grooming here at Hockleycrest until next Sunday at the earliest, so if you come to ski, it may have a bit of a back-country feeling. Enjoy!

Sat. Feb. 3

I'm just in from skiing. It's not bad out there. We got a light dusting of new snow overnight, and we are expecting more later today. If we get enough new snow to warrant it, I will groom later today. The snow cover is still thin, but it's getting better every day.
11 a.m. update: I have touched up the grooming in a few spots that were drifted in, and packed additional trail on Mainline as far north as the north junction of Hockleycrest and the northern part of Hockleycrest.

Fri. Feb. 2 - things are getting better

I was skiing this afternoon; it was not bad. We did NOT lose any snow yesterday, when the temperature got up to near 0. We received a dusting of new snow late this afternoon, and more snow is expected tomorrow and Sunday.