Day 71 of skiing this season.
It's possible to ski today, but it may not be a whole lot of fun. Currently, at a temperature of -1, trail surfaces are frozen, icy, and very fast. As the temperature warms up to +6, trails will begin to melt, got softer and much slower. This afternoon, there is a chance of rain showers, and maybe even a thunder storm. Perhaps not the best day to go skiing.
Day 70 of skiing this season.
We received about 2 cm of new snow overnight. As of right now, with the temperature at -1, skiing is not bad; better than yesterday in fact. But conditions are going to be very changeable today. Precipitation is continuing, but has begun to transition toward rain. There may be some periods of ice pellets or freezing rain mixed in. The temperature is supposed to top out at +3, so it may get quite slow and sticky this afternoon. This is the reality of spring skiing.
Speaking of spring, I tapped my maple trees yesterday, and immediately had sap flowing. If you do come skiing over the next couple of weeks, you may notice the buckets along Trail #3 and #5.
7:10 a.m. Update: I just looked out the window, and big, fat, fluffy snowflakes are coming down. When this finishes, there will definitely be more than 2 cm of new snow on the trails.
Conditions on the trails remain essentially the same as they were yesterday: very icy and fast. So, at least for this morning, I'm going to keep the trails closed, out of concern for skiers' safety.
However, if the forecast is correct, then by noon the temperature will be above freezing under sunny skies, and trail surfaces will probably start to melt and soften up. If this happens, then it may be possible to ski this afternoon.
1 p.m. Update: I've taken down the Trails Closed sign at the entrance, and we will now count this as Day 69 of skiing for this season. The sunshine and above-freezing temperature have softened the trail surface sufficiently that it's now skiable. Caution is still required on hills.
We're expecting some snow overnight and into tomorrow morning, which may or may not be a good thing. By tomorrow morning, the temperature will be near or above 0, so the new snow may be very slow and sticky. Time will tell.
This is the first day that's not skiable in about 6 weeks.
I've been out on skis this morning, and trails are very, very icy. Trying to ski any kind of hill under these conditions would be very dangerous, so I am closing the trails for today.
I will go out with the Piranha and try to scarify the surface and create some soft powder there, but I cannot guarantee the result will be skiable. There is a chance of some flurries later today; even a couple of cm of new snow would make a huge difference.
I will post an update here after I've groomed.
10:30 a.m. Update: I've been over the southern and central trails with the Piranha, making 2 passes on most sections and even 3 passes on a few. In my opinion, the trails are still not skiable. I've put up a Trails Closed sign at the entrance on 5 Sideroad. Please do not come skiing today.
It's a nice day to go for a walk (but NOT on the ski trails please!)
Day 68 of skiing this season.
Ski conditions are poor to fair again today. Right now, at a temperature of -1, trails are icy and very fast (i.e. dangerous). Later today, as the temperature rises to about +5, trail surfaces will become soft, wet and slow.
There will be no grooming today, as snow conditions are not suitable.
I do not recommend skiing here today.
Colder weather returns tonight. Hopefully, I can get out tomorrow morning and create some decent ski conditions for Thursday and Friday.
Day 67 of skiing this season.
I'm hesitant to call this a ski day. We have plenty of snow, but conditions are only poor to fair. The problem is temperature: yesterday afternoon, we reached +3 as wet snow continued to fall. Right now, it's -1 so the snow surface is frozen and icy. Very fast. Our temperature is set to rise to +4 again today, with wet snow mixed with rain. So, by mid-morning, we will be skiing in slush.
I will not be grooming today, as the snow temperature is not suitable.
I would not recommend skiing here today.
Day 66 of skiing this season.
We've received 3 to 4 cm of snow overnight, and it's still snowing fairly hard, on a moderate wind from the south. This is expected to continue until about noon. The temperature is forecast to rise to the freezing mark by mid-morning.
Skiing right now is good, on an ungroomed surface of new-fallen snow. I will start grooming about 8 a.m., and hope to get most of the network done before it warms up. One of the rules of grooming is that it's not a good idea to pack snow at temperatures above freezing.
10:15 a.m. Update: The snowfall has just about ended, and the temperature is just reaching 0. I managed to groom almost all trails with the roller and comb. No track-setting today. Only the NE portion of trail #17 was not done. Trails are in good condition, but the warmer snow will probably be sticky on the bottom of skis today.
Now we wait and see what the next 2 days bring: some more snow, maybe some rain, temperatures a little above 0 are predicted.
4:30 p.m. The snow has become very moist and packing. It would be better, both for you and for the trails, if you did NOT come skiing under these conditions.
Day 65 of skiing this season.
Skiing will be good again today, but not quite as good as yesterday. The trails were very busy yesterday, with both skiers and hikers. So, the more popular trails are trampled and starting to get hard packed. The bigger hills are getting scraped off from people snowplowing. In addition, we have come to that time of the season when the sun is getting much stronger, so that even if the air temperature is -4, you may begin to see some melting snow in sunny areas, especially south-facing slopes. By late afternoon yesterday, the tracks were getting noticeably glazed.
I will be out on the groomer starting about 8 a.m. trying to clean things up as best I can.
10:30 a.m. Update: most trails in the south and north areas have been touched up with the roller/comb. Central trails that are track-set were mostly left as-is; only a couple of these were re-set.
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| Hill leading to the viewpoint on North Plateau, after grooming |
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| The Pasture after one pass of the roller/comb (I made a second pass after taking the photo) |
Day 64 of skiing this season.
Skiing is very good again today. Yesterday's grooming is still in good shape, so I'm not going to groom today. There is nothing I can do to improve on this. We had a persistent snow flurry yesterday, that lasted through the afternoon; so you will find one or two centimetres of soft powder on trail surfaces. This is not detrimental; it may even be beneficial.
The weather is also co-operating. It's currently -8, with a predicted high of -5 with light winds.
Noon hour update: we got an unexpected bonus this morning: brilliant sunshine!
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| Trail #10 - Field and Forest |
Day 63 of skiing this season.
We've received a couple of centimetres of new snow overnight, and snow is still falling. It looks like the snowfall may continue until about 11 a.m.
I will be grooming the entire network this morning, but I am going to wait until about 9 a.m.to start, so that most of the new snowfall will have finished. Skiing will be very good today, even if there is a small amount of new powder over the groomed surface. This new snow seems to be a bit slow on the glide, which will be good news to those of you who find some of the downhills a bit too fast.
Temperature is comfortable for skiing: currently -9, heading for a high of about -4, with light winds.
There is some warmer weather on the horizon: above-freezing temperatures forecast for next Monday and Tuesday. Skiing conditions may begin to deteriorate as a result, so if you want to experience really nice, powder skiing, I suggest you get out on the trails before Monday.
Noon Update: The snow continued to fall at a moderate rate all morning, and is just now tapering off as the sun comes out. Total accumulation from this event was about 5 cm. All trails have been packed, and central trails have been track-set as well. Some that were done earlier (mainly the southern ones) will have 1 or 2 cm of soft powder on the surface.
Photo below shows trail #3, in a section where it is shared with hikers. The wide, packed corduroy surface on the left is to encourage hikers to walk there, rather than on the ski track.
Day 62 of skiing this season.
Skiing will be very good again today. I will do a little bit of tidying up with the groomer on some of the more heavily used trails this morning.
Good temperatures for skiing, and more snow heading our way tonight.
10 a.m. Update: About half the southern trails, and a couple in the northern section have been cleaned up with the groomer.
TRAIL ROUTING NOTICE: THIS MORNING, I'VE PUT UP SIGNS ON TRAIL #1, BETWEEN #16 AND #3, MAKING IT ONE-WAY NORTHBOUND. This is to avoid the problem of northbound skiers heading down a challenging hill and encountering skiers climbing up the hill. I also put up 2 signs indicating that the return route to the parking area is via Trail #4, which is One-Way southbound.
Day 61 of skiing this season.
The skiing will be very good today. Yesterday's abundant snow has all been groomed, and very few skiers (or walkers) were on the trails yesterday. I did a final pass with the roller/comb about 3:30 yesterday afternoon, on some of the trails in the north end, where there had been considerable drifting.
I will not be grooming today; I really can't make it any better than it is right now.
The weather is also quite nice: currently -11, with predicted high of -5, and there is no wind at the moment.
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| Trail #5 |
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| Trail #3 Hockleycrest, this morning |
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| Trail #19 Stone Hedge, yesterday |
Last night's snowfall was a bit of a disappointment, bringing us only about 1 cm up till now. However, it is still snowing, and the forecast says it will continue until about noon. A much heavier snowfall is predicted for tonight, extending into tomorrow morning.
Skiing conditions on our trails are good. I will probably not groom today. Yesterday's groomed surface, with a few cm of fresh powder on top, should be very pleasant to ski on. The temperature is also comfortable, currently -9.
Day 58 of skiing this season.
We received about 4 cm of new snow last night. Ski conditions should be very good today. I will do a light grooming this morning. It's currently -15, but with the possibility of some sunshine and a high of about -5, it looks like it could be a near perfect ski day.
The weather forecast says there will be more snow tomorrow - maybe a significant amount.
11 a.m. Update: Trails have been groomed, and skiing is very good.
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| Mainline trail near Harmony |
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| Westside Story trail |
Day 57 of skiing this season.
The temperature is -17 this morning, and it's not expected to go above -13 today. We're hoping for some snow later today, most likely this afternoon and evening.
Conditions on the trails range from fair to good today. Some trails have gotten quite hard packed, especially the most heavily used ones at the south end. I will be grooming with the Piranha this morning, trying to soften up the trail surfaces.
10:30 a.m. Update: All southern trails and most of the north end have been scarified with the Piranha.
The photo below is of trail #22, Plateau Extension. It was taken Thursday afternoon, but looks about the same today (minus the sunshine).
Day 56 of skiing this season.
Conditions remain good on the trails. I will be doing some grooming with the Piranha on the faster hills in the south end today, to loosen up the surface snow.
It's cold today; currently -17, with a forecast high of -10.
It looks like we may get some snow tomorrow, possibly about 5 cm. Let's hope the forecast is right, because we could use a bit of fresh powder to soften up trail surfaces.
Day 55 of skiing this season.
The skiing conditions continue to be good on the trails. Some of the bigger hills are getting a bit scraped off by skiers doing snowplow, so they are fast. I will do some work with the Piranha this morning to soften up surfaces on some of the northern trails.
It's currently -12, with a forecast high of -7, sunshine and light winds.
10:30 a.m. Update: all the northern trails have been scarified with the Piranha, and should ski very nicely today.
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| Mainline trail |
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| North Plateau |
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| Trail #10 Field and Forest, noon today |
Day 53 of skiing this season.
The forecast 2 cm snowfall overnight was a bit of a disappointment. Instead, we received a very light dusting of perhaps half a cm. Still, it's enough to provide some softness on the surface of the trails.
The skiing conditions are good on our trails. Yesterday's grooming was reasonably effective at softening up the hard packed surfaces, and there was not a lot of skier traffic, so things have remained pretty much the same. I don't plan on grooming today.
Again, it's a bit cool at a temperature of -12, but there is no wind. I very much prefer this kind of weather to what we had earlier in the winter, when I got up every morning wondering if it would be above or below freezing. The forecast looking ahead looks good, with a chance of a significant snowfall on the weekend.
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| The "humpity bumps", part of the Roller Coaster trail, yesterday during grooming |
Day 52 of skiing this season.
Skiing is good again today, but not quite as good as a couple of days ago. Heavy skier traffic over the weekend has packed the snow hard on the busier trails. I will be out later this morning, trying to loosen it up a bit.
It's cool this morning, at -14, but there is no wind so it doesn't feel too bad.
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| Yesterday afternoon, on trail #19 |
Day 51 of skiing this season.
We received a couple of cm of new snow overnight. There was also quite a bit of drifting snow yesterday, so many of the trails will need to be cleaned up this morning. I will be doing a light grooming, starting about 8 a.m. The forecast says there will be wind again today, but right now it's pretty calm outside. It's a bit cool: currently -10, with a forecast high of -8.
Skiing should be very good again today.
Update: all major trails have been cleaned up and major drifted areas rectified (for the moment). Track has been reset in the central area. We do have a bit of wind, so there will be some drifting again today, in the open field areas.
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| Trail #12 this morning. |
Day 50 of skiing this season.
When I got up this morning, I expected that I would be doing some touch-up grooming to tidy up drifted trail sections, after yesterday's strong winds. That all changed when I went out the back door and discovered there has been a general snowfall overnight, of 2 or 3 cm. This is a very nice, dry, powder snow with good glide characteristics.
I will be starting a complete grooming of the entire network about 8 this morning. Once that is finished, ski conditions will be very good. Two things to keep in mind: first, it is cool today (currently -11) with a forecast high of -8; and second, we still have some wind (sustained 30 km/h with gusts to 50) so there will be drifting on some trail sections, even after grooming.
11 a.m. update: All major trails have been packed, and central trails have been track-set. We still have snow flurry activity here, and lots of blowing drifting snow, so some trails will be covered by new snow. Nevertheless, the skiing is very good.
Within 5 minutes after grooming was done, the Black Cherry trail was walked on by a bunch of ignorant walkers, destroying the beautiful track that had just been laid. If you are skiing here and see walkers on a ski-only trail (which is almost all the trails) please speak to them and ask them to stay on walking trails.
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| Black Cherry trail #23, shortly after grooming, damaged by thoughtless walkers. |
Day 49 of skiing this season.
We received a bit of new snow overnight and it's still snowing. Looks like it will amount to about 5 cm when it's all done. The temperature is very close to 0 at the moment, so the snow is a bit slow and sticky. That should improve as the temperature drops during the day. The wind is also blowing quite hard, currently from the southwest, but that will swing around to the northwest later.
I will be grooming this morning, with one of the goals being to hold this snow in place so it doesn't blow away.
This snowfall wasn't as big as we were hoping for, but it's just enough to provide a soft packed powder on top of our base. Skiing should be good by this afternoon.
10 a.m. UPDATE: I've packed all the southern trails, and Mainline all the way up to the north end, plus one pass on the Pasture. I will complete more trails later today. However, it is a wild day out there. The temperature has dropped to -5, the wind is howling, the snow is blowing, and there is still some snow falling. Some of the trails will drift in within a few minutes after being groomed. Driving conditions are probably not great either.
2 p.m. Update: all trails have been packed, with track-setting on most of the central trails. Skiing is generally very good. However, snow is drifting onto some of the trails. Nothing can be done about this until the wind stops blowing.
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| Trail #5 after track-setting |
Day 48 of skiing this season.
Conditions on our trails range from fair to good this morning. Trail surfaces are hard packed in places. The temperature is going to rise to +3 this afternoon, under sunshine, so the snow will get softer and slower.
Colder air returns tonight, and with it, some new snow. A snowfall of 5 to 10 cm is expected over the next 36 hours.
I will be doing some grooming with the Piranha this morning, mainly in the central section of the network.
Day 47 of skiing this season.
Conditions on the trails continue to range from fair to good. Snow coverage is good; the only problem is that the trail surfaces have become hard packed and fast. The grooming I did yesterday had some benefit in softening the surface and creating some loose powder on top.
I will not be grooming today.
We are looking forward to some new snow after a brief warm spell tomorrow.
Here is a little information about grooming equipment. Yesterday, I mentioned a groomer that I call the Piranha. I put it together about 2 weeks ago, when we had very little snow and lots of ice. The goal was to build something that could dig into the hard icy surface and scratch up some soft, fine-grained powder on top. It started with a frame, made with an old pair of skis that I found in somebody's garbage. Mounted within this frame is a hinged, weighted flap covered with galvanized steel, through which the tips of 105 concrete nails protrude.(This is the origin of the nickname Piranha) These nails stick out about 2 cm, are very sharp, and very rigid (i.e. they don't bend). Thus far, I've been pleased with the results when I use it. A small track-setter can also be attached behind it.
It's not perfect, but it's certainly better than doing nothing.
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| The underside of the hinged, weighted flap |
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| Overall view of the Piranha |
Day 46 of skiing this season.
Conditions on our trails range from fair to good. We have plenty of snow, but trail surfaces have become hard packed and fast. The scarifying grooming that I did yesterday was of some benefit, and I will do more of it today. Hills need to be skied with extreme caution.
What we really need is some fresh powder snow, and it looks like we may get some. First, we have to get through a couple of days of warmer weather (Wednesday/Thursday), but then there will be a return of colder air with snowfalls predicted for Friday and again Sunday/Monday.
11 a.m. Update: I've gone over most of the hilly trails again this morning with the Piranha and loosened the surface a bit.
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| Trail #9 The Pasture, this morning while grooming |
Day 45 of skiing this season.
Conditions are still fairly good on our trails. There is lots of snow coverage, but our more heavily travelled trails are hard packed, and not as pleasant to ski on as they were a few days ago. I will be trying later this morning to loosen up the worst of the hard-pack.
It is also quite cool this morning. The current temperature is -15, with an expected high of about -6.
