Trails Closed

 We've lost most of our snow over the past 24 hours. Trails are NOT skiable. It looks like we are going to have about a week of this warm weather.

I will not post any further reports until we have new snow.

Not Skiing Weather

 Although it is still possible to ski this morning, it is not a pleasant experience. The current temperature is +3, and it's expected to reach +8 later today, with a chance of drizzle. The snow is wet and packing, and glide is poor.

We will definitely be losing snow over the next few days, as these warm conditions continue.

Last chance to ski in 2022

 Conditions on the trails are still not bad this morning, with a temperature of -2. However, by 11 a.m. it will be up to 0, and we will begin to lose snow. It's going to be very warm over the next few days, so early this morning is your last chance to get in a nice ski before the New Year.

Looks like a nice day

 We had some flurry activity yesterday, bringing 1 to2 cm of additional snow. I will do some "touch-up" grooming this morning to refresh the corduroy in the central trails, which have not been done since Sunday.

My wife rates the trail conditions right now at 6 out of 10, and I agree with her. It's not bad for early season skiing. It's now -8, with a forecast high of -4, and very little wind.

There are still some icy/crusty sections, and lots of small debris from the windstorm.

We're open again

 After 2 days of cleanup, the trails are skiable again. Yesterday, I cleared another dozen fallen trees, and groomed the central portion of the network.

The 2-day blizzard produced a lot of wind, but not much snow. The snow we did receive (about 10 cm total) is distributed very unevenly. There are deep drifts in some places, but there are many places where the new snow is all blown away, and only the old crusty snow from before the storm remains.

On trails I groomed yesterday, skiing is not bad, generally. I will do more grooming today. There is still a lot of debris scattered over the trails - small twigs, pine and spruce needles, etc.

Finally, it looks like we will only have a couple of days to enjoy these skiable conditions; starting on Wednesday, there is a period of warm weather coming in, which will probably destroy our thin snow base.

Yesterday, North Plateau, Before

Yesterday, North Plateau, After

Update 11 a.m. - All trails have now been groomed, either this morning or yesterday. There is some drifting on the open fields. Lots of little sticks to watch out for!

Some Improvement

 There has been some improvement in conditions over yesterday: it's a little warmer (-9), the wind is not blowing quite as hard (40 km/h), and we've had a few centimetres of new snow. However, our trails are still closed until I can check all trail sections and clear fallen trees. Yesterday, I cleared 10 trees, all in the northern portion of the network. I'm sure there are more that I haven't discovered yet, on the southern trails.

I will try to check all remaining trails and clear any obstructions today. If I can get this done, I will post an update. Until then, trails remain closed.

One of the trees I cleared yesterday, on trail #1a

An Inconvenient Truth

 I've been out for a walk around a portion of the trail network. We've had a lot of wind damage. There are multiple trails blocked by fallen trees. It's going to take me a couple of days to clean up this mess.

Trails are closed until further notice.

It's Wild Out There!

 The blizzard finally arrived, not with a lot of snow, but with plenty of wind. The official snowfall yesterday was just 6 cm. However, the powerful wind has been howling now for 24 hours straight. Currently, it's -15 outside, with sustained winds of 55 km/h and gusts to 90 km/h. That means a wind chill of -29.

This is another good day to stay at home.

I am not even going to try to groom today. It's too cold, it's too dangerous, and it would just be pointless. Any grooming I do will disappear within 5 minutes because of the wind. Also, there will undoubtedly be some trees blown down across the trails that will need to be cleared.

Sometimes there are more important things than skiing; hunker down and stay safe!

A Good Day to Stay at Home

 The predicted blizzard has been late arriving, but Environment Canada still says it's coming. Right now, the temperature is +1 and it's raining. We've lost a couple of cm of snow since yesterday morning.

Skiing is poor right now.

By tomorrow at this time, we should have 10 to 20 cm of new snow. Let's wait and see.

Still Calm

 Conditions are still calm here, as we wait for a major storm. This morning, skiing is about the same as the past few days - not great, but tolerable. Trail surfaces are getting a bit hard-packed and slightly icy. Some open field areas are drifted in.

According to the forecast, our main snowfall will start about midnight tonight and continue through Friday. The good news is that they are not calling for much rain, and the temperature should not rise above +2 overnight. Tomorrow will be much colder, and windy.

Calm before the Storm

 Ski conditions remain tolerable on our trails today. It looks like a nice day coming, with sunshine and a high of -3. All trails were groomed within the past 2 days. As there is no new snow to work with, grooming again would not produce any real benefit. Snow cover is thin; rock skis are recommended.

A major storm with mixed precipitation is coming tomorrow and Friday. Depending on whether we get rain, freezing rain, or snow, and how much of each, ski conditions may get either better or worse. We have to wait and see.

Improved again

 After I groomed yesterday, we received another 1 to 2 cm of new snow in the afternoon. Consequently, skiing conditions are improved a bit over yesterday.

There will be no grooming today.

A Slight Improvement

 Starting about 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon, and overnight, we've received about 2 cm of new snow. It's possible we may get about the same again today, through flurries and squalls.

Consequently, trail surfaces are feeling a little less icy than yesterday. On a scale of 1 to10, I would rate today's conditions at 5.

I will be grooming this morning, especially trails in the south end, some of which have not been done since Thursday's snowfall.

11 a.m. Update: All southern and central trails, and the most popular northern trails have been groomed this morning. Open field areas in the north are getting drifted in by brisk westerly winds. It's a nice day for skiing, with sunshine and -3 temperature.

Not great, but not bad

 Most trails were groomed yesterday, leaving a loosely packed granular snow surface, which is a little bit icy.

Trails that were not groomed yesterday were: portions of #7 Around the Pines, and #2 Gazebo, #11 Tamarack and #13 Harmony. Also, #1a could not be groomed because it is blocked by 2 fallen trees. A short stretch of #1 Mainline near the junction with 1a is also blocked by a fallen tree, but there is an easy detour around that.

I will be out with the chainsaw this morning to clear the fallen trees.

We are expecting a bit of new snow today (2 to 4 cm) and possibly some more tonight. Any new powder will be beneficial in softening the trail surfaces and making them ski more comfortably.

9:30 a.m. Update: The three fallen trees have been cleared. Trail #1a is now open and groomed. Open field areas are beginning to see a bit of drifting.

For Experts Only

 Our high temperature yesterday was +1 with sunshine, so the snow became very moist, almost slushy in places. With a cooler temperature of -2 this morning, the snow surface has become crusty. In some places it's quite icy. The forecast says the temperature will continue to drop as the day progresses.

I will try some grooming this morning, to see if I can produce a better surface condition. Only very good skiers should ski here today. Snow cover is thin; rock skis are recommended.

Update: I have groomed about half of the network, all in the southern and central areas. The result is a considerably improved surface. On the groomed trails, you will find predominantly loose-packed granular snow, with some icy/crusty sections. I will groom northern trails later today.

Another update! (2:20 p.m.) All northern trails have now been groomed, except for #1a, which is blocked by fallen trees. Skiers will have to take a detour around 1a until I can clear the trail tomorrow.

Just Enough Snow

Yesterday's "big storm" was a disappointment. It brought us only about 6 or 7 cm of new snow. This gives us a total of just under 10 cm of snow on the ground, which is just enough to ski on. However, I would not recommend skiing today, as the snow is moist and sticky, and the temperature is expected to rise to +1 or +2 by noon.

I will not groom until the temperature has dropped below freezing, late this afternoon or tonight. Packing the snow now would just result in a very firm, icy surface.

Ski conditions should be much better tomorrow morning.

Still Not Enough

 Out total snow accumulation yesterday was less than 5 cm, so that's still not enough to ski on. The next snowfall event in the forecast will be Thursday, and this one might be significant. The Weather Network is predicting 15 to 20 cm. Once again, we will have to wait and see.

Not enough yet

 We have a light dusting of new snow on the ground; definitely not enough to ski on. However, it's continuing to snow and the forecast says we may receive 5 to 10 cm. Let's wait and see.

Snow on the Way?

 The weather forecast says we will get some snow tomorrow. I will let you know if it's enough to ski on.

No Snow Yet

 It's been a few days since my last post, mainly because there has been nothing to report. There is no snow on the trails, so there is no skiing. Looking ahead in the weather forecast, it doesn't look as if there is going to be any real change in the next week.