January 31 - still good

 Day 44 of skiing this season.

Conditions on the trails are still good, but not quite as good as they were a couple of days ago. We had a lot of people here skiing yesterday, so the heavily travelled trails have gotten quite packed down. There is not much that I can do about that, as my home-made grooming equipment can't transform hard-pack into powder. I will try a bit of scarifying this morning, to see if it helps.

If you come here to ski, please obey directional signage (a few trail sections are marked as One Way), and please stay on trail. I've noticed quite a few tracks heading off the trail, and this could be dangerous. Trails have been cleared of tree stumps, boulders and fallen logs, but if you go off the trail there are lots of obstacles you could hit. Also, in some of the open field areas, there are small trees planted, which could be damaged by a passing skier.

Here is one photo from yesterday afternoon:

Trail #12

January 30

 Day 43 of skiing this season.

 Conditions on the trails are very good again today. Yesterday, we received close to 5 cm of new powder snow from a flurry that lasted from mid-morning to mid-afternoon.

I groomed (re-set the track) on most of the central trails late yesterday afternoon. I will do touch-up grooming on southern and northern trails this morning.

It is cool this morning, at -12, but should warm up to about -6 with some sunshine this afternoon.

UPDATE: Southern and northern trails have been cleaned up with the roller/comb, and some new track set. It's a beauty day out there.

The Pasture Trail #9

Mainline trail, just north of the north junction of #3

January 29 - chilly, but very good

 Day 42 of skiing this season.

Skiing is very good again today, as we received another 1 to 2 cm of new snow in flurries overnight. I will be doing some touch-up grooming this morning, on heavy traffic and drifted areas. The main areas that drifted in yesterday afternoon were #17, #12 and the short piece of #1 adjacent to #12.

It is cold this morning, currently -16, with a forecast high of -8.

The forecast looking ahead looks good for skiing until next Thursday, when the temperature might hit 0.

UPDATE: This morning's grooming: South end trails were cleaned up with the light rubber snow comb. Drifted areas and the larger hills in the north end were groomed with the roller and comb, and a couple of central trails had the tracks refreshed. There has been a persistent snow flurry here for the past couple of hours; we've probably received another 2 or 3 cm of light powder snow this morning.

January 28 - Nice, and cool

 Day 41 of skiing this season.

Ski conditions on our trails will be very good again today. There is lots of packed powder on all our trails, plus 2 cm of new snow that came in flurries overnight.

It is, however, quite cold this morning, at -14, and will warm up to -9 by this afternoon.

I will do some touch up grooming on heavily trafficked areas, and try to extend the track-setting a bit as well.

Trail #5 yesterday afternoon

11:00 a.m. UPDATE: Most trails have been cleaned up with the light rubber comb, and I've set some track on portions of trails in the south and north ends, where it was appropriate.

January 27 - Winter Wonderland

 Day 40 of skiing this season.

Yesterday's weather forecast did not disappoint. We received 14 cm of beautiful, dry, powder snow on a gentle easterly wind. Skiing conditions will be excellent today, once I've finished grooming. I rolled all the central trails last night; I will do the rest this morning, starting with the southern section, and then moving to the north.

The temperature is also perfect: cold enough to maintain the dry powder snow, but not so cold that it's uncomfortable.

UPDATE: All trails have been packed at least once. Ski conditions are near perfect. After a coffee break, I will do some track-setting in the central section.

Trail #3, just after track-setting

January 26 - snow coming

 Day 39 of skiing this season.

The weather forecast says we will have a significant, day-long snowfall today - perhaps in the range of 10 cm. In the meantime, conditions on our trails remain about the same as the past couple of days - not bad, but not great.

I will start grooming once the snowfall has stopped.

Noon update: It's a veritable blizzard out there right now. Skiing should be very good tomorrow.

January 25 - No change

 This is Day 38 of skiing this season.

Trail conditions remain about the same here: fair to good. Because of skier traffic over the weekend, the trails have become somewhat hard packed, and there are a few icy spots. I see that the weather forecast has been changed, and now includes a snowfall, perhaps as much as 5 cm, for tomorrow. Let's hope it's correct, because we could use the snow.

Current temperature is -5. The high may reach 0 this afternoon, so skiing will probably be best in the morning.