November 8: Ready for snow

Here is a picture of part of the skate loop, taken about 7 this morning. We had a tiny bit of snow last night and a hard frost this morning.
We are basically ready for skiing. All trails are cleared, and all signs except maps have been put up. I hope to have the newly revised maps printed, laminated and installed on the trails within the next week.
Grooming equipment is set to go, and so am I.

November: skiing is getting closer

I was out today, checking the trails for blow-down trees after the heavy winds of the past few days. Luckily, there was only one fallen tree across a trail, and it was an easy 10 minute job with the chainsaw.
I also continued putting up signs for the winter season.

Skating Loops Now Marked

We have something new this year: a skating trail consisting of 2 loops connected in the middle, sort of like a figure 8. The total length of the skate trail is 2.2 km. Today, I have marked the skate loops with red arrows.
The skate loops are not accessible from the main parking lot on 5 Side Road (i.e. the only connection is a classic style trail). If you want to skate ski, please contact me and I will tell you where you can park to access the skate trail directly.

Here is an example of the red arrows used to mark the skate trail.

First snowfall - October 17, 2015

Our yard and milkhouse showing the first snow of the season.

Well, as predicted, we had our first snowfall of the 2015/2016 winter on Saturday. There was only about 1 cm of accumulation, which disappeared by Sunday.
I spent much of Saturday in the garage, making improvements to my roller/groomer. Can't wait to try it out.

Skier, or lumberjack?

We've had quite a bit of wind damage in the bush this summer. On Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend, I discovered a large maple fallen over the trail right at the north junction of Mainline and The Pasture. My son and I spent 2 hours there on Sunday with chainsaws, removing the blockage.
Everything is now cleared and ready for skiing. All we need is snow, and there is some of that in the forecast for next Saturday!
The new trails on the Tai Chi property near the south end of the network are finished, and should be a nice addition to the network.

NEW TRAIL CONNECTIONS FOR 2015/2016 SKI SEASON

I've just received approval from the Taoist Tai Chi Society for a couple of new trail sections. They are the owners of the property immediately north of the 5 Sideroad.
A new link will be added starting at the south junction of Mainline and Harmony, heading west and then north to connect with Around the Pines. This section will pass through a pine plantation and will have very gentle hills on it. Another short link will extend Gazebo trail southerly to connect with the first one. This will feature a short, steep hill for those who want to add a little excitement to their outing.
It is hoped that these 2 new links will help to reduce conflicts with the maple syrup operation in the later part of the winter.

Starting work for the winter of 2015/16

After a summer away from the trails, I've begun my preparation for the coming winter. Over the past weekend (September 12 and 13) I cut grass on many of the trails, and cleared fallen trees in 4 locations. There was a vicious wind storm back in July that brought down some really big trees; fortunately, only a couple landed on the trails.
I've also made some small revisions to the trail route near the north end with the hope that we can avoid the snow-drifting problems that were prevalent here in the past.
I'll be going out tomorrow with earth-moving equipment (i.e. pick-axe and shovel) to try to remove a couple of boulders from the trail on the Tai Chi property.
I've also made a couple of improvements to the groomer to help it hold a straight line on a cross slope. Time will tell whether this is effective. At least it will be much stronger than last year.

NEW FOR THIS YEAR
I am going to try grooming a figure 8 loop for skate skiing this winter, particularly for anyone who would like to do a bit of skate training. I've been mowing the grass to a 3 metre width, and will do the same on the soybean field, once the beans have been harvested.