Day 20 of skiing this season.
Our snow cover remains good, but this snow is getting "old". Once again yesterday afternoon, the temperature rose slightly above freezing, causing a transformation of the snow: a little less powdery, a little more icy. Unfortunately, there is no new snow in the forecast for the next week.
Colder temperatures have arrived; today's predicted high is -4. Glide should be a little faster and more consistent than it has been.
Day 19 of skiing this season.
Yesterday was another of those days where the temperature approached 0, and the snow began to make a transformation from powder toward ice. The glide is good this morning, and the snow has a slightly crusty consistency. We still have pretty good snow coverage on all trails, but control on the downhills will not be quite as good as it was with packed powder.
A cooler temperature trend is coming in, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, there is no significant snowfall in the forecast over the next week, so we will have to make do with the snow we have now.
Day 18 of skiing this season.
Conditions on the trails remain about the same: fair to good. We have not received any new snow since yesterday, and yesterday's grooming is still holding up pretty well. The temperature is predicted to reach a high of -1 today, and there is a possibility of some light flurries.
Yesterday afternoon, the temperature got up near 0 and the snow began to get a bit moist and packing. Glide became inconsistent, skis sometimes stuck, and manoeverability suffered. Packing snow is just not as pleasant to ski on as powder.
I checked back to my posts from a year ago. At this time last year, we were in the middle of a period of about 3 weeks when skiing was either very poor or impossible. So by comparison, we are fortunate to have the snow we have right now.
Day 17 of skiing this season.
Yesterday turned out to be better than expected. We received 5 cm of new snow, and the temperature did not go above freezing. I groomed the central portion of our network last night, and then went out to ski using a headlamp. It was quite nice.
I will finish grooming the southern and northern trails this morning. Ski conditions should be generally good, with only a couple of spots that are still thin and icy.
LATE MORNING UPDATE: All trails have now been groomed. Current temperature is -1.5C. Environment Canada says it will reach 0 at 1 p.m. and +1 at 3 p.m. But if you prefer a more optimistic forecast, the Weather Network says it won't go above -1 today. Take your pick; but one thing is certain - the earlier you come to ski, the better it will be.
Day 16 of skiing this season.
Conditions on the trails remain about the same as yesterday: not great but tolerable. Everything was groomed yesterday; I will not be grooming today.
The forecast calls for a little bit of new snow today, with temperatures either just below, or just above freezing, depending on which weather service you look at.
Day 15 of skiing this season.
We received about 4 cm of new snow overnight, just enough to make our trails skiable once again. Conditions are still not great, as there is ice just below the surface in many places.
I will be out this morning to pack this snow, to help hold it in place.
Current temperature is -3, with a forecast high of +1.
Late morning update: Trails have been packed and will provide fair to good skiing. There is not sufficient snow depth for track setting. The section of trail #1 Mainline, between #1a and the north junction of #3, is probably the worst section, with thin snow cover and lumpy ice. It is skiable, but exercise extreme caution.
No skiing again today, as it's still too icy. A weather system moving through tonight might bring us some snow. Let's hope it's enough.
