Things happen, part 2

 Remember those fallen trees that I posted photos of a few days ago? Well, now they have been cleared.

Our trail system is getting bigger!

Entrance to trail #25, Easy Does It, at the junction of #3 and #5

 Good news, especially for less accomplished skiers, who find the hills on trail #1 and trail #4 a bit difficult. I've spoken with my neighbour to the south, and he has agreed to permit a new trail crossing the east end of his property.

The new trail, which will be number 25 and will be named "Easy Does It", will be parallel to and just west of trail #4. Although it will be only 150m long, it will be an important addition to our network, because it is very flat and easy to ski, so it will provide a nice gentle connection from the easy trails in the south (such as #7) to the easy trails in the central area, such as #3, #5, #6, #19, #21, and #23.

Things happen

 Although we only ski on these trails in the winter, things happen on them all year round. Three more fallen trees to be cleared: all on the North Plateau trail.

If a tree falls in the forest.....

 There is an old riddle that goes something like this: if a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound?

I think it does, but regardless of the answer to that question, a tree that falls on a ski trail definitely makes a mess, and creates a barrier that needs to be removed.

That's what I did this morning, clearing a fallen dead ash tree from the boardwalk on the Hockleycrest trail. It's all part of the process of getting ready for ski season.

After the clean-up

Before the clean-up

Starting a new (ski) year

 It's September, and summer is almost finished. So it's time to begin preparing our trails for the winter. Today, a very generous friend brought his Bobcat over and regraded a couple of places on the trails, where there was a slope across the trail from one side to the other. Hopefully, this will make for better grooming and better skiing once the snow arrives.

Levelling out a section of the Hockleycrest trail

March 23 - It looks like this might be the end

 We've had an extended period of very mild weather. Looking ahead in the long range forecast, it doesn't look like there is a significant snowfall headed our way, so it appears our ski season has come to an end.

It was a good year, skiing-wise. We had 77 days of skiable conditions, which is 3 more than last year. The number of people who came out to enjoy the trails was certainly much higher than a year ago.

I want to thank those of you who made donations toward the upkeep of the trails. My operating costs for the groomer were about $500 ($300 for fuel and $200 for maintenance). I am going to spend about $400 on new signage for next year. Any donation money left over after these expenses are paid will be given to the Bruce Trail Conservancy to acquire more land to expand and improve the Trail.

Plans for next season include:

    - more aggressive pruning and limbing of spruce and pine trees to allow snow to penetrate through the canopy to the trail surface;

    - widening of one very narrow spot in the spruce plantation on trail #23 (this has already been done);

    - some levelling of trail sections where there is a cross-slope on the trail;

    - improved signage to keep walkers off the ski trails.

I am also going to explore possibilities with one additional landowner to see if we might be able to have a new trail that would enable skiers to avoid one of the most difficult hills in the southern part of the trail network. This is a "long shot", but if successful, it would make the trails much more accessible to beginner level skiers.

PLEASE NOTE: ONCE THE SKI TRAILS AND SNOWSHOW TRAIL ARE CLOSED FOR THE SEASON, THEY ARE CLOSED TO ALL USERS. THESE TRAILS ARE NOT OPEN FOR WALKING IN THE SUMMER.

I will begin taking down ski trail signage, as time permits, over the next couple of weeks.

March 17 - still closed

 We have received no new snow, so our trails remain closed.

I am going to stop making daily posts, until conditions change. If we get a major snowfall which allows us to re-open, then I will post it.