Hiram has not been groomed for a couple of weeks now but with the inch or so of snow we had earlier this past week the icy base was covered enough to make it ok for skiing again. There are a few small bare spots and ice patches but overall it was well covered. There was enough fresh snow so a warmer hard wax gave me plenty of grip for climbing the hills and edge control for going down the hills. Still worth getting out there and skiing before its all done for the season.

(Paul Klinger)

Conditions at Hiram this afternoon were getting rough. The track is getting pretty shallow in most areas and is icy which is to be expected with the thawing and freezing going on every day. The real problem is all the forest litter brought down by the strong winds today. There are many leaves, needles, sticks, bark and cones on much of the trail. For those of us who use wax it is klister conditions which would work great except for all the forest litter which gets stuck in the klister wax. We need more snow now to cover up the junk or try to run the groomer over it enough to try and mix the forest litter up in the snow and reset the track to maybe make it a little better.

(Paul Klinger)

With warmer weather this past weekend, track is shallow and less defined, but still good. Out before it warmed up this morning and a little icy, and very fast. Beautiful day and a great ski. Oak leaves are beginning to gather in tracks!

(Don Hoppe)

Skiing was good again today at Hiram. Although the track is getting shallow there is still enough in most areas to keep locked into. There was a granular icy coating in the track from last nights little bit of sleet and rain which made for a fun fast ski. Klister wax worked well today, plenty of grip for the kick and lots of glide.

(Paul Klinger)

Trail conditions are still good over all. The track is holding up well but it is getting shallow. There are some leaves and bark in the track but not enough to cause any real problems. Some areas are fairly icy but others are still just snow. I used klister wax thinking it would be more icy but I could have gotten by with a warmer hard wax. The klister was a little slow and grabby when you hit the areas that were still snow but it was good when you were running on the icy sections. It was a fun ski and worth going out. It should be good skiing again tomorrow.

(Paul Klinger)

First time out on my "A" skis, meaning wax for a change. I carry a pair of backcountry no-wax skis in the back of my pickup, and they have been okay for slogging around. Not this time. Green wax was perfect. I followed Don as he was just rolling and tracking the trails as we arrived. Conditions were ideal--excellent--and the "bench" hill with it's little 'whoop-de-doo' caught me by surprise. I went a little airborne, and bit the dusty white stuff. Fun!

(Mark Olson)

Trail groomed and tracked with 3-4" of new, good snow. Track is deep throughout trail system and no visible debris. Two skier on trail when I got off and said that it was very fast. Should set up well with the low temps.

(Don Hoppe)

Skied the trail early this afternoon and it had set up very well. I would revise the condition of trail to very good/good. There are area where the track is not very deep. We need another 3 to 4" of snow to get to excellent. Pole deck is firm over the icy base. A nice ski on a beautiful, sunny day, on a great trail.

Photos:

(Don Hoppe)

Full trail (8 km) groomed early this afternoon. About 3-4" of new snow groomed and tracked for classical skiing. Trail should set up nicely and should be very good to excellent tomorrow.

(Don Hoppe)

Skied Hiram this morning, beautiful day to be out skiing. A little more deer damage & leaves on the track but still in pretty good shape. Should still be in good shape for skiing on Monday. Best to go in the morning before the temperature starts to warm up and soften the snow. The snow was fast this morning with very good glide and no ice yet.

(Paul Klinger)