The Big Loop skate lane was groomed yesterday (Abbey Road, Skid Road, Seagull, Northern Lights, the Buzz) all the classic trails except NL sugarbush, SL sugarbush, and Oppedahls were were also flat dragged and tracked. Today fresh tracks were set on the Anchor trails and Jolley Long. Grooming plans: As we prep for the summit race tracks will be on different sides than regular grooming.

Photos:

(Ashley Georgeson)

Turned onto Ski Hill Road and AC DC was playing For those who Love to Rock on the radio. That was a sign today was going to be an awesome day of skiing. 4° at the start of the ski. Classic skied something over 30 km: Rollercoaster, Middle Connector, Anchor, up Big Anchor hill, Seagull connector, up Seagull Classic, down Seagull skate, Abbey Road up past Sugarbush cabin, Sugarbush upper, Sugarbush middle, Jerry Jolly north to south, up Big Anchor hill, Seagull connector, up Seagull skate to Summit, down Seagull skate, across Seagull connector, upper Anchor, Powerline, Middle connector, Anchor, Middle Anchor hill, across upper Anchor, Abbey Road up, Black Bear, Northern Lights, Deerpath, Buzz, across base, Rollercoaster, Powerline, upper Anchor, down Middle Anchor hill, Anchor in. 2 hours 35 minutes. My gu did not freeze today! Fresh tracks and skate deck everywhere, but the tracks on Northern Lights and Buzz are old and slow. Kick was awesome, green swix in the fresh tracks was fast as ever! Hill climbs were kickable, skate deck was firm and forgiving. What a beautiful ski! That Rocked! Thank you groomers!

Photos:

(Kevin Grand)

It was 2° with a nippy wind this afternoon at the start of the ski. Classic skied something in the 30 km range I hope: Anchor, big hill, Seagull connector, Abbey Road past cabin, Sugarbush, uphill Seagull Classic, downhill Seagull skate, Abbey Road, Jerry Jolly Long north to south, Anchor hill, Seagull connector, Uphill Seagull skate, down Seagull skate, Abbey Road, Black Bear, Northern Lights, Deerpath, Buzz. My gu froze, so that was enough. Skied fresh tracks on Classic only trails: firm, great glide, phenomenal kick. Combi trails had .5 inch fresh slow velcro snow on them, but the skate deck had fresh firm corduroy. Awesome ski, stayed warm. Excited to put two more longer skis in in next couple days! Thanks for grooming what you did, the combi trail tracks were painful.

Photos:

(Kevin Grand)

We skied Northern lights and the grooming was fantastic, corduroy. The day was gorgeous, the snow cold and rather slow.

Photos:

(Steve Smith)

Came to do a medium distance ski. Didn't know quite what the conditions would be like. The two hopped up Toyota groomers were starting to groom. I have no idea what km I skied, but the hill combinations were new and awesome. Skied: Rollercoaster, Powerline, Anchor hill down, Anchor, up big Anchor hill, Seagull connector, Abbey Road hill up past Sugarbush cabin, Sugarbush, North Sugarbush, Skid Road, Jerry Jolly north south, up big Anchor hill, Seagull connector, Abbey Road hill up past Sugarbush cabin, Sugarbush, North Sugarbush, Skid Road, Jerry Jolly north south, up big Anchor hill, Anchor, down middle Anchor hill, Anchor, Rollercoaster, middle connector, Anchor up middle Anchor hill, across Anchor, to Abbey Road, up Seagull connector, down Anchor to Abbey Road to double pole the finish. That was a super fun weird mishmash of Birkie training! Conditions were variable. Anchor and Abbey Road were freshly groomed, along with Skid Road. The remainder was skied-in tracks and powdery skate deck. Kick was phenomenal, glide was great. All hills were kickable. I just a little dizzy from looping around so much. Beautiful ski!

Photos:

(Kevin Grand)

Mt Ashwabay got about 4-6" of fresh snow yesterday. Groomers were out today laying fresh tracks on Abbey Road, Skid Road, Jolly Long Loop, Seagull Skate, Northern Lights, and The Buzz. Classic only trails that were tracked today include, Sugarbush, Seagull, NorthLower Sugarbush, South Lower Sugarbush, and Oppedahls Alley.

Photos:

(Ashley Georgeson)

Classic skied a good long distance this late morning into the afternoon. Grooming operations were happening as I ski so that decided my training day. Skied: Anchor, Sugarbush, Seagull connector, Seagull classic up, Seagull skate down, Abbey Road past the cabin, Sugarbush, Lower Sugarbush, Skid Road, Jerry Jolly, Ophadhal, Lower Sugarbush, Skid Road, Jerry Jolly up, Abbey Road past the cabin, Northern Lights, Buzz, Anchor, Sugarbush, Jerry Jolly the opposite direction for a long sustained uphill, Abbey Road to finish. Different than any of my usual skis, but excellent! Tracks were: fresh firm, kick was awesome, glide was great, all hills were kickable. Skate deck was firm and forgiving, easy to edge on, with great glide. Thank you groomers! That was fun! And Beautiful.

Photos:

(Kevin Grand)

Classic skied a good amount of km today, a little less because of the conditions. Skied Anchor, up big Anchor hill, Seagull connector, Abbey Road past Sugarbush cabin, Sugarbush, Lower Sugarbush, Skid Road, Jerry Jolly, up Anchor hill, Seagull connector, Abbey Road, Northern Lights, Buzz, across the base, up Rollercoaster, Power line, Anchor, and looped Anchor back. Not sure how many km. Conditions are soft due to the new snow. Glide is rough in the snow filled in tracks, quicker in skied in areas. Tracks are getting rough on the ankles in skied in areas due to uneven shifting. Kick is awesome. Hills are kickable, or the skate deck is grippy and soft to herringbone. Skate deck has new snow and is slow. Great day for a kick and double-poling strengthening ski! I'm looking forward to two more days of longer skis with alot of hills.

Photos:

(Kevin Grand)

First, thank you groomers. Skiing here gave me my strongest Birkie start to Hatchery Creek yesterday. Today, I classic skied a good amount of km. Started out and the tracks led me up Rollercoaster, Anchor power line, across Anchor, down Anchor hill, over Anchor up hill to Seagull, down to Abbey Road, up past Sugarbush Cabin, Sugarbush to Skid Road, Jerry Jolly, up big Achor hill, Seagull connector, past Sugarbush cabin, Northern Lights to Buzz, across the ski hill base, up Rollercoaster, Anchor power line, across Anchor to Abbey Road, up past Sugarbush cabin, Sugarbush to Abbey Road back. The tracks were mostly great: fairly deep, good glide, great grip for kick. On Buzz and parts of Anchor the tracks zigzagged and that can be hard for some people. The skate deck was medium firm, good glide and easy to edge. The little bridge area at the bottom of the Jerry Jolly hill is powder and soft. If someone skis down fast and hits soft powder, could be ouch. Otherwise, everything blended together to an awesome ski after a great Birkie ski yesterday. What a phenomenal classic skiing weekend.

Photos:

(Kevin Grand)

All the trails were groomed today with the exception of Oppedahl's Alley as there was running water over segments of the trail when groomers were out. A huge effort from volunteers today. Thank you Neal, Bill, Doug, Dave C, Chuck, and Ian for your tremendous efforts getting our trails back into skiable shape after 6-10" of fresh snow.

Photos:

(Ashley Georgeson)