Conditions: Excellent. Fresh snow provided newly set tracks and skate deck.
Fresh inches of snow fell overnight, jazzing up the trails for the day. The Maplelag trail system is always fun to ski, and Jay's care of grooming is evident throughout this setting of lakes and hardwoods. The ME / VA / EG Nordic team finished up a 3 day ski camp with a continuos pursuit race on the Sukkerbusk and Skaters Waltz trails.

Photos:

(Cheri Johnson)

After an overnight 2" snowfall, the trails are in excellent shape. The snow isn't deep enough for every trail to have been groomed, but there are at least 20K groomed for classic and 15K for skate. I regret not bringing my A skis. It is beautiful up here...worth the trip. I suspect there will be more groomed by tomorrow.

(Ralph Schwartz)

Conditions: Powder/packed powder 2" new snow past 12 hours. Grooming on 42km today. 15km groomed skate, 25km groomed classic. Conditions reported as good to excellent. 70km trail open, remaining 28km not groomed open with home made skier set track.
We had snow fall most of the day accumulating to a couple inches. Nice dense snow, great for skiing and grooming. We started grooming after the first half inch early this morning, working in new snow on all the skate trails than after 1.5" we cut new tracks on the classic trails that had tracks previously.
A skate ski at lunch to check out the conditions found faster than expected snow on a firm base. Great seeing so many people out enjoying the fresh. At dusk we worked on kamikaze hill and also combed out Suicide Hill and Skaters Waltz. Daily grooming continues, back out in the morning setting new track opposite where we set track on the double track and also hope to set a track on North Loup for the first time.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Good early season. Classic trails are thin in places, but there is no problem avoiding the thin spots. Tracks are a combination of set tracks and ski made tracks. Cold dusting of powder on top.
It was great to get back to Maplelag for a new season! While this is not perfect set track or cord, there is no reason to wait any longer. Get out and ski!

(Charlie Ramstad)

Conditions: Powder/Packed Powder 2-4" compacted base, 4-6" snow depth. Grooming on 30km of trail, 12km track set. 1.25" new snow past 24 hours. Good to very good early season conditions.
We had light snow throughout the day that we groomed in first on the skate trails (and suicide hill for some morning telemark ski action) then set track on a few more new trails and also reset track on some other trails. The little bit of new snow improved the conditions and a ski at dusk found some great early season classic skiing on Rootin Tootin and the double track of Sukkerbusk that had a dusting after grooming. All skate trails will be re-groomed in the morning. We will leave the tracks alone so they can set up proper and not risk up pulling up any forest floor material. I would use good skis on the skate trails (caution on North Loup) and B or rock skis for classic until we get another inch or so.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Great, groomed this morning with a dusting of fresh snow.
My husband and I skated Maplelag this afternoon and were very happy with the trails, the conditions, venue, staff, and free cookies! The snow this season has been disappointing, so we weren't expecting much from Maplelag. We were so happy when we got there and actually were able to ski somewhere other than a 1K artificial loop. The trees were covered in frosty snow and the trails were groomed well. If you haven't been here before, you must go!

(Alli Beatty)

Conditions: 2" of light prairie effect fluff snow this morning. 2-4" compacted base, grooming on 35km of trail. Good to very good early season conditions. Areas of thin cover etc. Total snowfall past 10 days at 8".
Winter wonderland conditions after 2" of super light fluffy snow, clinging to every branch and twig thanks to no wind. We groomed about 35km this morning setting new tracks where possible and combing out the skate lanes. Every little dusting improving the conditions!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: 1-3" compacted base. Grooming on 20km of trail this morning including skate trails and Suicide Hill. Good to very good early season conditions, rock skis or b skis if concerned about scratching race skis. Areas of thin cover, rough spots etc. 60km of trail open with variable early season conditions. 7km track set on throughout four different trails.
We had a fun day on the trails with a local HS hockey team out for a teambuilding ski along with Holiday guests. We were in the mid 20's with high humidity making the snow feel silky and smooth. A classic ski late afternoon with Jake found the tracks set in fair to good condition but a most excellent ski. Skied the better sections back and forth a few times. Skaters Waltz in very good early season condition minus the Kamikaze hill section and should be very nice skiing tomorrow after setting up tonight. Touch up grooming planned in the morning, more grooming if new snow.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: 1-3" compacted base, 1.25" new snow Tuesday afternoon. Hi temp 31 degrees. 25km grooming with tracks set on 7km. Good to very good early season conditions, rock skis or b skis if concerned about scratching race skis. Areas of thin cover, rough spots etc. 60km of trail open with variable early season conditions.
We had a quick moving band of snow move through after lunch, dropping over just an inch of damp snow. We started packing the snow right away in the open and start areas than hit up Skaters Waltz and Suicide Hill as there was wind associated with this system. We also groomed 4 classic trails, setting track where the coverage was better and lifting the track setter where thin. Total km of track set around 7km. The new snow groomed in really nice on Skaters Waltz and we were able to disperse the damp snow in some of the low spots etc. and also leveling the trail a bit. The tracks should set up nicely overnight after the dew point and temp drops. We will be back out in the morning packing and combing more trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: 1-3" compacted base.Fast snow. Areas of thin cover etc.
The trails held up well to the high volume of skier traffic this weekend. Thanks to the teams that came up, great weekend. This week we will be working on the thin areas in effort to improve the coverage and maintain fair to good early season conditions. We will be working on the main trails including Twin Lakes, Sukkerbusk, North Loup and the main loop of Skaters Waltz. There is some good skiing to be had with creative route selection. Check at office for latest updates.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)