Conditions: 1-2" compacted base, 2.25" new snow as of 10am. Grooming on 20km of trail. No tracks set.
We were out grooming early this morning after 2" of snow and unfortunately not much more snow after that. The sections of trail that had coverage from before groomed up fine and should be ok early season rock skiing once it sets up and cools down a bit. A 4km loop consisting of Skaters Waltz is the best trail but still some rough patches within that loop. We are packing a few more trails this morning than waiting to see if any more new snow before continuing with grooming.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: 0-2" hard frozen base. 30 degrees Monday morning. Overall 60% coverage on trail system, early season trails 90-95% coverage.
Another warm weekend with forecasted snow missing us. However, we are still hanging on to some coverage on the trails with the early season trails, Sukkerbusk and Skaters Waltz in the best condition. The back side of Skaters Waltz has been some nice skiing personally and thankful to have the opportunity to ski every day in December so far.
We continue to work on some vulnerable areas on Skaters Waltz, recently hauling in snow from a local ice arena which is really nice material to put on the trail while soft and before it freezes. We will continue patching thin areas this week.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: 0-2" transformed base. 75% thin coverage on trail system. Mid 20's for lows this week, highs near 40.
We have been focusing our efforts on a 4km loop this week mainly trying to protect a 300 meter section of this loop. We have hauled in 13 pickup loads of snow in effort to get through one more day of warm temps and possible rain. A ski at dusk today still found good coverage on 70% of the loop, fair coverage on 25% and poor on 5% of the loop. As far as the skiing, it was the best out of the last three days. Still some very nice sections on the east side. The surface was starting to glaze making for decent glide and the base was compacted thanks to timely grooming last week preventing sinking and not crazy icy fast like the past few mornings. We have been freezing down at nights which has been key to keeping the snow we have. If we can hang on to the coverage we have, freeze down, it won't take much new snow to have good skiing again. We are hopeful to open the trails again to the public on Sunday, possiblly Saturday.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: 0-2" transformed base. Morning low of 20, rising to high point of 40 before cooling down and freezing again in the evening.
Trails froze down hard last night and the morning ski was icy fast. Softened late morning for sweet spot skiing. We did warm up but snow melt wasn't too bad. Although 70% of the trail system still has fair to good coverage, we are closing the trails to public skiing until more snow. Overall it was a great week of skiing and looking forward to the next batch of fresh snow!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Springlike. Early morning temp of 43 degrees falling to mid 30's.
Instead of cooling down last night it warmed up with snow eating wind! Ugh! Despite the unfavorable conditions, the surface did glaze, more so on skaters waltz which has been packed a bit more and we had skiable conditions. Moorhead Nordic ski team along with a handful of other skiers out enjoying the available snow this morning. We have gradually cooled down and should be on track for a good freeze tonight. We will attempt to groom out Suicide Hill, and parts of skaters waltz later this evening if it freezes down proper. We will have the trails open again Sunday morning from 8am to 12noon. Not recommended for beginner skiers, skate skiing best bet. The start area is thin cover but once you get back in the woods it is worth it for the better sections including Suicide Hill which is holding out fine. Might be icy like in early morning than gradually softening. Spring conditions.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Spring Conditions. Morning low 13, mid day temp of 43, cooling down to 30's at dusk and glazing over.
A very nice morning of skiing then we closed the trails because of warm temps and softening snow. Good to see a handful of folks out enjoying the beautiful morning. A check of the trails around noon (when photos were taken) found the snow holding out well. A quick check at dusk found the trails glazing over. Skaters Waltz super fun! Trails open from 8am to 11:30am tomorrow. Best skiing will be skating on main loop of Skaters Waltz. (bypass Kamikaze hill using Sap Run connector) Classic skiing poor to fair on Sukekrbusk with some sections very good for technique work. No services in the lodge. Park and ski! Trails closed in the afternoon and will post 24 hours from now if open Sunday morning.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Packed powder. Good to very good early season/rock skiing conditions. 30 degrees high temp today.
Another beautiful day on the trails. Skiing was great all day. Got out for a lunch ski and hooked up with Denny Barry who was throwing sticks off the trail. Thank you. At dusk we were out building up the base on the southern exposed sections on Skaters Waltz and combed and packed a couple times. Since it didn't get as warm as forecasted today, we will have the trails open in the morning than closing at 11am. Please respect the closure so we can have the trails in best condition possible for Saturday morning skiing. Will update if anything changes. Thank you.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Winter wonderland. Packed powder. 28km roll packed/combed. 2km trackset. 29 degrees for daytime high falling to 18 at dusk. Very good to excellent early season skiing.
We froze down nicely last night which allowed us to Ginzu groom on 28km of trail and also roll pack and comb a few trails we didn't get to yesterday. We also set track on sections of Sukkerbusk, cutting 2km of trail. Wow, what an incredible day on the trails though! Skiing was awesome at dusk when the temp dropped back down to the upper teens setting up the sun kissed areas firmly. Hooked up with a skier passing through from West Yellowstone. Golden hour skiing couldn't be any better. Skiing should be very good from 8am to noon tomorrow than we will be closing for the afternoon. Maybe groom in the evening if possible for skiing Friday morning, repeat for hopefully Saturday and Sunday morning skiing. Get out tomorrow morning for possibly the best skiing the next 7 days!!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Damp packed powder/wet powder. Light snow falling this evening. 28km roll packed.
We groomed until it warmed up, packing and combing 28km. A quick check skiing late afternoon found good coverage bit slow with warmer snow but nice early season skiing. Trails will be open in morning. We will comb with ginzu groomer in morning if cools down as forecasted. Best skating on skaters waltz using Sap Run connector to bypass Kamikaze hill. Best no track classic skiing on Sukerbusk, JibFly and Twin Lakes.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: 4" fresh damp snow. Packing and combing on select trails. Light snow falling through the morning.
Woke up to winter wonderland conditions. We are packing and combing on the trails today and plan to have select trails open by tomorrow morning.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)