what a blast today grooming the new snow into the old base. We had 5 of us out there today "bombing around" as we call it (better known as grooming with 2 way radios). We start out with a plan and then change it as needed. Today Crasher groomed the south skate lanes including the new redesigned. Calmed down Ridge Runner, he also headed east on Deer Trail and did the Historic Trail. BullDog, Partner and Snow cross teamed up on a major widening, leveling and renovating of the classic only trails setting new track -- they broke a few eggs to make that omelette (code for they brought up some debris in the process). Pig Heart picked the Candy with the big 108 and groomed skate lanes north then headed out on Jessie's Trail the Tamarack 2 track to level and renovate ahead of the with classic trail groomers (broke a few more eggs down on the south end). Skiing was rated as good today, dodging the egg shells on the classics and very good on the combo trails for skate and classic. An inch of new snow slowed the skating down mid morning. Grooming plans: It is snowing now and we have a groom crew scheduled to groom at 6 AM.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

A fun morning of grooming, we had 6 of us out in 2 teams of 3. I headed north with Black Smith, And Bull Dog and we renovated and reset tracks on the "candy" River, Popple, Memory, Sulos, Deer, Cherry and Hilltop. Classic tracks turned out pretty good mixing in the old and new snow and skate lanes were mint. Crasher, Snowcross and Wully Bully groomed to the south, they also had a successful result. Skiers were pleased. Grooming plans: It snowed all day and we have a 5 person groom team on schedule for 6 am. We will work on some classic only trails and the combo trails.

Photos:

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Skate skied most of the trails in 2-inches of fresh snow! Firm base under fresh snow. Fantastic ski! Thank you ABR.

(Susan Fisher)

We had a great team today out grooming. The cold turned the trails hard last night. Three of us groomed 18 km today turning the skate lanes into a very skiable surface. Recreational skiers are having difficulty in the classic tracks. Grooming plans: We have a crew of four groomers tomorrow early morning to pull the rabbit out of the hat; they are planning to reset classic tracks.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

ABR survived the most recent warmup in good shape. They had tilled the skate lane into a very skiable and fast condition. Was a lot of fun.

(Kirby Schuller)

Skate deck regroomed on main trails. Firm, fast, and fun with just enough snow tilled up for an edge. A few dirty spots that were easily avoidable. A few icier areas that I double poled. All trails are open, but classic-only and combi trails further out were not re-groomed so I did not ski them.

(Sue Schroeder)

We groomed the main trails today, the Nordic pulse logged 17 for pig heart and 18k for snow cross. The skate lanes groomed up well and skiers were happy, we only groomed the main trails sometimes called 'Old ABR'. The classic tracks were left only today, they are glazed. The tracks we set yesterday were a bit better on the classic only trail. It is lightly snowing now and the trailhead temp is 32 degrees. Grooming plans: Pig Heart, Crasher and Wully Bully are heading out in the morning to groom. not sure yet what we are grooming and how, but I will report back with the status.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

We had a great day of skiing today. Skiers were very pleased with the new tracks we set this morning on the classic only trails. I am not sure if you follow Nordic Pulse at 6 AM, but if you watched the red beacon it was me, Pig Heart. It was fun to see the amount of use on the trails. I renovated and pulled new snow in for Partner to tracksetter. Tracks looked pretty darn good. Black Smith groomed the main trails with the 9 footer. Tracks are there but a bit glazed. Crasher groomed the Blueberry out to the Highlands including the new designed and easier to groom and ski Ridge Runner. Grooming plans: We plan to regroom the main trails tomorrow morning, skate lane.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

I skate skied all the main loops, trails were groomed flat and had fresh corduroy at 9 AM. I classic skied yesterday and it was also wonderful. I encountered one root and a 1/2 eaten snowshoe hare I had to ski around.

(Rob Teske)

Gorgeous late afternoon classic ski with the gals on the River trail and Sunset trail. Sun low in the sky. Good snow and fair tracks. A couple bare spots on some downhills. Avoidable. Great, fun weekend on natural snow.

Photos:

(Diane Pattridge)