We had a great morning of grooming: just three of us out on lighter equipment, but we groomed 72 km in an early morning 3 hour shift. Yesterday's snow groomed up quite well and conditions were much better today from yesterday. "Widetrack" set some pretty good classic tracks on Tamarack 2 track, we left the other tracks alone since the two day old tracks were firm with a few washouts; the new snow skied in well and covered some thin areas under the conifers. We groomed the Highlands and the black diamonds but we kept them ribboned off and closed until we get more snow to make them safe. It won't take much new snow to reopen that 40 km, but meanwhile we are enjoying 55 k of trails. We just completed the new map draft and it should be online soon.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Skated a good portion of the trails today, the lake effect yesterday evening seemed to have freshened up the skate deck in most places, it was certainly better than the classic tracks yesterday. Some places were becoming boilerplate by the end of the day, and there are icy spots, but overall not bad. I used rock skis and hit a few things that I didn't see coming on some of the steeper climbs, but would have used B skis if I had them with me, and been a little more careful.

Photos:

(Paul Belknap)

A heavy dusting overnight has rejuvenated the skate lane and classic tracks. Some of the newly groomed tracks were in great shape! Icy spots are fewer and farther between. Still a few thin areas, but overall good shape.

(Jonathon Rulseh)

Just coming in from checking trails: I am very pleased to find two inches of snow that fell this afternoon/evening. Skiers were quite pleased with the improvements in the trail from yesterday. The base is there, we just needed the new snow to cover some of the thin areas. Grooming plan: Groomers will be back out in the early morning to regroom the majority of the trail combination trails. We will most likely let the 2 inches get skied in on classic only trails that we retracked yesterday but we may reset classic tracks on combination trails.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Another good day of skiing. Skate deck very firm with a little snow overnight helping out. Tracks surprisingly good, but not perfect. Fair amount of debris easy to get around and getting better every day. The big news is snow is coming down now.

Photos:

(Will Andresen)

We skied all day today (after the big storms and the "big melt"). Kudos to Eric and his grooming crew for terrific trails given the circumstances. The skate deck was firm and fast with good edge (the 2-3" of snow after the thunderstorms helped a lot). We used our good skate skis (cold CarbonLite) with Toko blue liquid paraffin and the glide was stellar. There were ice patches and some grassy exposure here and there but easily navigated around. ABR sets the standard in grooming and is always reliable. It was a cold but idyllic day with light lake effect snow all day and beautiful vistas. Thanks very much for an absolutely terrific week of skiing!

(Luke Fortney)

Great opportunity to ski, especially if you don't have any snow at home. I skied the River and loops connected to it. Some grass turned up and some occasional rocks but if you pay attention it wont be a problem. I saw five grouse and was tempted to start biathlon.

(Erin Matula)

Grooming and skiing turned out way better than expected! The new two inches of snow groomed up well. We groomed about 35 km of skating lanes and set 50 km of classic tracks. We tried mixing the old snow with the new snow but had to be careful with the base. We did hit some debris and grass in resetting the classic grooves. Some of the skate lanes have thin areas under the conifers (Christmas trees),... but they are very skiable. The conditions this weekend are not as good as last weekend, however they are better than early season conditions because the Pisten Bullies have flatted and leveled the base. We need a bit more snow to open the black diamond trail.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

The magicians did it again, creating good skiing after midweek thaw, rain and wind. Skate deck firm with edge-able soft cover. Can easily skate around fallen twigs. Avoid low icy areas (e.g Sulos) and you’ll be fine. Classic tracks are more variable, from very good in most places to dirty and washed out a bit here and there. If you know where to go, you can use good skate skis, probably less good classics. All but Highland open.

(Will Andresen)

Skate lane is in good condition. Classic tracks are fair. Thin spot on the River Trail knoll. Surface is otherwise firm/hard and fairly level. Nice to be on snow!

Photos:

(Jonathon Rulseh)