Very nice morning of skiing. Low temperature at 3 degrees set last nights grooming up nicely. Good seeing skiers out today. Groomed fat bike look also rode nice, some of the best conditions of season! At sunset we groomed the 5km loop and scrubbed out the track, not able to reset new track. The deck was already freezing over and should set up good tonight with temps forecasted to be in low teens. A few more thin spots opening up and we shoveled on some areas as well. Best conditions for skiing and riding will be before noon tomorrow.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Another couple inches of very light, dry and fluffy snow overnight. Rollpacked the same 5km loop and also rollbacked entire Sukkerbusk trail. A few hours later ran the Ginzu groomer and set track on Sukkerbusk and combed out the 5km loop. I don't think the track will hold out much past noon tomorrow on Sukkebusk so best to get out there this afternoon and tomorrow morning earlier. rock skis recommended for classic skiing, B skis fine for skating. The skate deck combed out nice on the 5km loop and optimistic we can have at least skiing until Saturday morning on this loop... maybe Sunday. We have also been grooming 8km of fat bike singletrack and like the skiing, best conditions will be in the morning. Overall great late season conditions!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Temperature steady in mid teens last night and all day today. Groomed the 5km late season loop this morning after another couple of inches of fluff snow had fallen since last grooming. A few hours after grooming skate skied on the loop and found really nice conditions, albeit a bit slow with more snow falling during the ski. After skiing did another grooming pass and will be back out this evening and tomorrow morning for more combing with the Ginzu groomer. Did set track in a few spots but decided to just freestyle groom and scrubbed out the track next grooming pass. Looks to be another cool day again tomorrow providing some nice late season skiing.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Went out for a ski in the morning on trails groomed last night. The snow falling at Maplelag has been very dry (no snow sticking to the trees) so the deck was pretty soft as it had not set up with no bonding agents to speak of. The skiing was great though, nice to have fresh snow and the silky sensation underneath. Mid day 8km of fat bike singletrack was groomed. (Twin Lakes "race" loop" ) This loop will be open in the mornings the remainder of the week. Mid afternoon and into early evening, the same ski trail loop that was roll packed yesterday was roll packed again. After a few passes, took the 7' Ginzu low snow conditions groomer and combed out the same loop. Although the air temperature was in the mid 20's. the strong late March sun slightly softened the snow so I was able to cheat the grooming and pack and comb the snow nicely with good results. This loop will be open in the mornings this week. Recommended to ski in the mornings which could be very nice for late season skiing.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

1.5" of new snow at Maplelag as of 9pm. Roll packed (not drag, not ginzu) 6km of trail. Need more snow and subsequent grooming before trails can be open for skiing.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We woke up to a fresh dusting of snow that made the woods look like a winter wonderland. No grooming planned with warm forecast but always great to see white covering the trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Jay has been able to maintain a 5k loop that is very skiable, but with some thin spots and extra caution required on any downhill slopes. I used the Zero skis today and they worked very well on the uphills. In this year's snow drought, it is a welcome sight to see a trail of white still winding its way through the woods at Maplelag.

(Glenn Gifford)

Snuck in one more ski this morning, meeting up with David and Jackson from Fergus Falls as David logs a few more training sessions before Junior Nationals in Lake Placid. Conditions were pleasingly better than expected after freezing down hard enough last night to keep the grooming on this weeks snow intact. Good to see a few other skiers out the past few days. It was a treat to have a couple more days of skiing before the trails closed at noon. Until the next round of snow.....

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Around 2" new snow past 24 hours. Morning low -12F degrees rising to single digits, light wind and sunshine. Yesterday morning after one inch of snow had fallen, we roll packed 5km of trail. The grooves from the roller caught the blowing snow and additional snowfall after grooming. Early afternoon we roll combed and Ginzu groomed combed the same 5km. This morning we ran the Ginzu on most of the 5km and roll packed an additional 500 meters. A few hours later I skate skied on the groomed loop. Conditions were marginal but skis were gliding, the sunshine, invigorating temps and fresh grooming made for a pleasant ski and a great outing in the woods. With extreme caution, we are going to have this loop open for any diehard skiers. The temps are cold enough keeping the sun from doing it's thing today but recommend skiing before 11am tomorrow if not able to get out this afternoon. We lost the majority of our base before the snow, but still hanging on to deep frost on the trails, making it feel like skiing on the ground but with glide. Note: The past few weeks we have been cutting firewood from deadfall/blow downs from recent storms for the wood fired stoves at Maplelag. We are also delicately creating more snow fields for snow farming to enhance south facing areas for future winters. This winter has been unlike anything else but we are grateful for the many things learned as we keep to our commitment to provide natural organic snow skiing and no snowmaking protecting our groundwater and precious aquifers.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Jonell and I got out for one more ski early afternoon before closing the trails at dusk. Although the temperature was near 40, the humidity was in the mid 30's keeping the snow relatively dry and skiing nice considering the ultra thin base. We will have the early/late season grooming equipment ready to go if we should happen to have a late season snow event. Until then, thanks everyone who came to Maplelag this past season!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)