Another special day of late season skiing. Started the day out skiing with Jonell catching the beautiful moon set and sun rise. Skied a couple of area lakes before transitioning to the ski trails. The tracks were firm and fast but enough give for kick and turning. Few hours later skated with Jon hitting the transition time as the corduroy set from last night was slowly transitioning to a creamy texture on a firm base. We reached our highest temperature we have seen (49 degrees) since November and combined with strong south wind the snow softened up big time. Most people were off the trail by mid afternoon so the deck maintained integrity. Early evening groomed on the entire 20km of trail that is currently open. The tracks reset good, the skate deck was a bit trickier. I would of waited but was under time constraint. Regardless should be some nice spring skiing on Sunday morning. Won't freeze as hard tonight so the trails will soften quicker but the snow has quickly transitioned to corn snow so should be better glide when the temps warm. Use a little extra caution on the hills of the skate trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Another great day on the trails with steady skier action all day. Low teens for morning lows set up last nights grooming nicely, high temps only in the mid 30's and overcast most of the day keep the snow relatively fresh and provided good skiing for skiers out all hours of the day. Early evening reset one track on Sukkerbusk and Sap Run. Did not reset the track on North Loup as it was holding good definition. Renovated and combed the skate lane on Skaters Waltz and North Loup. Mixed the top thin layer of soft snow with dry slightly transformed snow below and yielded good results. Temperature looks to drop well below freezing again tonight seeing the stage for some fantastic skiing Saturday morning. Grooming plans: Will plan to regroom everything again Saturday evening.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We had a really nice day of skiing with brilliant sunshine. Great seeing so many folks out today. A mid afternoon ski found the new snow a little draggy from the strong April sun but air temps stayed in the upper 20's keeping the snow relatively fresh and the deck was firm and skied well considering the time of year. We groomed the 20km of trail that is open this morning then back out in the evening combing out the 10km of skate lanes. With slightly warmer temps forecasted tomorrow and the snow not transformed, best to get out in the morning. Grooming plans: Weather permitting, we will plan to groom again Friday evening on select trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We woke up to another 3" when we hit the trails to groom on the same trail we worked on yesterday. We did a morning session then back out in the afternoon after another inch or so had fallen bringing the storm total to around 9". At sunset, Jonell, Jon and I classic skied on Sap Run and Sukkerbusk. Hard to believe the mid winter conditions for early April and Jonell said it felt like January with the single digit windchill and one of the best April skis ever. Wind was settling down and drifting was going to bed. Should be really nice skiing in the morning. Grooming plans: We will be back out grooming on Sap Run, Sukkerbusk and North Loup setting track and renovating and combing out the skate lanes on Skaters Waltz and North Loup.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

As of 9pm around 5-6" of new snow. This afternoon we started grooming on 20km of trails of Sap Run, Sukkerbusk, North Loup and Skaters Waltz. We are setting 10km of track and skate grooming 10km of trail. The new snow that fell today was a mix of dry and fluffy, graupel deposition, sleet and fine grained dense snow at the end. The snow groomed up very well and packed nicely. In between the afternoon and even groom, I skated on Skaters Waltz and part of North Loup. The skiing was incredible and snow was buttery and smooth. Base was solid thanks to 8 passes on the trail. Grooming plans: We will be back out in the morning grooming on the same 20km of trail.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Thick cloud cover with dense fog and sub freezing temperatures kept the deck a bit icier and faster skiing today. Skaters Waltz was really nice skiing for the afternoon skiers after it had been groomed. Tracks recently groomed in good shape but crusty/icy. Grooming plans: We plan to groom on 20km (10km skate 10km classic) of trail tomorrow focusing on the trails of Sukkebusk, Sap Run, North Loup and Skaters Waltz.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Is a dastardly "rapid meltdown" threatening to cut your ski season short? Check out Maplelag. It remains incredibly nice. I found full snow coverage today on Twin Lakes Trail and Sukkerbusk. The classic tracks were in very good shape when I finished skiing about 1:15 pm. Very nice skiing is still available at Maplelag. Due to warming temps and potentially changing trail conditions (especially on sunny slopes), always good to use a little spring-season caution, just in case. I also noticed some trails (Island Lake and Wavy Gravy) while still open, were displaying only natural snow cover with no track. There are still plenty of km's available, crisply groomed, both classic and skate. Always worth the trip to Maplelag!

(Glenn Gifford)

No new snow ensured primo textbook spring skiing today. Morning groom saw all the classic tracks reset. Late afternoon Jonell and I skied Sukkerbusk and North Loup as the snow as transitioning back to light surface glaze. Fantastic glide but enough softness for control. Overall excellent spring skiing. After skiing groomed on Sukkerbusk and Sap Run setting new track and renovated Skaters Waltz and the big hill down to Bullhead Lake. Should freeze good again tonight and be snappy and fast in the morning before softening around noon. The fat bike trail is also in primo condition and should be another great morning of riding before noon tomorrow.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Just under a inch of new snow overnight. Determined best to let it be skied in as forecast was calling for more snow in the afternoon. Skated on Skaters Waltz with Jack and the deck was level, smooth on top of rock solid base making for a very nice ski despite slightly slower conditions. Temperature was around 32 degrees. The forecasted snow never happened this afternoon. While we waited to see if it would snow and for the temperature to drop, Jonell and I went classic skiing early evening. Temperature was 36 degrees. No rain. The new snow overnight was surprisingly fast, not sure if it was the Vauhtil LV violet or snow. Really really nice skiing. Still no snow as of 9pm and the current system looks to stay south of us.We also have been grooming on 17km of fat bike trail. A check of the conditions today found really nice riding. The base is rock solid and with tonights hard freeze should be really nice riding in the morning. The deer have migrated to the southern slopes that have a bit of openness and food source for their remaining wintering. Grooming plans: The grooming plan now is to get out in the morning to classic track groom and reset all the singletrack and one side of the double track. Skate deck should be good. Maybe a bit faster to start but the new dusting should be a transformed sugary goodness on top of the rock solid base.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Another morning of mid winter ski conditions! Did get a little warmer today but very little transformation of the snow with cloud cover most of the day. This morning we combed out the skate lanes. Tracks remain in excellent shape and were left alone. Grooming plans: We plan to groom on the 25km of trail currently open and groomed in the morning based on the forecast of snow. Operating plans: We will now plan to be open until at least Easter weekend grooming on the same 25km of trail.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)