We woke up to an unexpected inch or so of very dry fluffy snow this morning bringing 24 hour total of new snow 3-4". We groomed all the Section courses to start than hit up some singletrack classic trails. Sun popped out around noon and was a beautiful day on the trails skiing in the fresh snow. Forgot to mention in previous reports we groomed 25km of fat bike trail on Friday morning. Very rideable even with recent snow on top, next grooming on the fat bike trails most likely Thursday or Friday. Ski trail grooming plans: Tomorrow we will be focusing on the Section courses most of the day, setting the final tracks mid to late afternoon. The classic course will be closed at 3pm until Tuesday morning.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

2-3" new snow today. Beautiful day on the trails with the fresh snow and moderating temps. This morning we starting out grooming the separate Skate, Classic and Sprint Courses. We than completed the remaining double track trails than cut new track on the singletrack trails Rootin Tootin and Roy's Run. This evening we were back out setting new track on Sap Run, Sukkebusk and combed out the Section Skate course. Tomorrow morning we will be grooming select singletrack classic trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Ski trails were excellent again today at Maplelag. More fresh snow and more fresh grooming. Jay has the tracks in great shape!

(Glenn Gifford)

Dusting of new snow overnight. The Ginzu groomers had their way today, mixing the new and the transformed snow the Pisten Bully worked up the other day, cutting new double track on all the two tracked trails. We also placed a new track on North Loup and all skate only lanes were groomed multiple passes going wide. Temp was -8 all day but felt much warmer with the sun and just a few gasps of wind. Fantastic February day to ski! We also set signs out for the Section course for inspection tomorrow. Separate courses for Skate, Classic and Sprint. Note: JibFly will be skied two way until Tuesday. Grooming plans: Groomers are set to go out in the morning if forecasted snow occurs, hitting the Section courses and other trails as the groom vibe dictates.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Morning low was a bit cooler than we expected with the thermometer bottoming out around dash 40. We held off on grooming until the air temp climbed to -15. All the singletrack classic trails were cut with new tracks except Bullhead/Bootleg loop. Was a beautiful day with sunshine, no wind to speak of and great action from the tracks. I classic skied at night on the Section Classic course and the solar lit trail Sap Run. Found classic conditions the best of the year, personally. Snow was starting to fall when I finished skiing. Tomorrow morning we are ready to regroom the entire trail system if more than a half inch of new snow. Either way we will be touching up the skate lanes, grooming Bullhead/Bootleg and refreshing any trails that need a new look.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Today we ran the Pisten Bully groomer with the front end renovator on all the double track trails. We used the renovator to widen, level, smooth out drifts, and bring up transformed fine grained granulated snow deep within the base. A few extra passes on the Section classic courses than we set tracks on all those trails. We also packed and leveled drifts on the remaining single track classic trails. We also worked on the east Bootleg fat bike trail and getting closer to completing that full loop. Tomorrow we will cut track on all singletrack trails and touch up the skate lanes.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

2" new snow past 24 hours with blizzard like conditions at times as peak wind gusts in the areas were reported near 50 mph. We groomed (packing and roll combing) over 100km today, working on 40km of trail. The Section race courses for next week saw a few extra passes today. With over 5 feet of total snowfall so far this season, the ponds and sloughs are filled with snow and any wind the snow drifts on to the trails. Grooming during the wind events makes it easier for the next grooming run. We have groomed every day the past 6 weeks on at least some portion of the trail system. Wednesday we will set track on select trails and plan a total regroom of the entire trail system Thursday and Friday. We have been staying on top of 18km of fat bike trail the "InnerWest" loop and this week started on the Bootleg loop to the east, hoping to have 30km of groomed fat bike trail by the weekend.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Ski conditions remain excellent at Maplelag. We skied Sap Run, Sukkerbusk, Twin Lakes, and North Loup - all are in very fine shape. Great day on the ski trails at Maplelag.

(Glenn Gifford)

All trails we skied were groomed and well covered after last nights snow. Temperature is always misleading up here, it is is so well protected from the wind.

(Stan Hokanson)

Maplelag’s ski trails today remain in their typical state: Outstanding! Maplelag has an abundance of snow, coverage is excellent, and the classic tracks are firm and in fine shape. Thanks to Jay and his team for another great afternoon of skiing. I was on Sap Run, Twin Lakes, Sukkerbusk, North Loup and Roy’s Run... all are in superb condition.

(Glenn Gifford)