Skate skied Jan 1, 2 and 3. Better every day as temp climbed 50 degrees (-35 to +15). Plenty of snow! Skaters Waltz great Monday, solid deck, good glide. North Loop needs more skiers and grooming passes to firm it up, still a wee bit soft, but still a very enjoyable ski. First time at Maplelag, loved it, wish I had classic skis to see more of the trails.

(Jay Lyons)

Despite the cooler weather (last two mornings both dipping down to -35), sunshine, no wind to speak of and very dry northwest air typical in these parts making for invigorating and fantastic skiing. The trails are seeing good action the first two days this month and have seasoned nicely providing some great glide. Tracks are solid, pole plant areas a bit soft but should improve after next grooming run. Skate only trails are firm and fast considering the cooler temps. Grooming and scheduling plans: Tomorrow morning all skate only trails will be groomed and about 30km of tracks to be reset on the classic only trails. Tuesday morning we will be hosting a JV/Middle School race on start of Sukkerbusk to the west and all of Twin Lakes trail and Skaters Waltz. Races will be over around noon. All other 70km of trail open. 15 km of fat bike trail has been groomed and open. Daily grooming planned the remainder of the week into the weekend.

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Fantastic conditions. The woods are still flocked beautifully with snow and the trails are taking shaping nicely after steady grooming on 80km of trail. Temp dropped down to -25 yesterday morning but the air was dry and the groomers were still out. Today we completed the eastern part of the trail system, packing and setting track on Bullhead/Bootleg. All double track were reset again as well as Roy's Run to the north. All the skate lanes were combed. The adventure trails have been skied in nicely and seeing a lot of traffic. We also started grooming the fat bike trails and will finish the west side tomorrow. The far east fat bike loop will be a few days yet as we need to freeze down the slush on the lake crossing. Grooming plans: We will be structuring the skate lanes in the morning and resetting most of the singletrack. Touch up grooming as needed through the weekend. We groom regardless of the temperature and trails will be open.

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Another 8-10" of snow today bringing the total new snowfall the past 3 days around 2 feet.The adventure trails have been fun skiing with all the fresh powder. Lucky's Loype always a favorite with the ski teams, old school skiing with tight turns and quick up and downs for natural agility training! Grooming plans: Groomers have been logging 12 hour shifts focusing on 45km. We will continue working on the trails groomed the past few days and start working on trails to the north.

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

The 4" of new snow yesterday and overnight groomed in really nice. We pulled up snow from the old base mixing it with the new when setting track. We cut new track on all the classic only trails and rolled and combed all the skate only trails. Reports from track skiers who were expecting slow conditions with the fresh cold snow reported "much better gliding than expected" We also had comments of how much snow in the woods and trails. We don't normally post snow totals but we have been very fortunate to have received 31" of snowfall this season, currently a compacted base on trail of 4-6". The snow depth in the woods ranges from 10-18". Snow started falling after we finished grooming today. Grooming plan: groomers are set to head out early in the morning. With wind and snow fall anticipated, we will be rolling to begin with and setting track mid morning.

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

A great day of Christmas skiing! Morning skiing found faster conditions on the slightly transformed snow before snow moved in with around 4" falling today. Afternoon skiing was definitely slower but lovely to be skiing in the new snow. Groomers are set to go out in the morning and work on the entire trail system. Mid winter conditions!

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Snow held out great today. Out for a family ski around lunch time on Wavy Gravy and Sukkebusk trails. The temp was in the low 30's and falling after a very early morning high of 37 degrees. The snow condition when we skied was silky and creamy and made for really nice skiing. The glide was great thanks to the transformed snow being worked into the recent grooming.

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

All singletrack outer trails on the north and west part of the trail system groomed this morning. We are digging into the old base mixing the transformed snow with the recent new snow. if the temps warm up, this will keep the snow skiing better and longer. Tracks set well for the most part, not perfect, but overall good. The snow has transformed to silky like feel and skiing really nice. At lunch we skied on Rootin Tootin and Bullhead/Bootleg for the first time since being tracked. Bootleg is such a different experience than the other trails at Maplelag with some great vistas of Bullhead Lake. The north end is a bit rough still but passable. I skied across the lake to make a loop and makes for even more special experience. Grooming and operating plans: With the trails in overall very good condition, the groomer's will be off on the 24th and 25th and resume grooming on the 26th.Since November 12th, when we started grooming, we have only missed a handful of days and most of those days were spent shoveling. The trails are open on the 24th and 25th, lodge is closed with no services. Purchase day pass online like usual. Merry Christmas from Maplelag!

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(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

I skied Sukkerbusk, Sap Run and Twin Lakes. I found that a warmer wax for kick worked well with the rock solid base. Twin Lakes had well defined tracks the entire way around (photo).

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(Tom Dooher)

All skate only trails were renovated and combed this morning and all double track classic track trails reset with full depth tracks. After a morning low of -8, warmed up to low 20's today and skiing was fantastic. Skated all the skate only trails at dusk and found conditions the best of the year. The snow was gliding much faster than I expected. Level and firm deck, good skis confirmed. Grooming plans: Tomorrow we will groom the singletrack classic only trails cutting new tracks. Everything else in great shape. Best skiing of the year right now.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)