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!

Photos:

(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.

Photos:

(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!

Photos:

(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).

Photos:

(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)

Got on the skinnys a little after noon with the goal of just skiing and enjoying the perfect post card snowscape with sunshine warmed temps. Headed out on SukkerBusk then over to the Roy’s Run. Sunshine and a tinge of remote back country skiing in fresh snow velvet tracks fulfilled that goal. Roy’s isn’t real hilly nor is it twisty tight and challenging. Roy’s is a great blend of a few climbs with some long gradual downhill glides. It circles a pond that looks like a gray whale with a mutated fluke that has a resident beaver. A beaver was chomping on late lunch on top of it’s hut: always a treat to see wildlife. After Roy’s, we hopped back on SukkerBusk, completing it getting back to the parking lot and hydration. Wavy Gravy was calling us, and we answered, finding it to be another great choice to meet our goal. The track cuts were solid enough to negotiate the downs, get a fair amount of carefree glide with no concerns about what’s underneath. Goals were met!

(Denny Barry)

Trails received 4-5" of new snow overnight. We groomed 72km of trail today from 6a-2p, 50km classic only, both single and double track and 15km of skate only and 7km of fat bike singletrack. New snow bringing conditions to closer to pretty much mid winter standards. We also tracked the singletrack classic trail Bullhead/Bootleg for the first time this year. Still a few rough spots on the marsh crossing but skiable throughout. After grooming I skied with John Munger and we classic skied two trails on the west side and a few on the inner system. Dry cold powder, some tracks firmer than others and well used from the happy skier campers and overall a fantastic outing. Grooming plans: All skate trails will be combed in the morning and most of the classic tracks will be reset. We will also finish grooming the remainder of the fat bike singletrack.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

All skate only trails were renovated/tilled and structured this morning. Took a few extra passes after the deck set up super hard from lows near zero but the end result was good and skied nice despite the brisk day. As usual, we patched up some thinner areas and filled in some low spots. Track was reset on 10km of trail. Other classic only trails skied well, some washed out areas and organic forest matter but reports were good from skiers today. Grooming plans: We will be out in the morning grooming the all the skate only trails again and setting new track on the classic only trails.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

We spent the weekend skiing at Maplelag resort. The trails are in wonderful early season conditions. I used my good skis all weekend long with out worries. Bonus night ski under the full moon was spectacular. The staff at Maplelag are some of the very best! Well done Maplelag, well done!

Photos:

(Charles Rietschel)

Magical day on the trails. An inch or two of new snow overnight lingering into the late morning. All skate trails were groomed and track reset on about 15km of trail. The remaining classic trails skied nice with the new snow, few spots washed out. Checked out portions of all the classic trails at sunset into the moon rise and found the best tracks on Roy's Run, JibFly and Sap Run. Skied out onto Bullhead lake to check out the moon where Highland Park was playing ski games. Incredible scene. Grooming plans: Skate deck will be renovated and structured in morning as well as Suicide Hill. Tracks to be reset on Mother Hen, all other classic trails will be left as is. Fat Bike trail was groomed yesterday afternoon. The new snow on top but riders today packed the new on the inner in the east loops.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)