What a difference a day makes. Skiing today felt like I was Nordic skating. The tracks were mostly slick with some debris on them, resulting in either a very fast glide or sinking into the soft snow wherever the sun hit hit the trails. I did see fresh moose tracks between trail post one and trail post two. If you're not too persnickety regarding the conditions you will enjoy being out on the trails. I used waxless skinny skis today.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

Well, I finally brought out my waxless skis due to warm temperatures occurring over the past 24 hours. It was an excellent ski, plenty of kick and fast tracks due to the warm snow. I did sink a little bit in the tracks as I skied, but it did not affect the quality of the ski I had. I met a couple of other skiers and they reported they had an excellent two hours ski as well.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

I was able to squeeze in a late afternoon ski before dark. It was 35 degrees and while a little slippery in the areas where the sun was hitting the tracks, the forested tracks were in great condition with plenty of kick. (I ski with waxable skis). I ran into a friend and his friend and received a great report on the conditions on the outer trails. It felt like I should be wearing shorts after coming off a deep freeze from earlier in the week. I had to do a celebratory ski in honor of the 51st skiing of the American Birkebeiner and was able to complete it back in downtown Hayward since the snow arrived just in time. Which by the way is about how old our ski trails are.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

Joe got out today and groomed the whole system. Snow conditions are pretty close to perfect for a good glide - soft on top from the inch or so of new snow from yesterday with firm base. In spite of winds, there is virtually no debris on trail. Tracks are well set in most segments but there are places where tracks are a little shallow.

Photos:

(Mary Lawler Shedd)

We decided not to groom today due to the light fluffy snow that was on the tracks from Friday night snow. It was the right decision because nearly all the trails had been skied on and were in excellent condition to enjoy the trails with this fresh covering of white sparkly flakes. We skied from the new trailhead up to the shelter between Post 19 and 23 excellent conditions the entire way.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

There was about 2 1/2 to 3 inches of new fluffy snow that fell last night covering up the tracks that were groomed on Friday. But many skiers have been over the groom trails today making it easy to enjoy the trails with the new snow.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

Epic conditions - real snow and lots of it! Pictures show just how much snow is up there in the woods. Skied along Lake Gegoka, through the woods, across a bog and up to the pine ridge. Just beautiful! The grooming was outstanding with nice deep tracks with zero sticks or rocks. I don't know who had more fun - us or the dog but after 2 1/2 hours I was pretty tired so I vote the dog won.

Photos:

(Karla Anderson)

Mary and I skied the western trails, a three-hour trip starting from Jensen Trailhead. With the zero-degree temperatures, we expected the tracks to be slow, but they were not. We had a perfect ski. There was a very slight dusting of new snow on the tracks sunny skis and a little windblown in the open area near the shelter.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

There was a slight skif of new snow on the tracks today, it made the glide a little slower. What a joy to have such perfect conditions and a full moon.

Photos:

(Nancy Schultz, Friends of Flathorn Gegoka Trails)

Trails are in top condition from Thursday grooming. Even though we had some very high winds there are relatively few areas that had some drifting (a bit by 10). What little new snow got deposited on the trails after grooming (<1/4") has by now been skied on, so there is good glide on cold, but soft snow. Should be a perfect weekend.

Photos:

(Mary Shedd)