What a beautiful weekend!  The first Bearskin Wilderness pursuit race was great fun.  Sam Holmes, a high school skier to watch in the future, won it all.  But more importantly, there was shared sense of camaraderie during and after the races that made the experience memorable.  We will do it again next year during Winter Tracks, for sure.  We learned a few things about race organization and race grooming that will make it go even more smoothly next time.

Bear Cub was groomed as skating only for the race, but is now back to skate and classic as usual.  Beaver Dam was used for the second day of the race and groomed up beautifully. It was tilled and regroomed with the pisten bully afterwards to get it back in good post-race condition.  The cold snap after tilling set the tracks up extremely hard and firm.

Wind the last few days has caused a little drifting on some trails, especially on the usual problem spot, the North South link. We may be able to get out tomorrow again to make a few repairs. 

There were many, many skiers out the past few days; most are thrilled with the current conditions. Overall skiers have been effusively enthusiastic about the excellent snow conditions this year, but the skiers who were here the past couple days might have been the happiest group of all.   Lots of snow, more daylight and the warmer, sunny afternoons have made for perfect ski vacations for our guests. 

Plus the astonishing bird population around the lodge right now is turning even ordinary “Is that bird a robin or a blue jay?” types into fascinated birders.  The bird watching has been exceptional. One guest told us on Sunday that birds were preventing her from skiing  — she was too preoccupied watching birds out her cabin window. 

There is a slight warm up and a little precipitation in the forecast for a couple days.  We have a LOT of snow–even if temps get up in the 30s and the precipitation turns out to be some rain, there will continue to be ample snow on our trails. March skiing is great.