“One day. Hundreds of skiers. Every centimeter of North America’s largest groomed Nordic system. Join us for the Volks Ski 400 on Saturday, Feb. 11 during the 2012 Winter Tracks Festival and become part of the team that collectively tackles all 400 km in one day. Sign up for a section of trail with a team or on your own, and ski your way into Volks Ski history.”

That was the plan for Cook County’s Volks Ski 400, and it was a great plan — if only all 400 K of ski trails had snow. Alas, in this peculiar winter a fair number of the Cook County ski trails make better hiking paths at the moment. Realistically, all 400 K of ski trails probably can’t get covered in one day this year. Lucky for us, Bearskin and the Central Gunflint Trail System have plenty of snow. A group of Bearskin guests and staff members gathered together this morning to attempt to ski all of our 70+K of our trail system this afternoon.

It’s a bit brisk out there today, with a current temp of -2 ° and a -18 ° windchill — one of the few cold days we’ve had this winter. But everyone was well-dressed for the conditions and prepared for a challenge, so we think we’ll get it done before 3:30. Some people will do almost anything for a cool T-shirt.

Consider being part of this event next year. More info at: http://www.volksski.com/

Karen and Tom Reynolds documented their location during the Volks Ski