Just in case you were imagining that it’s not winter at Bearskin Lodge in late March this year…

New snow this morning made it possible to groom again, possibly for the last time this season unless we get a significant new snowfall.  Skiers seemed quite happy with conditions today, and the trails look beautiful.

A few trails are now out of commission for the season, for various reasons. We are no longer grooming the west end of Logging Camp Trail, the BWCA Logging Camp section, North-South link from upper Beaver Dam to Summer Home Road, and Poplar Creek Trail.

Due to the warm weather prior to last week, we are not grooming any lake-crossing trails for the remainder of the season   You can ski on the ice just fine, it’s not unsafe for you;  but the heavy grooming machines are another story. We don’t want a repeat of the infamous Dave Tittle story of putting a groomer through the ice!  The North-South Link trail across Flour Lake has a single lane classic track set by snowmobile to allow for a connection between the north and south halves of the system.

There have been a number of fun animal sightings on the trails in the past week, which is enjoyable for skiers. The moose are very active right now, and appear to love clomping right down the groomed trail.  We’ve also had many reports of foxes and otters along the trail–we like them better because they don’t destroy the grooming quite so much.

So far we’ve received about 92 inches of snow this season, not a record breaking winter by any means, but vastly better than almost anywhere else in the state. We are, indeed, in a magical snow pocket here in the med-Trail area. We still have about 15 inches of snow in the woods and a trail base of around 8 – 10 inches. Temps during the day are getting into the 30’s and even occasionally the 40’s, but our snow doesn’t seem to be disappearing at a very fast rate. Skiing is the best early each day, before the snow gets soft.

Spring conditions can change rapidly. Call us if you’re wondering if it’s a good day to ski.