Everyone is wondering what kind of precipitation landed at Bearskin during the Christmas Day snowstorm.  We’re happy to report that we did not get the rain showers or sleet that fell on much of the state; nor did we get the 8-12 inches of snow that NOAA predicted.  (That’s quite OK, since we can’t even imagine what these intense winds we’re experiencing tonight would have done with 12 inches of snow!)

The snow we did receive was noisy at first, almost like being pelted with small hailstones, then it settled down into a normal, wet snowfall.  A guess would be that we’ve added about 4 inches of new heavy snow to our base.  We have, of course, been grooming and skiing here for quite a few weeks, so at this point every snowfall just makes the trails better.

Quinn groomed many trails today, but abandoned that project midway through the day when it started to snow heavily again and blow like crazy.  He intends to go out early Tuesday morning and groom it all again.  The best skiing will probably be in early afternoon, after the tracks set up.

Poplar Creek Trail has been packed, but has not been groomed yet due to some open water in various swampy parts of the trail.  The Pisten Bully doesn’t swim well.  Bob and Quinn might, however, try to venture through on Tuesday or Wednesday.  We will update you on the outcome of the attempts to open that trail as soon as we know more.

Watch for lots of moose activity on the trails.  Why, oh why, do they insist on walking right down the ski tracks? If you watch carefully you may also see some unusual tracks that we haven’t commonly found on our trails, the tracks of a small bobcat. Let us know if you see these tracks, or better yet, take a picture!