Lately there has been a bit of snow almost everyday.  Andy went out on the Tidd Tech G2 and regroomed just the skate lanes on Sunday, since the classic tracks were still fine; redoing the skate lanes resulted in overall excellent conditions.  Being able to just groom skate lanes is one of the great advantages of using the G2 in addition to the pisten bully.

This morning Bob went out in the pisten bully and groomed most of the trails on the Bearskin side again.  He did everything except Oxcart and Poplar Creek.   He hopes to finish those up on Wednesday morning. 

Skiers have been very positive about the conditions again this week.  Bearskin was full last weekend and almost everyone commented at checkout that this was the best snow (and best grooming) they’d experienced in years.

Waxing hint:  Skiers are consistently commenting that the snow is slower than expected for the air temperature.

We received about 2 inches of new, fluffy snow overnight.  Bob has been out in the groomer since early this morning, starting on Summer Home and the central group of trails;by the end of the day everything should be done.   Dan is also out grooming on the Golden Eagle side.

Andy has gone out to repack the North South link; he is headed back now to add new tracks to it.  Then he will regroom the lake path with the G2 and redo Oxcart.  That should all be completed by early afternoon.

Classic skiers who have been out this morning  reported that because the tracks were already so firm and well-formed, the new snow wasn’t much of an issue for them.  Meanwhile, the sun is trying to emerge from the clouds and the temperatures are rising. Could be a great day for skiing on the Gunflint Trail

Groomed everything on the Bearskin side today except Lower Beaver Dam trail.  Although Bob plans to finish that trail in the morning, several very experienced skiers who were on Beaver Dam today said it was still in good condition.

The air temperatures have warmed up a bit, but Quinn noted this afternoon that the snow was still “cold and slow.”  That should change over the next few days.

We had a little of what our groomers call a “nuisance snow” today–enough to accumulate a bit, but not enough to justify heading out with the groomer. Skiers who were out today said it was just fine.

An irritating piece of news: skiers on Poplar Creek late this afternoon reported that they saw snowmobilers go down the ski trail. This is against the law and obviously, also very dangerous. The snowmobiles messed up one side of the Poplar Creek trail.

Realistically, we probably won’t get out with the groomer in the next two days to repair this damage since the weather forecast is for extraordinarily low temperatures and a high windchill factor. Actually, Tuesday might be a good day for skiers to hunker down with a good book in front of a fireplace and await better temperatures.

The good news is that the forecast for the upcoming weekend, when many folks have three days off, is excellent. Highs in the mid-20s are currently forecast.  Decent winter weather will return soon!

 We received about 5 inches of snow during the day yesterday.  Bearskin groomers were out at 6 this morning and groomed most of the day.

At this point we have about 20-24 inches in the woods and a packed base on trails of  7 – 10 inches.  Skate lanes have set up very firm; classic tracks are hard and fast.  Skiers are reporting excellent conditions.

There are still a few slush spots on some lakes, but the situation is improving.  The North South link on Aspen is now open and the trail across Flour Lake is good.  East Bearskin Lake still has issues; odd air holes opened up last week  that were very interesting curiosities from an observer’s standpoint, but are problematic for grooming.  Quinn actually went into 12 inches of water today with the groomer when he was heading towards the Campground Trail which pretty much wrecked his morning.  The ice underneath the water is thick and solid, so there are no safety issues for skiers-but until the holes and cracks freeze up, it is an annoyance.  Access the Campground Loop via the other route.

More snow is expected this weekend.

A few pictures Quinn took from the pisten bully while he was grooming Poplar Creek on 12/30:

Groomed Bear Cub, Oxcart and Poplar Creek today.  The wind finally died down, so today’s grooming resulted in perfect ski trails.  The cooler temps should solve the lake slush problem.  Skiers are reporting excellent conditions.

Today started off with wicked winds and 3 inches or more of new snow.  A good percentage of yesterday’s newly groomed trails blew shut today. Skiers reported that many trails were an odd mix of completely groomed sections and drifted over areas.

Groomers at both resorts were out today. Bob did most of the system on the Bearskin side and will be out on Bear Cub very early Tuesday morning.  The wind continues to be very strong; it’s hard to believe today’s nice tracks will last.

Temps are getting a bit colder.  Hopefully that may put an end to the slush problem on the lakes.

Saturday’s “warm” temps played total havoc with the trails. Huge slush spots visibly grew by the hour on the lakes. By mid-afternoon, skiers were coming back from every trail totally encrusted in ice. It was a mess and there wasn’t a thing that could be done about it.

Fortunately, groomers at both Bearskin and Golden Eagle went out very early Sunday morning and most of the trails groomed up surprisingly well. Skiers came back all day reporting that the newly groomed trails were great.

What’s not good? Anything across water at this point is a slushy mess. The ice underneath is very thick — ice depth is not an issue. But recent conditions have caused water to seep up into the snow layer to form a slush; the warm temps yesterday just added to the poor conditions. We hope some colder night temps will eventually harden up this miserable stuff.  Meanwhile, there are a number of ways on this trail system to circumvent trails that cross water.  We recommend that for the time being you ski on routes that aren’t on lakes if possible.

Considering our seriously sub-zero temps before Christmas, it feels wrong to start wishing for colder weather again.  But a little drop in temps would be helpful at this point.