3.9.2012 More fresh snow, new grooming

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It snowed again last night, giving us a brilliantly white new coating of snow over the older base. A few warmer days last week had resulted in a  stiff top layer of snow.  Last night’s new snow gave the groomers fresh powder to work with today.

The challenge will be to get through the warm temps forecast for the next few days with our snow base intact.  We have a lot of snow; it won’t disappear just because a few days could be above freezing.  But we’ll all be very happy if the high temperatures turn out to be a bit cooler than predicted. Like everyone, we look forward to spring — just not quite yet.

2.26.12 Snowing hard again

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It’s hard to even see across the lake right now because it’s snowing so hard.  If you were thinking of coming to Bearskin as a day skier, well….yesterday was the day. All our beautiful grooming is quickly disappearing under the rapidly falling new snow and based on the forecast, we could have many more days of this.

When people call to book for March skiing, they often ask, “Are you SURE you’ll have snow?”  The right answer is yes, because historically we have a tough time getting rid of our snow by May, much less March. But we always feel a little hesitancy to absolutely guarantee snow because there have been two winters in recent years where the snow was gone early. This year the weather has been so peculiar that we had a little underlying worry that March, 2o12, could turn into one of those oddball early melt years. Instead,  it’s beginning to look like this will be a snowy March.  It wouldn’t take many more days like this one to give us enough snow to last until June. @@

We have lots of openings in March.  If you live in anywhere in Minnesota other than the Gunflint Trail, you probably didn’t experience much winter this year — come up and remember what real snow is like!

2.25.2012 Winter wonderland

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It snowed again all day Friday, adding another 3″ to 5 ” of fresh snow to our already substantial snow base. Groomers have been out since before dawn, so trails are ready to go.  It’s beautiful out there — pleasant temps, no wind, snow coated trees, sparkling fresh powder, and a continuing light snowfall in the air.

You need to be here.

2.11.12 Bearskin’s Volks Ski 400 Team hits the trails

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“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

2.10.2012

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Conditions: Good to Excellent

According to measuring done by Dan Baumann at Golden Eagle the average packed base base on trails right now is 6 – 6.5 inches — more on Summer Home, Campground and rails that received good snowfall earlier in the season.

He reports that “The warm up last weekend didn’t hurt us too much. We lost a little over an inch on the trail base and the snow in the woods was reduced by a couple of inches, but conditions remain very good. Bearskin was out earlier in the week grooming and Golden Eagle was out today on the other side of the system using the snowcat and renovator. We were just about done grooming when a thick flurry of snow came down! ”

The new snow gave everything a fresh, white look again and according to skiers who’ve been out today, probably improved the skiing by covering a few icy spots. We don’t have a lot of new snow in the immediate forecast, but temps shouldn’t be high enough to cause much melting.

As usual, we’ll have chili, soup, and hot chocolate available in the lodge this weekend. Skiers are gradually catching on to the secret of Sunday soup at Bearskin — until it’s gone, Sunday soup is always the same soup Chef Scott Bergstrom served for the 4-course fine dining on Saturday night. Our usual soup is good, but Scott’s soup is extraordinary. We frequently also have cake or another dessert on Sunday to enjoy with your hot chocolate or coffee. Again, it’s whatever remains from the fine dining on Saturday, so the desserts are beyond good, they’re fabulous. It’s an extra incentive to enjoy our ski trails on the less busy day of each weekend.

We’re occasionally asked if it is workable to ski all day at Bearskin and then dine at the lodge Saturday night, even if you aren’t staying here.  While we offer a 4-course fine dining experience, you don’t need to dress as if you’re in a fancy restaurant. Ski clothes are just fine in our restaurant.  If you would be happier if you changed clothes and cleaned up before dinner, talk to our front desk staff.  We have a couple of options for where you could go to change.  Skiing and dining all on one trip is very doable.

For the latest trail report you can call Golden Eagle at 1-800-346-2203 or 218-388-2203 or Bearskin at 218-388-2292 or 1-800-338-4170.

2.5.2012

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It’s been a bit warmer than we’d like it to be for the past couple days, but luckily we have lots of snow so the sunny days and warm temps have had very little impact on our snow cover.  Trails are all recently groomed and in good shape.  The sun is out and the sky is clear today, making the ice coated trees sparkle in the sunlight.  It would be a gorgeous day to be outside enjoying nature.

This has  been a wildly busy weekend, but we predict that the next few days will be quieter.  Bearskin is lucky to be almost full for most days through early March, but for some peculiar reason the next week is almost empty.  Some combination of Superbowl Sunday, a 3- day weekend coming up soon, and who knows, maybe  the alignment of the stars, made this a week when people didn’t take off work to go skiing.  We’re running a nice “3 days for the price of 2 days”  special in some of our cabins as an incentive to drive up an enjoy our wonderful snow.  Our musher has many dog sled trip appointments open this week, our massage therapist will be here Tuesday and Thursday, and Chad is taste-testing his new restaurant menu choices on Tuesday —  lots of fun to be had here at Bearskin over the next few days, at a very affordable price.  Check out www.bearskin.com or give us a call at 800.338.4170

1.30.2012

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 All the trails on both sides of the system were groomed over the weekend.  Then (of course!) it snowed like crazy until about noon today.  We received about 2 inches of new snow this morning, on top of our already abundant snowfall.

 The groomers were out on the system all day again today.  Check in at the lodges before you go out on the trail system right now, especially if you’re planning to skate ski.  A few trails are in the midst of a process for flattening out the surface, so the skate lanes are temporarily altered.  
 
Skiers are seeing lots of animal activities on the trails right now.  A moose trashed the trails on Bear Cub over the weekend, happily demolishing  tracks so that the entire trail had to be regroomed. Three or more very large Pileated Woodpeckers have been “posing” for pictures along the Beaver Dam trail.  Fox tracks are everywhere — even on our lodge decks!  It’s a great time to view winter wildlife.
 
And if you decide to come up to stay or ski, drive watchfully on the Gunflint Trail, especially after dark. Almost everyone has been spotting moose standing in the trail in the evening hours.  They are a sight everyone hopes to see in this area,  but not especially in front of a vehicle!