Apr 08 2018

Today Marks the End of Another Great Season

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Perfect tracks. April 7th, 2018.

Open, 25º at 8:30 am and sunny. Forecast high today. 33º. Nice spring skiing. Lower trails open, Turkey, Woodcock, Snow Goose, Grouse, Lower Blue Jay groomed last night. Goshawk open, not groomed, there are some wet spots at the top of Goshawk you can ski around, but the groomer can’t get around.

It has been quite a season. From snow and really cold, to the spell in January, rain, warm, freeze, really cold, snow, repeat. A great start to February and the right back into the repetitive pattern of January. All turning around at the end of February and March to end with some of the best skiing in decades. And to think that it is now April 8th and we have great spring skiing.

But, it is April 8th, the sun is high, the temperatures are going to warm up and spring is going to barrel through the hills and melt the snow. We are looking forward to cleaning up the winter mess, the sugaring mess, and then starting to get ready for next year. Cutting and splitting the wood, tilling the soil and planting the garden, and making changes to the ski trails.

 

Apr 07 2018

If The Skiing Weren’t So Perfect, I’d Be Ready For Spring.

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Perfect tracks. April 7th, 2018.

Open, 25º at 7:30am. Forecast high 34º and party sunny. The skiing is perfect and soft and wonderful. Because the high will be around 34º, you will need Maxiglide on no-wax skis. The photo above is from this morning about 6:00am. How does Ian get from the groomer to the photo taking spot without leaving boot prints?

Seven inches of new snow. Yesterday afternoon, before the snow was serious, I told Ian we didn’t have to be open for the weekend if we didn’t get enough snow to have good skiing. He told me we would be fine and the skiing would be good. Holy cow, he was right!

And this is what we did yesterday. Ian has been sawing on the new wood pile. Some of the wood is covered in gravel from being skidded out, and that dulls the chain on a chain saw in a hurry. He has cut up about 18 logs, all 24 inches long. The 24 inch will be split and are used in the house furnace or the sugar house. We then need to cut 17 inch for the ski shop and warming room stoves. The sauna burns better with 16 inch. 

 

Apr 06 2018

Ski Today After the Snow Starts Falling!

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Open after the snow starts. The temperature right now is 15º. The air this morning is cold and the snow is hard. The forecast is for 35º and snow. Skiing once the snow starts falling will be ok. Once the snow starts. Ian will groom after we get some new snow. The Weather Channel forecast is 1-3 inches of snow and the National Weather service forecast is for 2-5 inches of snow. We should start a pool.

We will be open today, Friday, come after the snow starts, and Saturday and Sunday. After April 8th we will call it a season, and what a season it has been! 

Yesterday we cleaned up blown down and branches and pine cones. The picture above is a before and after shot of some of Ian’s work. The picture below is on the Turkey. Ian and Chuck sawed up and moved trees out of the trails. One tree fell at the start of the trails, right in the parking lot, it took out the phone and power lines. We had power again by noon. And phone back at 4:30 pm. We were lucky, I know there are still folks without power.

Apr 05 2018

A bit of cleanup to do…

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Its a beautiful (but chilly) sunny day! Yesterday was not as beautiful, starting with snow (almost an inch) turning to rain (almost an inch), a few minutes of sun and then the wind blew. And blew. And then it blew harder. There were six trees across North Road that needed to be cut. We’re not sure how many blew down on the trails yet. A big maple blew across our driveway, taking out the power and phone lines.

The temperature yesterday was forecast to be 54°. It made it to 40°. We still have pretty good snow on the lower trails. The upper trails have taken a hit from water damage (lots of springs flow out of the side of Styles Peak).

We’re thinking we will be open with the lower 11km for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The skiing will be ok (probably better than it was at the end of January!)

We finished our sugaring season (all but the cleanup) last night with almost 7 gallons of Dark Robust syrup. 85.5 gallons total. Our target was 75. A good year!

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