Nearly finished??

We were just able to scratch up the surface of Little-M and part of K for the club championships.  The resulting track is extremely hard underfoot, which is the solid ice beneath.

The machines were pulling hard enough to overheat, even at -8, because the ice is so thick and tough, and the crumble will freeze to the ice overnight to become even harder than it was.

The "snow" depth on the main trail is less than 25cm, 8 or 9", and this was still damp right to the ground late yesterday.  This ice condition is terminal for grooming and the previous posting is still valid, i.e thaw skiing only until another major snowfall.  :>)

Thaw skiing (?) only UFN

Today (Monday), the trails are nearly solid ice and very treacherous on cold days.  On warmer days and in direct sunlight, there may be "skiing" if icy trails appeal to you.

Speaking academically, these icy conditions are groomable with our small machines.  However, it takes many, many passes of tough driving to make any impression and the same thing has to be repeated every cold day.  It is nearly the case that one day's grooming is only completed in time for the ice crystals to freeze up again for the next day, and the resulting ski conditions appeal to nearly no one.  Not going there.

(UFN means until further notice!)

Icy and fast

The worst crust from Saturday's wet weather was just manageable and all of the club trails are now groomed as usual.  There is no actual "snow", only broken-up crust, so the skiing will be fast.

The track is patchy because the old track is solid ice in places and the ice lifted the track setter out of the snow.  However,  ~95% of the classic track looks excellent.