Grooming Report Sat. Dec.2

As detailed in our SNSC Google group e-mail, with this last storm of around 26-28 inches of powdery snow we got underway with grooming, but much work remains to get the trails fully groomed and classic tracks set. Klaus and the trail down to Aspen loop are well rolled out. We rolled out the service road multiple passes but is still soft with lots of foot traffic, so probably the service rd. will be pretty choppy until we get back to it. The Sandia ski area, in past seasons, has nicely groomed the service road but we were told they are busy getting lifts fixed so don’t think we can count on that this season. We will get back to grooming in the next several days so stay tuned. Plan is to have classic tracks set by next weekend. Here is Scott’s Dec. 2 video grooming the Klaus Trail

Grooming Report Mar.29

Probably our finale for a season which is closing out with a mountain of snow. Scott and I, later joined by Ray, set out to groom after an hr. delay of the tram. Still good quality and quantity (depths to 5ft) of snow. Warmer temps by midday led to soft sticky conditions in the sunny sections. Klaus trail and down to and including the upper meadow, were groomed out with the baby ginzu (no classic track set). Intentions were to groom to 10k but the sticky snow by mid-day forced us to abandon that plan. Todays winds may have led to some drifting in the open areas. Big thanks to our new groomers this season, Ray Iturralde, David Dunlap and Jim Dryden and also to Steve Roholt for his assistance. Cheers to a great season!

Grooming Report Wed. March 1

Greetings, We had a very productive day on the trails today. Scott, Steve and I were joined by SRD Forest Service personnel, Joseph Jaffa-Martinez SRD Trails Foreman and Jeffrey Cervantes. Jeffrey will be completing his FS required ATV training this month and Joseph has been doing grooming this season and was very active on the mini-excavator work last summer on Klaus. The trails had a hard crust in the AM so with the ginzu groomer attachment we de-crusted and smoothed, while Steve and Scott pruned low branches and shoveled along Klaus. As a storm with possibility of snow coming tonight, we did not set classic tracks. The classic tracks set by David last weekend on the Service Rd. are hanging in there. Great skiing to be had and even a dusting of snow will freshen up the trails nicely. Plan is to groom again on Saturday and also set classic tracks, weather and road conditions permitting.

Joseph, my how you’ve grown since Jan!

Grooming Report Sat. Feb.18

Great to see so many skiers out on such a splendid day! The grooming crew had all hands on deck with Jim Dryden, David Dunlap, Ray Iturralde, Scott Dietrich and myself taking care of bid’ness. After getting a bit lost on the lower course on Thursday, got back on on track with scouting help from Scott and completed roller compacting throughout the trails. Still amazed at the amount of snow, occasionally stepping off the ATV and sinking up past my waist. We should be good through March! Jim set classic tracks on the Service Rd and the trails should be great for Sunday and Monday…. Probably will be back at it next Wed. and set more classic tracks.

Grooming Report Thurs. 2-16

Steve, Paul and I took the tram today and were greeted by massive amounts of fresh fluffy snow, 2+ ft. deep on average, with 3+ ft. drifts. Some of the most challenging grooming conditions I have encountered. To keep from getting stuck, first used just the ATV with no attachments and then came back over with the roller, so was slow going. Got the Service Rd and and Klaus trail compacted, which are still a bit soft but looking decent. On my ATV only outing to the lower trails, drifted snow abounded. Got down through the upper 10k meadow but below that encountered an area of obstruction with branches and possibly a buried downed tree and could not continue to the lower 10K meadow. Had intended to roller compact down through the upper meadow, but identified a mechanical issue with the ATV hitch and opted to call it a day. Great to be back on the grooming detail after a tussle with Covid. Thanks to Scott, David and Jim for their fine work the past 2 weeks. DOT was busy plowing and sanding most of the day and the highway is now open as of 4pm today and the Ellis parking lot is plowed. We will be back at it on Saturday.

Grooming Report Tues. Jan. 10

Was a bit breezy and cooler than the weekend today. Fairly large patches of dirt/gravel showing though on the Service Road now, but possible to ski around them for now. Klaus and the lower trails are in decent shape and Joseph on his first outing with the track setter, expertly groomed and set classic tracks where there was sufficient snow. We also put out a few more trail signs here and there. Good skiing to be had on Klaus and the trails down to 10k where it is thinning out but still skiable. The snow fencing we put up is doing its job. The northern section of Klaus is suitable for novice skiers while the south section, now well signed, is more challenging but great fun negotiating the turns and short hills. THINK SNOW!

Grooming Report Jan. 7-23

Another beautiful day on the mountain, around 21 deg. early AM and by midday warmed up nicely and no wind. Scott and I set off early to groom with the track-setter on Klaus and lower trails and set some classic tracks here and there where snow coverage permitted but not on the Service Road where by late day several areas of earth were peeking though the nearly burned off snow. Skiing on Klaus and the lower trails is good but in the lower 10k meadow also some thin areas and a few rocks. Late morning we were joined by David Dunlap, Jim Dryden who got a feel of working the ATV with the grooming attachment. Ray Iturralde also assisted with brushing down the equipment at day’s end. Lots of skiers, snowshoers out today. Will be getting out again next week to keep the snow we have in as good as shape as possible.