Rolled the ski trail

The Forest City ski trail was rolled this evening.  It looks like we received 5 to 6" during the last two days!  I will plan on doing the finish grooming tomorrow morning. 

The roller was used first today because it does a better job of initially packing this light deep snow without pushing snow off the trail.  Letting it set up overnight will produce a more firm snow base to use the Ginzu groomer on tomorrow.  And this results in a better packing of the snow since it will have been gone over twice.  The goal is to have a complete ski trail ready to ski on by the afternoon of New Year's day! 

Groomed the Lodge

The Lodge has been groomed for skating this afternoon.  I skated it tonight and it has good coverage.  I just got back from travelling and was disappointed on how much snow we lost since Christmas!  It looks like we will get some more snow tomorrow though.  Hopefully we'll have some more groomed trails by New Years day.

The Lodge.

The Lodge has just been groomed for skating, still no classic track there yet. Enjoy! ....and Merry Christmas!

Pilot Knob Lake groomed

The lake at Pilot Knob has been groomed for both skating & classic style skiing this morning.  I would guess we received about 2" of fresh snow last night. 

I did see a flash of light in the sky?  I'm going to assume it was just the lights from the airport 5 miles away.

Merry Christmas!!

Pilot Knob Lake is in very good shape

Just finished grooming the lake at Pilot Knob State Park.  Both the skating lane and classic tracks look to be in very good condition!  The Ginzu groomer was able to rejuvenate the skating lane very well and the snowmover was working great to make some nice looking tracks.  Enjoy!

Using the snowmover to lay classic tracks on the last pass

 

A little bit of hoarfrost in the trees.

 

 

First Classic Tracks

The lake at Pilot Knob State Park was rolled and tracked Saturday afternoon.  The classic tracks look to be in fair shape but did go down to the ice in a few spots.  Use the inside set of tracks.  The outside tracks were an experiment with the snowmover and did not work well.  The skating lane should be ok.  This loop is 1.5km. And no hills!

Decent skating

Just finished some night skiing (skating) on the course tonight and was pleasantly surprised!  The snow firmed up very nicely.  While it is a very thin base it still makes for some great skating.  Use old skis if you can.

 And it's nice to have all of the Christmas lights on this time of year.  There are no tracks for classic skiing yet because of low snow conditions.

Packing and grooming

An attempt was made to pack on Tuesday and groom tonight on the Lodge & Krysilis grounds.  But  it is very thin.  And the 3 to 4" of snow that we had on the ground was very dry and probably did not pack very well.  It is only groomed for skating since there is not enough to set tracks.  I did not do anything on the golf course because of the low snow conditions.

The voltage regulator went out on my sled this week so I'll try to get  a new part in and get it installed before the next snow.

 

The Lodge 12/11/13

Wax clinic in Mason City 12/11/13

Joel Yunek and Robert Polking of North Iowa Nordic will be putting on a ski wax clinic Wednesday Dec. 11th 6pm at Wayne's Ski and Cycle.

"Join Joel & Robert for a quick lesson in prepping your skis for the coming snowy conditions.

Bring your skis and wax them on site. It’s Waxtacular!

Learn to use NEW easy cold wax ski prep!

This one’s for you.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013   6 p.m.

Wayne’s Ski & Cycle"

It was nice to get out and enjoy some crust skate skiing early Good Friday morning.  Snow conditions were very fast.  The warm weather this weekend should mark the end of this year's ski season. 

Golf Course looking East

 

Golf course along Winnebago River

 The Lodge

 

Spring Skiing!

The Lodge and Krysilis properties are still holding snow very well in the second half of March!  These parts of the ski trail were groomed for both classic and skate style skiing tonight.  So if you would like to say that you've skied in Iowa in the Spring, come on out!

The Lodge Resort

 

Spring skiing in Iowa

 

Groomed for skating

There is still plenty of snow in the Lodge/Krysilis areas.  I groomed for skating only there today.  Let it refreeze this evening and it should be very fast!  It looks like a little more snow is on the way later tonight and tomorrow.

Last grooming

It looks like we received about 8" to 10" of heavy snow.  I groomed a set of tracks for classic skiing on the Lodge and Krysilis properties tonight.  I have no plans on doing anything on the golf course due to time limitations and some water/slush there. Enjoy the last of the snow!

Just groomed trail

The trail was groomed for both classic and skate style skiing tonight.  With about 5" of good snow (not fluffy) from the last two days, this was one of the best conditions for grooming this year! 

Sunny day on the trail

It was nice to have another sunny weekend for skiing in Forest City!

grooming

I went out tonight and set new classic ski tracks on our main ski trail using a newly made snowmover.  The first picture below shows what the snowmover leaves on the first pass.  The second picture shows the 2nd pass with the tracksetter behind the snowmover.  The tracks aren't as straight as the Ginzu would leave but there is plenty of snow at the bottom.  The skate lanes were also lightly groomed but are very thin.  Is this the last weekend of skiing?

Fun day on the trail

It was great to get together with other skiers at our community ski day on Saturday!  The snow was softer and slower than we would have liked, but the weather made up for it with sunny skies, temperatures well into the 20's and pretty much no wind.  We had 15 people come join the skiing fun.  And at least 10 stayed for a great dinner at "The Den" restaurant.  It was nice to be able to ski and dine in one spot! 

2/25/2013

 

 

Community Ski Today

We are going to have our community ski today!  Ski with others from about 3 to 5pm.  Meet at the Bear Creek Clubhouse parking lot.  And we'll plan on eating there in the clubhouse at "The Den" restaurant at around 5pm.  Come join us for some fun social time!

GROOMING NOTES. 

Main ski trail.  I left the classic tracks alone that were set Friday night.  This morning I groomed the skating lanes.  Only the golf course part is completely groomed.  The Lodge and Krysilis properties were too icy to get beyond the initial packing.  (This snow is so fluffy it does not want to firm up.)

I skied this today and conditions were fair to good.  Snow was soft and somewhat slow.

Ice Rink Lighted Loop.  This was groomed for both classic and skating this morning.  Plus there is a classic loop that goes around both ball fields.

Thorpe Park.  I attempted to set classic tracks there this morning.  But I wouldn't recommend trying it because of many thin spots and a couple of icy hills.

Hope to see you skiing!

A little slow but still pretty!

2/23/13

 

 

Community ski on Saturday

This Saturday, February 23rd, enjoy a ski with others from the area.  We'll start around 3pm from the club house at the Bear Creek Golf Course.  After skiing, we can enjoy eating at "The Den" at Bear Creek.

Everyone is welcome.  Hope to see you on the trail in the afternoon, or at the clubhouse restaruant around 5pm.

Grooming note.  Classic tracks were set tonight over most of the trail.  However the snow needs to set up more overnight before the Ginzu groomer can be used to put the skating lane down. 

See you out on the trail tomorrow.

6 inches of snow

It looks like we received 6" of snow with little wind.  Most of the trail was rolled this morning.  That is the first step.  Plans are to groom this afternoon.

We're ready!

Bring on the snow!  We are looking at 4 to 8 inches of snow starting this Thursday and ending on Friday.  It looks like a good weekend for skiing.  Stay tuned for grooming reports.

Equipment ready to go!

Trail pictures

I was out skiing today and just thought that it has been too long since we've seen any pictures of our trail with snow.  This is in the Lodge/Krysilis area after 3 dustings of snow.  Skiing on ungroomed snow can be fun too!

Not enough

There is not enough snow for grooming in Forest City.  Between the two dustings we received this week there is maybe an inch of snow in spots.  I did some skating on an ungroomed 100 yard long loop at the bottom of the hill at the Lodge/Krysilis area today.  But that is about all we have for now. 

Tough week

It was a tough week for the trail.  Thanks to above freezing temperatures and rain, most of the trail is either gone or not useable. 

However there was enough snow on the Krysilis property for a couple of small loops to be texturized for skating today.  It can best be accessed by parking at the Lodge parking lot and heading north past the wood fence. 

And don't forget how much fun it can be to crust skate ski off trail.  I was out today skating from patch to patch right next to the trail.  Plus the lake bed at Pilot Knob state park was pretty good for that too.

Regroomed

Eric & I took the ginzu groomer out tonight to touch up most of the skating trails including the ice rink loop.  We left the existing classic tracks alone since there was not enough snow to reset tracks.  Have a great weekend of skiing!

Lighted ski trail

New for Forest City is our lighted ice rink/ski loop in Pammel Park.  I spent an hour skiing it last night and had a blast!  It's small and flat but you will not need a headlamp after dark.  It's ready for both classic and skate skiers.

Just flip on the switch on the light pole on the Northwest side of the rink and you will have plenty of light for playing on the ice or snow.  Please turn it off when you leave. 

And it's all free!

Happy New Year!

A very small loop for skating and classic skiing was groomed right next to the ice rink in Pammel Park yesterday.  It's very small and very flat, but could be fun for beginners.  The rink was having fresh water poured on it yesterday with plans to open today.

Classic tracks only were set around the lake bed on Pilot Knob Lake (it's dry now) and around the campground.  A newly built funneling device that grabs snow from both sides and funnels it down to a 2' wide area was used.  This should be useful in the future when there isn't enough newly fallen snow to set tracks.

The best access would be to park at the entrance to Pilot Knob campground and look for the tracks.  There is probably about 2km of track set.

The main Forest City Ski Trail still has about 1.3km of track at the East Woods Access and about .5 km at the Lodge & Krysilis. And we still have well over 5km of skating on the entire course.

We're trying to make the best out of thin snow and we're always wishing for more.  I hope you enjoy the trails in and around Forest City!