Hamster wheel loop

Well there isn't much for skiing out there.  I did go out to Pilot Knob lake this morning and groom a small "hamster wheel loop" in the southwest corner.  This is the same loop a couple of us were out skating on yesterday morning.  Think snow this week!

Merry Christmas!

Bad week for the trails

Well as expected, last week's warm spell destroyed some of the best early season groomed skiing we've had in some time.  The trails are pretty much solid ice now so we'll have to wait for more snow and start over.  There were a couple of us skate skiing on some small patches of snow/ice on the lake at Pilot Knob this morning, but conditions were poor.  We were just trying to stay in shape for when the trails are good again.

Skiing on a small patch of snow

 Iced over conditions of trail, not skiable.

It was too warm to groom this morning so I have some time to post some pictures.  Skating conditions were excellent Saturday morning and it was so much fun to be out skiing with friends!  This week's warm temps will be hard on the base so we might be starting over again.  Wait and see.

Friday night grooming

I went over the skate deck with the Ginzu on the road through Pilot Knob State Park tonight.  It looks like skating conditions will be excellent Saturday morning before the warm up.  The classic tracks took a slight hit with today's sun and warm up causing a few brown spots but can still be skied.

Pilot Knob Road

Skiing at the Knob has been good for over a week now.  It's been great to see so many skiers out there taking advantage of the snow!  I rejuvinated the skate deck on the road again tonight.  Conditions for skating are very good with the exception of twigs and leaves that have fallen into the mix to dirty the snow some. Throwing a few sticks off of the trail every once in a while is greatly appreciated.

The classic tracks are still the same ones set on the 4th but are still skiable.  Normally I would reset the tracks along with the skate deck but there just isn't enough snow depth to mess with that.

Pilot Knob

The skate deck has been rejuvinated this morning on the road through Pilot Knob.  Plus I made the first run with the Ginzu around the perimeter of the lake.  There are some spots on the lake with very little snow but you should still be able to skate ski there.

Pilot Knob road

I ran the Ginzu over the road through Pilot Knob to groom the skate deck tonight.  With the exception of a few sticks here and there it looks like pretty good skating conditions for the weekend!  The classic tracks were still in fair condition so I left those alone due to the lack of snow depth. 

Pilot Knob road 12/07/18

Pilot Knob Road

It looks like we received about 3" of heavy snow from the weekend.  The road through Pilot Knob State Park has been packed with the roller.  It should be okay for skate skiing.  I made an attempt to set a track with the tracksetter behind the roller but there wasn't enough snow for a good track.

I would avoid skiing on the lake at Pilot Knob since some water was pushed above the ice because of the heavy snow resulting in slush that will take a few days to refreeze.

The golf course has too many thin spots to do any grooming there.

Pilot Knob Road packed with roller 12-4-18

Spring snow

The Forest City area received about a foot of wet heavy snow today.  I don't think all of it will ever freeze so it will most likely not groom well.  Blaze your own trails this weekend!

Pilot Knob Lake

Pilot Knob Lake has been groomed for both skate and classic style skiing this morning after receiving another 3" of snow last night.

Two inches of snow

Pilot Knob lake has been groomed this morning for both skate and classic skiing after receiving a heavy 2" of snow last night.

Scratched the lake

I scratched up the icy snow on Pilot Knob Lake this morning.  It should be OK for skating.  The old classic tracks are filled in and pretty much solid ice, so there is nothing that could be done there.

Pilot Knob Lake

It was a great morning to get out and ski the Knob!

Fresh Grooming

Pilot Knob lake has been groomed for both classic skiing and skate skiing this morning.  We received over an inch of snow yesterday which was enough to cut a new classic track.  Enjoy it early today before the big melt down this afternoon!

Fresh snow

Friday was a great sunny day to be out skiing. 

Friday afternoon at Pilot Knob

We received a little over an inch of snow this Saturday morning too!

Saturday morning at Pilot Knob

Pilot Knob Lake

I rejuvenated the skate lane on Pilot Knob Lake this morning.  The classic tracks look to be rock hard with a little bit of snow blown in.

Pilot Knob

Pilot Knob lake was in great shape for skiing this weekend.  Boy scout troop 418 from Forest City had their annual winter campout in the park and all of the boys tried some classic and skate skiing.  We even set up a Nerf gun biathlon competition in honor of the winter Olympics happening.

Pilot Knob

Both the road and lake have been groomed this morning. The lake should be excellent for both skating and classic skiing today.  The road should be good for skating but poor for classic skiing since it wasn't consistently deep enough to set a full depth track. 

Rolling new snow

We received at least 3" of good snow (not light & fluffy) last night.  That is on top of the other snows we received throughout this week.  I was able to pack with the roller out at Pilot Knob on the road and the lake this morning.  With some more work with the Ginzu, my goal is to have skiable trails by Saturday.

About 5" of snow depth from this week's snows.

Canceled race

Unfortunately, due to poor trail conditions this year's Pilot Knob Ski Race is canceled.  Thank you for your interest in this event.  Jeff

Current conditions

Due to the warm temperatures, the rain and the lack of snow fall from yesterday's storm the trails are not any good for skiing.  We would need some consistent cold temperatures just to start over and that doesn't seem to be what the weather pattern has been like lately.

I was skiing early this morning on the Forest City school grounds and that was fairly good considering it is not groomed.  But even that won't last long since we are going to get hit with another round of 40 degree days by the end of the week.

Tough year for skiing!

Rejuvenated skate deck

The skate deck on Pilot Knob Lake was rejuvenated early this morning.  There are some icy parts but it still made for a good skate ski this morning.

Still skiable

I just skied the loop on Pilot Knob Lake again.  The skate deck has 2 or 3 small icy spots but overall it is in good shape.  The classic tracks have some poor spots but overall is in fairly good shape too. 

Pilot Knob Lake

I rolled and used the snowmover both Sunday night and Monday night throughout Pilot Knob State park with the new 2 inches of snow we received Sunday evening.  The wind has finally calmed down to allow use of the Ginzu to finish up the grooming on the lake tonight.  I did set classic tracks but there are 2 or 3 icy spots where the snow is thin and the tracks are in poor condition there.  However most of the lake has pretty good tracks and a good skating deck.

Pilot Knob Lake

Pilot Knob Lake

We're starting over again at Pilot Knob Lake.  The rain we received Wednesday night pretty much destroyed the lake trail.  But I did go over it this morning 8 times with the snow mover and 8 times with the Ginzu.  Most of the lake should now be good for skate skiing with the exception of 2 or 3 icy spots that can either be double poled through or maybe gone around.  Back to B-skis again.

There are no classic tracks.  Maybe if we get a good inch of snow Sunday evening and it doesn't blow away I can build up enough for tracks again.

Still skiing

The loop on Pilot Knob Lake was still holding up fine for a good ski this morning.  Great to see how much it is being used!  One more day of melting today then a snow storm tomorrow. 

 

Pilot Knob Lake

Great day to ski

It was a great day to get out and ski in the sunshine today!

1.5 km loop on Pilot Knob Lake

Pilot Knob Lake

The lake in Pilot Knob state park has been groomed for both skate and classic style skiing this morning.  It was very cold so the snow should set up well for today. 

Pilot Knob Lake

I just groomed Pilot Knob Lake this morning for both skating and classic skiing.

Pilot Knob Lake

The 1.5 km loop around the lake in Pilot Knob State Park has been groomed today for both skating and classic skiing. 

No other packing or grooming has been done on the road or on the golf course as of yet.  I am unable to run the snowmobile on the road through the park since the skis would run right down to the pavement and grind the whole time.  There is enough quantity of snow but it is very light fluffy snow.  Therefore I'll stay off of the golf course for the same reason.

Pilot Knob Lake