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