Pilot Knob lake

 On the west end of Pilot Knob lake,  I have a small 1/2 kilometer loop packed down for skiing. It's not great but it's still skiable (mostly for skate style). The ice is about 4 inches thick or more. Once it gets at least five inches thick I can use the snowmobile to pull the equipment and we can have a bigger loop. Until then this is all done human powered. 

There is not enough snow on the road or golf course for any decent skiing. 

Pilot Knob lake 

Pilot Knob

I groomed both the road and the lake tonight for skate skiing.  The pack was too hard to set classic tracks. This should be good through at least Saturday morning.

Pilot Knob

The road and lake in Pilot Knob were groomed for both classic and skate skiing early Saturday morning
The park has great protection from the wind and should be the place to ski todsy!

Pilot Knob state park

I rejuvenated the skate deck tonight on Pilot Knob Lake, leaving the classic tracks alone because I didn't think these could have been improved upon with limited depth.

The road was groomed for both classic and skate skiing.

Pilot Knob road

Sunday grooming

We received 2 to 3 inches of light snow this morning.  I was able to groom the golf course and the lake in Pilot Knob this afternoon.

Golf course

Pilot Knob lake

Pilot Knob lake

Pilot Knob lake was groomed for both classic and skate style skiing this morning.  We have more snow in the forecast for Sunday.

Pilot Knob lake

I was able to groom a skating deck this morning on Pilot Knob Lake. I was not able to put in new classic tracks because it is too hard and icy.

Pilot Knob road

After a temperature of 41 degrees yesterday, and some of the worst damage from snowmobiles and walkers that I have seen in years, the road was in pretty rough shape tonight. It took six passes with a snowmobile that was running hot tearing up hard snow and ice to bring the skate deck up to good condition.

I did not take time to try and set up new classic tracks. However the old tracks are still skiable, except for where the snowmobiles wiped it out.

I will check on the golf course and the lake after we have a couple days of colder temperatures.

Pilot Knob road

Fresh grooming

The golf course and Pilot Knob road have both been groomed for classic and skate skiing tonight.

Pilot Knob road

Pilot Knob lake

The lake has been groomed for both classic and skate style skiing this morning. However, only about one-third of the lake is groomed thanks to a bunch of water that was squeezed up onto the top of the ice on the East two-thirds of the lake. So it's a little smaller but it should be pretty good for skiing.

Saturday

The golf course has been groomed for both classic and skate style skiing early this morning.  The lake and road in pilot Knob have only been rolled. I ran out of time and could not groom there today. Should be able to groom there tomorrow.

Golf course

Pilot Knob lake

Pilot Knob lake has been groomed for both classical and skate style skiing tonight. It should be a pretty good place to ski this week!

Golf course

I took the groomer over the golf course this morning.  Classic tracks were made over most of the trail except for a few shallow areas.
I'll do the same on the lake once the roads are sanded otherwise I wouldn't be able to pull the trailer up into the park.

New snow

The golf course and lake have been rolled this morning.  I'll wait out the winds today with hopes of finish grooming Sunday morning if the winds die down.

Ski conditions

Pilot Knob lake is in pretty  good shape for skate skiing this weekend.  But another inch or two would really be nice.

Pilot Knob lake

Pilot Knob lake has been groomed for skating this morning.  There is not enough depth to set classic tracks.

New snow.

We received at least 5 inches of snow. Everything (golf course,  pilot knob lake and pilot knob road) have been rolled but not groomed yet. Photo credit to Colleen Hovinga making first tracks on the golf course.

Pilot Knob lake

The lake has been groomed this morning.  Skating should be decent.  I did work at making a classic track using the snow mover but it is nonexistent in some low snow areas. Otherwise it all looks fairly good.  Happy New year!