Saturday, December 31, 2022

New Year's Eve

 Condition update. The road was still good for skating today.  And the lake was excellent for both skating and striding. 



Friday, December 30, 2022

Great day!

 What a day for skiing at the Knob!

 


 




Refreshed trails

After two days of above freezing temperatures, I refreshed the skate deck on the road at Pilot Knob.  I didn't think that I could improve the classic tracks on the road so those were left alone. 

The lake was refreshed for both skate and classic skiing.


The Lake


Monday, December 26, 2022

Fresh snow

 We received another 3 inches of fresh snow last night.  Pilot knob road and lake have been groomed this morning. 



Sunday, December 25, 2022

Christmas Ski

 Today the knob was a great place to ski with family and friends!



Saturday, December 24, 2022

Merry Christmas

 The road and lake in pilot knob has been groomed for both skate and classic style skiing. Ît doesn't all look as good as the picture below thanks to the effects of the high winds, but it should be fun skiing. 

PILOT KNOB LAKE



Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Packing new snow

 I packed the lake and the road tonight before the winds pick up.  Too windy the next two days to try to finish groom. Maybe the winds will calm down to a reasonable level on Saturday.

Pilot knob lake.  The ice is finally thick enough to use the snowmobile to groom on. 



Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Pilot knob road

 We had 2 inches fresh snow to groom this morning.  I only had time to groom for one lap. I reset the classic tracks which look great the whole length this time. And I made one pass on the skate deck.

Pilot knob road



Saturday, December 17, 2022

The road

 Pilot knob road has been groomed for both classic and skate skiing.




Friday, December 16, 2022

Blowing snow.

 Started some packing this morning with about 2 or 3 inches of blowing snow and still coming down. Picked up sticks Wednesday.  Once things settle down, we should have some decent skating conditions on the road.

Pilot Knob road 



Sunday, December 11, 2022

New snow

 We received 5" of warm wet snow Friday morning.  The temperatures did not drop enough to groom, so we'll have to wait for colder days.  And with a good chance of significant rain coming Tuesday, we might be starting over again soon anyway.  

Pilot Knob Lake has an issue with water pushing up over the ice because of the heavy snow on top.  So that will take some really cold weather before that can be groomed.

However, it's still fun to get out to ski and enjoy the area on a warm day.  


Pilot Knob lake


Pilot Knob Road




Sunday, February 27, 2022

Friday, February 25, 2022

PIlot Knob

 We received about 2" of light snow Thursday evening.  The lake has been groomed for both skate style and classic style skiing.  My son and I made one lap on the road to groom it for skate skiing, but we did not try to set new classic tracks there.  Everything looked pretty good and we're looking forward to another weekend of skiing here!

New classic tracks set on the lake



Saturday, February 19, 2022

Rejuvenation

 The lake at Pilot Knob was rejuvenated for both skating and classic skiing.  The classic track is chunky thanks to the high ice content, but it will be skiable.  The skating deck on the road was also gone over with the Ginzu.  After another melt down on Sunday, we'll need some fresh snow to have nice trails again.  So far it looks like we might get some Monday night.

Sunday, February 13, 2022

Cold and sunny

 It was cold but what a great day to be out skiing!



A little more snow

 We received anywhere from a heavy dusting to 1/2" of snow in the night.  I mixed it in with the old snow this morning with the Ginzu groomer.  So, the skate deck on the road and lake within Pilot Knob State Park have been groomed.  I left the classic tracks alone for the first person to ski down the new snow.

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Pilot Knob

It was a tough week on the trails with warm weather and then rain.  However, I was able to rejuvenate the skate deck on the road and the lake this morning.  The skate deck looks good.

The classic tracks were too icy to try and reset so those were left alone. I did set new classic tracks on the lake on the inside of the normal trail.   There was plenty of untouched snow there to work with.  These new tracks look very good. 

It was 10 below zero when grooming was finished so it should set up pretty well for skiing today.

New classic tracks on the lake



Sunday, February 6, 2022

Pilot Knob

 The skate deck has been rejuvenated on the road and lake this morning. 

Friday, February 4, 2022

Pilot Knob


 After replacing the ignition control module and voltage regulator, my snowmobile is back running again.  The lake and road in Pilot Knob have been regroomed for both skating and classic skiing this Friday evening.  The classic tracks on the road aren't super since it is getting a little thin but still very skiable. The tracks on the lake looked great.  The skating deck looks great on both the lake and road.  I was done by about 10 pm and the temperature was 9 below, so it should set up very well for Saturday. 


PK road

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Great glide conditions

 Pilot Knob Road

The road was skiing very well Saturday.  It hadn't been groomed since Wednesday, but the glide was great.

Weekend skiing

 Skiing was pretty good Saturday and should be the same today.  I was able to reset the classic tracks around the lake early Saturday morning just before the snowmobile started acting up.  I couldn't groom anymore but was able to get it back on the trailer.  I ordered parts for it which will take about a week to get.  Fortunately, these trail conditions should last quite a while without any further grooming.





Thursday, January 27, 2022

Skiing update

 The trails were in good shape tonight in the park.  The lake had some blowing snow that filled in some of the classic tracks but it still skated well.  The road is in the best shape of the season as it is fairly well protected from blowing snow.  

Pilot Knob Road 1.27.22


Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Wednesday night grooming

 The lake and the road in Pilot Knob State Park have been groomed for both skating and classic skiing.

Sunday, January 23, 2022

Sunday skiing

Some Sunday skiing action at Pilot Knob.  The classic tracks were in really good shape on both the lake and road.  Skating was a little slow yet, but much better than last weekend's slow snow.   More snow is on the way for the third night in a row.  I think we're good now.  I'm ready for a break in new snow grooming and ready to get the skate deck firmed up better.  



Pilot Knob Lake




Pilot Knob

 We received another 1 to 2 inches of snow last evening with very little wind.  I groomed all of Pilot Knob this morning for both classic and skate skiing.  This is a higher moisture content snow than what we had a little over a week ago.  I expect it to set up much better and hopefully provide some good glide this afternoon.

Saturday, January 22, 2022

PIlot Knob

 I regroomed the lake and the road in Pilot Knob State Park this morning.  It should be very good for both classic and skate skiing.


New classic tracks on Pilot Knob road



Monday, January 17, 2022

Weekend skiing

 It was great to see so many skiers out at the knob this weekend.  The only negative is that the snow did not set up very well, so it was soft and slow.

I regroomed the skate deck on Pilot Knob road, along with the skate deck and classic tracks on the lake early this morning.  Hopefully it will set up better and make for better glide.


Pilot Knob road Sunday afternoon


Saturday, January 15, 2022

Pilot Knob State Park

The lake and road at Pilot Knob were rolled/packed at 5pm on Friday and at 3am Saturday morning.  I just groomed with the Ginzu finishing by 11am Saturday morning.  It will be soft today but hopefully skiable by later in the afternoon.  It should be good Sunday afternoon.


Pilot Knob road

Pilot Knob road 


Pilot Knob lake




Friday, January 14, 2022

Big snowfall

 I got the first round of packing in during the snow tonight. I was surprised how much it was piling up! It will take a bit of time and work to beat this down to a skiable surface.



Saturday, January 8, 2022

Pilot Knob Lake

 I used the Ginzu last night to groom the lake.  The snow is very thin, but it skied pretty well this morning with only a few spots that were showing the ice. 

Pilot Knob Lake