Dam hill improvements made.

Today, a volunteer from the Heavy Coalition organization came out with his brand spanking new YTM compact tractor and implements to help us begin the recovery from the Father's Day flood.   The Dam hill was greatly eroded from the water traveling down it.   Bill filled the deep ruts, then graded it to reduce the water coming down it again.  It's not completely done but still much, much improved.

This is just a start at reopening a portion of the gorge trails.  Would you like to help??  Please donate to the tractor fund.  We need one!

Bill trailered the equipment from Grand Rapids just to help out after the flood.

Unloading the box blade.

Where are we going?

Note the ravine down the trail.

Getting the surface smoothed up again.

Material washed to the bottom was scooped up to fill the ruts.

Getting there!

More ruts seen along the way

Filled in!

Here the lip from the edge is being pulled into the low spot, making the trail level again.

The previously bowl shaped tread is now level and slightly out sloped,
to shed water over the edge.

Last was water bars made that should have been added years ago.
They will direct water over the edge, and off of the tread.

Bill digging yet another. 

Now the water will be diverted over the side, before it can cause more ruts.

Lots was accomplished today, but there's still much, much more work to do.

Thanks so much, Bill, for your generous donation!
He also wants to come back in August or September and do more.

Todays grooming photos: plus implement and grooming chat.

Below are a few photos taken today.  Yes, it was that pretty out there.   Some people have been asking us, why do we roll, drag or do whatever to the snow and make it into something we can have great skiing on?  In response, this spring we will have a talk concerning this and open to anyone who like to see the tools, plus answer the why's, how's or when we groom.  Or answer any questions you might have.  

In the gorge this morning

This is what we work very hard to make. Plus a firm base for our phat biking members.

In this photo, you can see its teeth have cut into the hardened surface and
the Ginzu has been weighted.  (Photo not taken today)
Here it has 140lbs on it to keep it engaged and stabilized,
while cutting this ice like material.

Seen here is the Ginzu.  This a wonderful tool that makes some fabulous tracks (and corduroy). But what it doesn't do well is remove air from the snow, in fact, if we have three inches of new snow, this machine will push much of it out its sides and we revert to another implement, that will be prepacking the snow.

Day off from grooming fun!

With the snow engine shut down, we're taking the "day off" the trails and repairing machines.  These snow implements live a hard live and require much maintenance.   Our goal is to have them in top shape to keep them working their best when the snow kicks back on.

Colin is doing repairs to the main roller.  We have two.

New skags, to keep the Skandic going in the right direction.

School yard drag was brought in for an update.

 

Hope this give you an idea of what goes on behind the scenes.

New tools and view!

New tools and view!  Trail clearing is an on going effort and happens daily.  If you could help, just get in touch.

We did a little work last week, to put the vista back into Vista Trail.

Plus another benefit will be, these large limbs won't come down on the trail under snow load.

Thanks to a KCF grant - we've got another trail tool!

The new Echo adds to our current armory of trail clearing tools.

Did you know? KNSC purchased the new Kodiak ATV with help from
a grant from the U.P. Sustainable Forest & Wildlife Fund,
which is held at theCommunity Foundation of theU.P. Shown here is
KNSC Secretary, Sandy Aronson and UPSF&WF representative, Karin Van Dyke.
We really appreciate this support! 
And a new machine to tow snow impolwnts with.
This is our ongoing effort to keep machines up to date.

Two down and one remains!

We'll gee, we have our two most worthy tow machines broke down and in their respective repair shops.   Our Grizzly which is in its 7th year and scheduled to be replaced this summer, plus our UTV with an electrical failure.  At least its not snowing buckets out. 
Trail conditions will be good, spring like.

File photo of them both.

New tow sled purchased!

After years of mechanical grief, a new work sled was finally purchased to replace the old one.  

A 2016, SWT Skandic 900Ace was picked up this week.  Next, it will go into the shop for wiring, lights and a hitch to be installed.

This Skandic, has more HP and a much larger track than the old one had.
With all that power, it should be able to tow all our implements.

Ya, this one is trail mutt approved.  As is keeping the trails in top shape.

Sugar Bush trail clearing.

Sandy, Arlyn and Gromit were hiking on the north shore of lake Superior this past week and while crossing a ski trail, spied fellows mowing it, so we stopped to chat with them. 

Thier classic Ford tractor is being replaced with a 50hp, 4wd, New Holland
tractor for about 40K.  That does not include implements.

This is John Wolf, treasure for the Sugar Bush system located just north of Tofte MN.

And there Swisher mower.

On Saturday, October 1st at 9am we'll be reopening trails on the Mud lake loop we lost to logging some 2 years ago.  Would you like to help?  Contact Arlyn at 370-2911 or arlyn.aronson@gmail.com

New snow rolled, Defender blender arrives.

This fabulous 6" we received overnight and this afternoon was soothed down today and got our trails looking quite nice.

Still at Houghton Power sports.

One of the first times on the trail.

New work machine has finally arrived.

Seen at Houghton Power sports being set up.

The BRP Defender.  With 70+ HP, it has the power we need to operate in snow with.
Our beloved Rhino was dearly short on power.

A new work machine, a Can-Am Defender, arrived this week after a 4 year wait.  OK, maybe I should explain that a bit. :-)
Keweenaw Nordic purchased their first UTV about 6 years ago and discovered just how more efficient fall trail clearing and bridge work could be done by using one.  Its name really does mean "utility ATV" to us.  A few years after that, the Rhino was equipped for winter operations and we discovered its added utility during the snow season. For the first time, we could move people and tools to a work site in cold, snowy conditions, while keeping them warm and safe.  While the Rhino was not the most important tow machine we had, it definitely saw many, many hours of use then. In general, it was a strong tow machine, so we liked to have it out when deeper snow fell.   Sadly, we discovered that the Rhino's little motor was short on power, so while it excelled when snow was deep, the engine would be pushed to the max.  So over the years we've been looking for another UTV with more towing capacity, plus a larger work box.  We try to replace our tow machines every 5 years and the Rhino aged to 6, this past winter.  This fall Can-Am announced a new, work-specific model - the Defender - which touts the most towing torque in the industry.  Plus many more features which will be invaluable in keeping the snow and our trails in shape.

First peep at the new working vehicle

On Friday the new Can-am Defender demo model arrived at Houghton Power Sports for looks.  This is an early version and none are at dealers yet or up for sale.

Like this one, we'll have roof lights and light guards for working at night.

A nice looking cab with great operator visibility.

The cab was configured for easy in and outs.

The working end.

New work/tow machine in the works.

KNSC purchased its first UTV (or side-by-side some people call them) 6 years ago and learned just how more efficient fall work could be using one.   Maybe you've seen photos of the Rhino towing 2000 lbs loads of rock and gravel to the middle bridge project this summer.  Plus over the winter it was the "go to" machine when trees fell across the trail or when so much deep snow had accumulated that a stronger tow machine was needed.   After the 6 years of hard work and broke down for over a month this past winter, the Rhino was sold and a new work machine is in the cards.   It will be  a 1000cc powered Can-am Defender.   Here is Can-am's info page:
http://can-am.brp.com/off-road/defender.html

Here's a cool review video about its engineering:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5TH6gEdJYQ

This is our ongoing effort to keep our machines up to date, and dependable.