Report #3, more snow needed!

All trails were rolled today, Sunday 12/11/16. Great start to the season!

But we'll need more before we can go out again.  Our rough trails and water crossings require much more snow cover.  But, it's still good for early season rock ski enthusiasts!

Packing our way to Churning Rapids

Around the triangle we go.

South point of the Tower Loop.

After going around Mud Lake Loop, back at Sidewinder.

Water problem at the triangle...

...and at Sidewinder.
Many other wet areas which cause freezing on the roller,
which has to be broken off. This slows down grooming and lessens our quality. 
This is why we hope to start leveling trails and controlling water drainage

Quincy Trail roughness. For now, needs gobs more snow..
..until the trail can be made smoothed out.

Groomer report #2, more snow!

It took most of the day to get pods on but we got out as soon as that was done and rolled the city side trails, gorge, vista and the old number 9 out to Churning Rapids.

Colin Pekkala out operating the Grizzly.

What trail are we on? ; )

The gate on Sisu hill was unlocked....

...marking the official opening of the most beautiful trail in the Keweenaw -
The River Trail along Swedetown Creek.

We got this gate by the dam down too...it was a good gauge of the snow depth.

Yes, it did snow hard off and on.

Machine operator's view. Does the trail look wide now?

Grooming report #1

Grooming report #1 for 2016-17. A far cry earlier than last season!

The new Ski-Doo Skandic's first day on the job.

The city side trails, Tomasi Rd, and trail 8 to Churning Rapids were rolled.

Off to a good start anyway!

Signs attached and posts planted.

OK, Posts have been planted and signs are still going up.

"Hunting" for the next sign to install.

The signs are installed high up for better visibility.

The signs also are posted high, to be out of a vandal's reach.

The sign verbiage matches the maps.

Why do all this?

So folks can relax and have fun on the trails!
Instead of trying to figure out where they are,
or how to get where they want to go.

This is at the top of Sidewinder hill.
With some posts being installed, skiers can view the map more easily now.
We had it up on a tree before, and it was hard for skiers to get close up
 to if they needed to read it.

Just a "little" more snow and we'll be skiing!
If you like what you see here, please support our mission by becoming
a member and/or by making an extra donation.
This trail sign improvement project was made possible by
The Nordic Ski Club of Milwaukee, Keweenaw Coop,
Finlandia University athletics, and Ride The Keweenaw.

New signs going up.

Today new signs and maps were installed which completes Mud Lake loop and trail 4 starting from the Tomasi TH and back to the gorge top at the Vista trail. With any luck, the city side and gorge signs will be done tomorrow, before the rain rolls in.

Another nice day to be out on the trails.

The sun even came out off and on.

Even some "No snowmobiles" signs went up.

Barrier Fence Up

On Saturday the barrier fence went up on the trail connecting Maasto's St. Urho's loop to the rest of the trails on the City side of Swedetown Gorge.  In this area the ski trail parallels the snowmobile trail north of the county fairgrounds so the barrier fence is used to guide snowmobiles off the old railroad grade and on to the short bypass around that section of RR grade used by our ski trails.  We are happy to have access to the RR grade there to provide better views of Swedetown Gorge for our skiers.

The project starts with picking up mulch hay at the Baccus Dairy Farm in the Traprock Valley.
This year new 4x4 posts were set (carefully avoiding the buried main fiber optic line which connects the northern Keweenaw to the internet!) to provide better anchor points for the fence than the trees we have used in the past.





A little rope, 50 feet of snow fence, 2x2s set in the hay bales, lots of zip ties and some reflectors all go into the mix.  

In the end we have a barrier to keep skiers and snowmobilers safe and happy.

More signage goes up.

A few more signs got up today but technical grief and rain dampened our progress. More were installed than what is pictured here. We'll try it again on Saturday.

We stand on Dusty the defender's tail gate and get high enough to put these up.

Up close.

Just outside of the gate into Churning rapids.