Author Archives: Del

Lower Loop at 3:00 thursday has narrow classic track. Very hard and fast but totally skiable for intermediate/advanced. Downhills are scary. Meadow is fun. No wax touring skis better than race skis. Muscular thighs and precision balance, like mine, highly recommended.
Note trail is officially closed.

I reset the Lower Loop classic track yesterday afternoon, and skied it afterwards. The snow had thawed and refrozen, so the track is a little rough and a bit icy, but coverage is still good. CAUTION — the downhills are icy and rocket fast, and the ungroomed snow to the sides is breakable crust, so snowplowing is tough. On my next grooming session later today or tomorrow, I will widen the packed trail on the downhills and probably erase the classic tracks until we get more snow so that the downhills are safer. For now, I would recommend that beginner and intermediate skiers stick to the meadow loop, with experts only on the steeper downhill sections. Once again, no dogs on the lower loop trails, please, take them to the campground or Montana Creek where the trails are wider and the Ginzu groomers can erase the tracks better. Apparently the deer like to walk in the classic tracks too, not too much we can do about that.

I also track packed the Lower Meadows/dog trail. Low snow conditions down there, recommended for foot or snowshoes only, not skiing, but good for dog walking. I also attempted to set a classic track on part of the upper loop, but some of the creeks are still open up there, so I was only able to get partway down the Hilda Loop. Not really worth heading up there, even for off track touring. The snow is breakable crust up to at least 2,000 feet elevation. Think snow!