Grooming Report #10 Almost Excellent!

Early this morning all trails were drug then tracked. Tracks set up well and trails are still quite firm. We are getting close to excellent conditions everywhere. Mud Lake, the New River trail, and the River trail in the gorge have a couple rough sections still, but should smooth out with just a little more snow. We will not be grooming again until the weather cools off or until more snow arrives.

There were a couple snowmobilers on St. Urho's loop late last night. We have many "no snowmobiling" signs up, but some fail to read them

Sunrise seen by the chalet

Grooming Report #9 City-side re-tracked

Today the city-side trails were re-tracked as well as River Bypass and the New River trail. The cold weather last night made the trails quite firm. Very good conditions everywhere. We plan to drag and reset tracks early Thursday morning.

The New River trail has some uneven areas, but is improving

Grooming Report #8 Rolled and Tracked

Today all trails were rolled and then tracked. Expect to find rough areas on Mud Lake, New River trail, and the River trail in the gorge. Trails are a bit soft from the amount of snow and drifting we had. Very good conditions just about everywhere.

There was around 4" of new snow plus some drifting

On the Quincy trail near the snowmobile trail drifts were over 1' deep. This location typically gets drifted over with high winds

The snow was pretty soft and fluffy, but still set up well

Grooming Report #7 Re-Tracked and signage

Due to heavy snowfall an abbreviated track pattern was set. The River trail in the gorge, Mud Lake, River Bypass, Ruby Marsh, and Diagonal were not tracked. Expect some normally double tracked areas to be single tracked. With increasing wind, tracks will not last long. All trails will be rolled and tracked early Tuesday morning. We also put up snowmobile signage on Tomasi rd. Pictured below, these signs help keep some snowmobile traffic off the ski trail.

Since no rolling was done before setting tracks, a lot of snow was being pushed to the sides of the trail. Tracks still set up well.

These signs help keep snowmobiles off the ski trail. We have "no snowmobile" signs posted before these signs, but occasionally there are snowmobilers using this road.

Grooming Report #6 Very good!

Today we rolled all Maasto trails and drug all Churning Rapids trails. Tracks have been set everywhere except on sections of Mud Lake and the New River trail. All trails in Churning Rapids are quite firm from dragging this morning, so expect slightly better conditions than Maasto. Very good conditions almost everywhere.

All Churning Rapids trails saw much improvement from the drag

One of the better sections on Mud Lake

Grooming Report #5 Good to very good!

Today all trails were rolled and tracked. With the snow we received we were able to set tracks on the New River trail, Mud Lake, and our new Spring Creek reroute trail. These trails still remain a bit rough, but are getting better. Tracks set today will not last long with the high winds, and some tracks will be completely covered in more open areas. Overall we have seen good to very good conditions today. We hope to start dragging some trails tomorrow morning.

Very good conditions around St. Urho's loop

Setting tracks up Sunset trail

There were a few small trees and branches on the trail from the wind

Candle Luminary Ski December 26,2018

Night skiing is always a very special adventure and especially so right after Christmas for the Candle Luminary Ski. There is no other night like the luminary ski in the Copper Country. But all those luminaries don't appear on the 2 km St. Urho's loop by magic though it may seem that way skiing the trail at night. 

Besides the background organization and publicity, it takes about 26 positions to complete the necessary tasks to bring the event to life. That includes making a few ice luminaries, getting the St. Urho's Loop groomed for skiing and snow biking, folding luminary bags, filling them with sand, placing candles in the bags, distributing filled bags on the trail by ice fishing sleds and carefully spacing them, lighting 160 luminary candles, lighting the fire pit, picking up luminaries and cleaning up when it is over. Not to mention staffing the Chalet with a host. 

This is what the Candle Luminary Ski looks like from start to finish.

Julie Meyers and Norma Veurink taking out luminary bags and spacing them on the trail

Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club President Jay Green lighting a votive candle with a propane torch

Dusk begins to highlight the lit luminaries

It is almost 6 pm as night falls and skiers get ready to hit the trail from Hancock's Four Season Chalet

It is fully dark and magic comes to the St. Urho's trail 

A lot of families with children enjoy the wonder of the night

People had a chance to warm up, socialize with friends and enjoy refreshments in the Chalet

Yes, that is a real ice globe

Thanks to the many volunteers who made this wonderful night in Hancock happen and the 325 or so participants who shared it with their friends and family. Bon Hiver!