Track Report - Best Classic skiing ever!

The Classic Tracks are amazing right now and are skiing fast after Doug reset them (thank you, Doug!). In many places there are three side-by-side sets of classic tracks so people can ski next to each other or have room to scoot over if necessary. Please be careful when you are crossing over or near water - sometimes the tracks start to fall apart and it would be easy to slip sideways. As always, people ski at their own risk and this is "cross-country skiing" with all the inherent conditions that go along with that.

Again, the classic tracks are firmly set and holding up really nicely. Classic skiing is a good choice when the temperature plummets, as it has been lately in the mornings. Doug tuned up the skate track yesterday, but it's pretty hard-packed where it has been skated on a lot. The Boot and the Clover Leaf are skating well. They haven't been skated on as much, so the snow is a little more friendly and forgiving.

Randy is going to try to tune up the skate track tonight (thank you, Randy!), but there's no guarantee how it will turn out. With the track so icy-hard, it can be rough on the groomer tines and on the 4-track snow machine. I'll post anything I hear about the conditions.

Crust Cruising

When the snow melts and then freezes hard - as it has lately - it can develop a nice, thick crust during cold temperatures. The crust can be strong enough to hold a skier, resulting in a course-wide field of skate skiing possibilities. It's a ton of fun to wander around on top of the crust without any boundaries. However, once the temps start to rise you may quickly find yourself punching through the snow and no longer able to skate off-track. Usually Springtime is a good time for crust cruising, but the conditions were good for it today, too. It's easier on the legs than a hard-packed skate track, but the drawbacks include that the snow doesn't lie flat and there are plenty of undulating bumps. Still, it's kind of liberating to go anywhere on the course with the speed of a skate ski.  Just be careful not to ruin anything that might be golf-course sensitive and to stay away from wildlife.

Track report

Looks like Doug has been hard at work again. The classic track is set nicely and the Perimeter skate track has been tuned up beautifully. The Cow Pasture and the inside skate loops (The Boot and The Cloverleaf) haven’t been tuned up and are a bit hard-packed, but are definitely still skiable.
Thanks, Doug!

Grooming Report

Doug has groomed all skate tracks and reset the classic tracks. The skate track is skiing very smoothly. Jody S. reported that the classic track is good, it just needs some time to set up.
Thank you, Doug!

Afternoon Grooming Update

As always, thanks to Doug for grooming today. The conditions he has to work with are not optimal, but he did what he could. He just reported the following:

I have groomed the skate track, it is ok but the classic track is another story.  If had not been skied on I could have helped it, but everyone was on it and it is packed.  The snow is too soft to use tines, it just turns into a snow ball.  So tonight we will see what we can do to fix things when it gets cold.  I did fix the classic track around the cow pasture and it is good, but may not hold up because the snow is not setting up yet.  That’s the story.

Morning Track Report

Skiing is pretty rough right now. I don't know of any plans for grooming yet, but it wouldn't make sense to groom this morning - it's just too windy. The wind is blowing snow over the track, and the track itself is barely there. There are some ruts from yesterday's skaters, and the snow is soft and punchy. The classic track has new snow inside the wells. However, that being said, it's all still skiable if you don't mind working for it. I skated the perimeter and the cow pasture this morning, and saw a few classic skiers out.  So again, it's slow-going and windy, but doable.
Once the wind dies down and we get some grooming done, I think we're in for some pretty good skiing. The temperature is going to drop and will help us hold on to the track for a good while yet.

Grooming Update

Doug is finishing tuning up the skate track right now. He said he only has time for one pass over most of the track (although I did catch him doing a second pass on the Clover Leaf). We are all incredibly thankful for anything!
He’s done the Perimeter, Cow Pasture and Clover Leaf. A few days ago he did the Boot and it is still good skating, although a little icy. Skating was good before but it’s amazing now and is skiing like a dream. Doug told me that there’s not much he can do with the classic track until we get new snow. The classic skiers who were out earlier today seemed to be skiing just fine, although I didn’t ask. The classic tracks look to be in fairly good shape.

You can zoom in and see Doug grooming the Clover Leaf.

Track Report

Doug worked his magic again (thank you!). Most of the track has been tuned up and is skiing very well. He went out along the Perimeter and the Cow Pasture. The inside Skate Tracks - the Boot and the Clover Leaf - are still skateable but have not been groomed in a few days. The classic track seems to be holding up the walls pretty well, although it looks like the tracks are getting a little shallow.

Happy trails!

During Ski Club yesterday, my daughter and friends made this snowman on the course, just off to the side of the track. On Thursdays we "just ski" for ski club, so why not just stop and play?
See if you can spot it while you're out.

Intact track

Despite all the rain today, the track is holding up and skiing surprisingly well. As you might suspect, there were very few skiers today. Those of us that did ski left some deep tracks that hopefully will be covered by overnight snow. I’ll post if I hear any grooming updates, but in the meantime both skate and classic are still alive and well.

The City has been hard at work with some really great additions to the Winter Park. You’ll notice signs with trail names and distances throughout the course, plus the new main sign at the trailhead, an additional marking sign at the trail head, and a trash can. Lost and Found items can be turned in to the Clubhouse rentals during their operating hours.

Looking ahead into the trail before skiing this evening.

And then looking behind me at the same point after skiing. My tracks are pretty deep (sorry! hope they don't freeze into giant ruts), but there was plenty of glide.

One of several new signs on the trail. Now you know where the  "Cow Pasture" is! (It's not really a cow pasture that you ski on, but it abuts a cow pasture and sometimes smells like one).

This Perimeter sign includes the 4km distance. Super cool.

Trailhead sign. Note the "No Dogs" sign, which conflicts with the sign next to it (pictured below) that has a Leashed-Dogs (but off the trails) policy. I'll ask the City for clarification.

Rexburg Nordic Trails

The Teton Lakes Nordic Ski Trails 

Wow, it's skiing really well. Check out the pictures below. Doug went out this morning and tuned it up, except for the Boot and the Clover Leaf - the "inside skate tracks" we call them. We've had snow all day though, so everything is probably covered again (but definitely still skiable). Thank you, Doug!

BYU-I Trail

Hooray! Scott buffed out the BYU-I trail (the fields to the south of the Temple), so it should ski much better - especially the skate track. The trail is a really fun option. It's ~3 miles of track, with about half of it all downhill (works your balance!) and thus about half all uphill (good workout!). There's a slight straight in between tops and bottoms of the two major hills. You can park in the church parking lots or over by the BYU-I Ropes Course, although if it's during school hours you may need to have a parking pass if you park at the Ropes Course parking lot. Thank you, Scott!

Nordic Ski Club

Note to anyone from grades 7-12 who want to try out the ski club: You can rent the classic skis at the Club House for $6 each time, or if you register through the City's recreation page, you can get ski rentals for ski club days at half-off - yep, just $3 each time. Nice. Thank you, Rexburg Rec. Dept.!

Fresh corduroy this morning, before the new snow covered it up

Doug worked long and hard tuning things up this morning.

The City has updated the signs for us, including Trail Etiquette.
The "No Fat Bikes" rule is still in place. Please don't mess up the
hard work our groomers do by riding bikes on the ski trails.
Also, zoom in on info regarding dogs: they must be leashed - City rule -  and
please keep them off the ski trail or clear to the side (unless
your dog wears skis, that is). :)

Zoom in on the "Join the Race" Strava option. Looks like fun!

BYU-I Trail - Grooming Done

Exciting news! A ski trail on the fields just to the south of the Temple is groomed now for both Skate and Classic skiing.  Thanks to Scott for the information and to the BYU-I groomers. Should be some fun skiing!

Ski report

The skate and classic tracks are in fantastic shape and everything is gorgeous. Doug got everything in tip-top shape for the Rexburg Winter Park opening day yesterday. We had lots and lots of people out, skiing on the Nordic ski trails, snowshoeing off to the side of the trails (thank you!), sledding on the hill, and just having fun being out. The City skis rentals (rented on site) made a great addition to the day, plus Redd’s Grill looked plenty busy. What a great day it was. Thanks to all of you for joining in the fun and spreading the word.

Local Nordic Ski Race Calendar

We've had questions from several about the Cupid Cup this year.  As of now, we do not plan to hold a 2019 edition.  You'll see when perusing the schedule below of Nordic Ski races in the area (kindly provided by Dan Streubel) that our preferred days were already taken by the Alta Race and Moose Chase.

We have no desire to compete with these races, despite the fact that we have in storage over a hundred of the special order Krieg "Cupid Cup" buffs waiting for future participants of the next edition.  Hopefully next year we'll be able to find a slot that will work for everyone!

• January 12 Teton Ridge Classic
• January 18-19 SOHO Super Qualifier
• January 26 Spud Chase
• February 2 Boulder Mountain Tour
• February 9 Alta Skate Race
• February 9-10 JNQ Boise
• February 16 Moose Chase
• February 23-24 IMD Youth Ski Festival
• March 2 Rendezvous West Yellowstone
• Finish practices Thursday March 7th?

Grooming and Winter Park Updates

Doug worked long and hard yesterday to tune up the track. The track was still soft as of yesterday evening, but should set up pretty well with this warmer weather. The practice loop by the parking lot is groomed and set for people who want to just learn or work on technique before skiing long. We use this little loop for our youth Nordic Ski Club when we do drills and relays (in order not to tear up the main track). Its a fun place to start before heading out for a longer ski. Feel free to use it! 

Grand Opening of the Winter Park Tomorrow!

In other news, the Clubhouse continues to be transformed to accommodate the City's brand new fleet of classic skis. Rentals will be available starting Saturday. Many thanks to the City Rec. Department, Jeff C., Dan, Kaylie, Jess and all the other people who are making this possible. 

A huge thank you, as always, to Doug for excellent work, and all the work Randy and Doug put in - including providing the grooming equipment, paying for gas and repairs, and especially for all the man-hours.  If you are interested, you can donate for gas money through the Donate option (also found at the top right of the web version of the blog), but there's absolutely no obligation. The grooming will still happen. :) 

Trail Support Vehicle Stickers

We soon hope to have stickers (as above) printed soon for those kind enough to donate via the link in the upper right hand corner of the blog.  For the time being this money will be used to directly defray the cost of the gas for our groomers.  

Thanks to everyone for your kind words and support, see you on the trails!

Grand Opening of the Winter Park

We have some pretty exciting news: the City of Rexburg Recreation Department has been hard at work over the past several months to turn the Teton Lakes Golf Course into a Winter Park. The GRAND OPENING is this Saturday. Spread the word!

Grooming will continue under Doug and Randy's supervision over the next few years, so the skiing will continue to be amazing. The biggest change is that the Club House will be open at designated times and classic skis will be available to rent on site. The City purchased 40+ sets of skis, boots, and poles of all different sizes, so hopefully there's something for everyone. We're very excited to get the support of the City in spreading the joy of outdoor winter recreation.

Please check out the City's webpage for detailed information.

I found Jeff and Dan (from the City) unboxing the new gear today.

The Alpina classic skis are all brand new. Here's just a few of the 40+ skis from the City's new fleet.

Regroomed and tuned

Doug let me know that he and a helper were able to fix up the track late last night. The 40+mph wind gusts we had yesterday covered much of the track with windblown snow. The track should be skiable again, thanks to their hard work.

Thank you to those who have donated for gas money. The gesture and generosity are both very much appreciated. There is now an online donation option on this blog (look on the web version on the upper right side) if anyone is interested.

Youth Nordic Ski Club Cancelled

Just a reminder that when the public school is cancelled, Ski club is also cancelled.
No ski club today. See you Thursday!

01.05.19 Grooming Report

It appears Doug has been out hard at work again setting the track for what will be a beautiful day.  The track is still soft but will hopefully setup in the next few hours.  Please be mindful of staying in your lanes if classic skiing to avoid rutting the skate track. Also a friendly reminder that it it best to please leave your pets at home.