Scott groomed the track to the south and West of the Temple. Thank you, Scott!
I hope everyone is enjoying this great winter, although it’s been too cold for many of us the last two days. We had an official low temp at the airport of -27F yesterday, and not much warmer today. Windchill is still around a low of -35F. Brrr. Daytime temps have been a little more tolerable, but still it is hard to ski when the snow is so cold. Stay warm and safe!
Thanks to Randy who just finished tuning up the skate track. He said it looks good and should ski hold up for the coming week. The classic tracks are holding up nicely.
8:30am: Jeff rolled the deep, fresh snow yesterday afternoon (to pack it down), and then Doug groomed late last night or early this morning. I was out at 7:30 this morning and it was lovely. The skate track is still soft but will set up throughput the morning. The classic tracks are beautiful. It’s the Rexburg Winter Festival today at Teton Lakes. Should be a perfect day for winter fun. Enjoy!
Just finished making a few passes on the skate lane to try and compact the snow for grooming later tonight. Tomorrow is the Rexburg Snow-Fest, and so Doug will be hard at work with the Ginzu groomer getting things tuned up for Saturday. Right now the snow is very soft despite the rolling. There's a remnant of a skier defined classic track, but nothing formal.
We're grateful for the snow, but will wait until it stops before we commit to more work on the track.
My daughter designed some new signs for the Winter Park (see below). They were delivered today so we will try to set them out this weekend.
Hopefully we can educate people on trail etiquette. We are so thankful for the volunteer grooming and don’t want to create unnecessary extra work (repairing damaged tracks). Hopefully the signs will remind skiers to stay in their respective tracks, keep walkers and snowshoers off the groomed trails, and clearly educate people that fat bikes & dogs aren’t allowed. If only the deer and moose would also behave… :)
The ski trails at Teton Lakes Winter Park and also by the Temple have all been tuned up. The skiing is great. Enjoy!
Dave just sent this report:
Here now. Cold and windy. Fresh grooming skate and classic. I'm a little surprised at the amount of traffic already on the skate track but it is obviously fresh corduroy from grooming perhaps early this morning.
I somehow overlooked this report and didn’t get it posted Monday (sorry!). Doug groomed everything Monday mid-day. He wrote:
I tuned the skate track and rebuilt the conventional track around the cow pasture. Skiing conditions are very good. Enjoy
Please help us keep the track skiable and honor the time our groomers donate.
Just got this text from a skier:
Hi Steph. Would you please ask people skiing at Teton Lakes to speak up when they see people walking, biking, snowshoeing, bringing dogs, etc. on the ski course? Today there were snowmobiles that came through the fence on the south side of the course by the Cow Pasture. They rode for a ways on the groomed trail. We all need to speak up or else it will be ruined. Thanks!
Doug worked hard last night (thank you!!!). Here’s his report he sent at 1:30am -
The tracks were all rebuilt, but it became too late to finish so the cow pasture will wait for another day. Skiing will be good every where. Enjoy and please know your groom. We have people walking and snow shoeing on the tracks. It makes it very hard to keep the tracks ski worthy when that is going on.
Looks like Doug tuned up the skate track with one pass all around. It’s skiing very well, and the classic tracks are holding up great.
The Temple track was groomed today for both skate and classic. As a reminder, you can park in the church parking lot just down the hill (west) of the Temple to access the trail. If you have campus parking or are parking after hours, I believe you can also park in the lot that accesses the ropes course and playing fields . Enjoy!
Doug just sent this report:
The track is tuned up and ready for all. The new snow be a little soft but I think will ski ok. The base is hard and snow covers everywhere. Have a great “Human Rights Day”
Many thanks to Doug for working so hard! Wether or not the trail is perfect, we’re just grateful for a place to go. Here’s his report:
We are struggling to get the perfect track this year. Last night when the grooming was finished, it was a good as I has seen this year. But as I was completing the last round it began to rain and snow just lightly. When I started the temperature was 26 and by the time I finished it was up to 31. You could tell a weather change was coming. As I finished, I thought, “Well, a little rain won’t matter.” This morning, I see a half inch of new snow and that matters! But at 36 degrees, I will do more harm than good if I try to groom. Enjoy the beauty and being outside. Next week we will have the perfect trail!
See the latest update from Doug below (see yesterday’s post for the backstory). Also, Please spread the word kindly to help people know which tracks to ski on. Classic skiers will be happier staying in the classic tracks, and skate skiers will be happier having the skate deck free from deep ruts. No walking at all & no dogs on the trails, please.
From Doug: The groomer just needed to thaw out and get the moisture out. While in the shop, James put new primary combs on to replace where I had some unfortunate encounters with a steel post poking up through the snow and bolts on the bridge. I took out parts of combs at each encounter. We should be ready to develop the perfect track for Saturday. I will let you know when I finish. Thanks for keeping the blog up to date, the more that read it and maintain our trails with courtesy and knowing which track to be on will help all to have a great time skiing. Enjoy a great Rexburg outdoor winter.
Doug just sent an update. I’ll summarize: he started grooming at 4:30 this morning (!?!) but ran into mechanical problems. I told him we’re all sympathetic and appreciative.
Here’s his full text:
Sorry about this late report. I have been dealing with equipment problem. I started to groom this morning about 4:30. It took time to defrost and get on the trail and once I did, I tried putting front tines down to soften and smooth ski marks out. However, nothing happened; the tines were not moving. I did the best I could without the tines to smooth the snow. I put 2 sets of convention/classic in and groomed the skate track as best I could. With the new snow, it turned out pretty good. The groomer is being fixed. We have our own Grooming mechanic from the City (James). He is wonderful and can fix anything. We are hoping the tines were only frozen. It is in the shop warming up. I will let you know more when I hear. The roller was having problems yesterday not wanting to roll and James has it also, and he is diagnosing the problem. I ask for patience until we get things fixed.
Doug
I originally posted that I didn’t know the state of the track, but Doug just texted me:
“I rolled the skate track between 2-4pm today. It should be wonderful when the wind stops. I was going put things in order tonight but the wind will just destroy it. I will see what early morning brings.”
And also I heard from Scott that the Temple track was groomed this evening for both skate and classic. It’s a convenient in-town location and also a nice view. Plus it’s a good spot to practice long hills. Enjoy!
Thanks to Doug for grooming! He just sent this report:
The trail has one trip around the skate track perimeter, clover leaf has two trips and looked great. The cow pasture has it all - both a new skate track and new classic tracks. It got late and I ran out of gas to finish and the snow got too soft. Skiing should still be good. The classic track is still in good shape and skate has groomed surface just not vary wide. We will be back at it depending on weather. Have a great day!
The skate track has not been groomed since Saturday morning, but it still skis nicely. Just be aware that the first ~1/2mile is pretty rutted and the ruts are covered with snow, making it hard to get a flat ski (please use the skate deck for skating and the classic tracks for classic, so we don’t mess up tracks too much). That first part of the trail gets a lot of traffic, but it smooths out after the first bridge. The base is firm and the snow cover is light, so it’s a good, gentle ski. You can get a nice glide, but you probably won’t be skiing super fast.
The classic tracks look good. We have a winter storm warning today through tomorrow, so perhaps we will get things groomed after the predicted storm passes.
Scott just texted me about the Nordic track on the fields to the south and west side of the Temple & Ropes Course:
Groomed today and yesterday by the temple. Skate and classic.
Doug tuned up the skate track early today, and reports that it looked good. He said the conventional/classic was more difficult. Because the snow was soft it did not go through groomer as well, so he only did one set of tracks and left the better set alone. There are a lot of skiers out enjoying the day. Have fun!
I haven’t heard any updates, but I did ski yesterday and the track was good for both skating and classic. There are a few thin spots and a tiny scattering of gravel here and there, so keep your eyes peeled. It snowed a little last night and is snowing lightly right now, so that will help. I’ll post if I hear anything.
We’re still getting snow, so the skate track is all covered. If you skate, you’ll be skiing through fresh powder and hoping not to get lost. Our groomers plan to go out this evening to fix things up.
This is a good day for classic skiing. You can still see the classic tracks and they’re holding up nicely.
Doug just sent this update:
Just a couple of pictures says it all. Winter is here and the track is in great shape. We have four sets of classic tracks so groups can ski side by side
Last I heard, Randy worked on the track for five hours Saturday morning, and he or Doug planned to tune it up Saturday night. I’ll post any updates as soon as I know.
