Nordic Pulse

Mr Spokane Skinny skiers, 

I wanted to give you all a clear update on the grooming situation.

It was 46 degrees out this evening and conditions have deteriorated to the point where we can no longer groom effectively and safely. There’s just not enough consistent snow cover anymore—thin spots, exposed rocks, roots, frozen ground, and bare patches are showing up everywhere. If we kept pushing the groomer right now, we’d be putting the equipment at real risk of damaging it. I tried to clean up the trails tonight but in doing so I feel I did more harm than good. It was rough. That said I baked off the trails quickly as to not wreck any more, but there is still a lot of areas that look like they'll ski alrigh. There's a firm deck in most areas for skating and the track lines are still crisp, just watch for the thin spots. But for now I’ve made the call to park the machine and put grooming on hold until we get a solid shot of new snow and colder temperatures to firm things up.

I hope you all know that I don’t come to this lightly. I love getting out there and giving you the smooth, enjoyable trails that so many of you look forward to. It’s one of the best parts of what I do. But right now, continuing would mean more harm than good—for the gear and for the long-term quality of the trails.

So for now, we're on standby and watching the forecast every day. The second Mother Nature decides to cooperate and drop a good shot of snow our way and we get some cold temps behind it, I’ll be right back out there spinning fresh corduroy as fast as the groomer will go.

Thanks for your patience and for understanding why we have to hit the pause button. Hang in there with me—we’re all itching for those perfect tracks again. Just like I'm sure you guys go through skiing withdrawals, I go though grooming withdrawals, get all sorts of twitchy and stuff.

Keep checking back, stay safe out there, be well and please cross them fingies tight wishin for new snow.

-Capt Ginge