January 30 Grooming Report

Hi all - sorry I've been a bit out of touch -- I have been out of town this weekend, so it's been a bit more difficult obtaining computer access.  As you know, Jon did some grooming this morning in preparation for the race.  Al will be grooming tomorrow in preparation for classic race, but will also re-groom Sunset/Winslow, Lion's, Scales Lake, Loop 3, Dog Loop and Dog Trail as well.  He will be starting at 8 a.m.  We have a little snow coming in tomorrow night into Monday, so will re-groom again on Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.  Al will re-groom Ward on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. 

 

Leslie

--
Are you a member of the Grand Mesa Nordic Council?  You can join for as little as $25/year -- click on the following link to join today!
http://grandmesanordicnews.blogspot.com/

GMNC-Mesa State-Grand Mesa Gliders Day One of race weekend

The first day of the Mesa State Invitational - Grand Mesa Nordic Council race weekend was a glorious day to be skiing on Grand Mesa. Today featured a 1K Sprint on and near the Arroyo Trail and Will's Hill. The top 5 collegiate competitor males were:

1. Daniel Lewis (Univ. of Wyoming)

2. Tom Sunderland (Western State College)

3. John Kirlin (Univ. of Wyoming)

4. Tre Anastasia (Mesa State College)

5. Justin Kinner (Univ. of Wyoming)

 

The top 5 females:

1. Brittany Perkins (Western State College)

2. Gwynn Barrows (Univ. of Wyoming)

3. Jamie Woelk (Western State College)

4. Gracey Lewis (Univ. of Wyoming)

5. Sarah Dixson (Univ. of Wyoming)

 

Top citizen sprinter:

1. Chris Murphy

 

Our young Grand Mesa Gliders also raced the course (ages and times included):

1. Quinn Baker (12) 6:15

2. Logan Freed (10) 8:19

3. Baxter Waltermire (8) 8:40

4. Jordan Miner (7) 8:42

5. Nora Oviatt (11) 10:16

 

Great job skiers, volunteers, groomers and weather arrangers! I hope everyone is home resting because tomorrow we return for the 10K Grand Mesa Classic with the mass start at 11 AM. See you all up top.

Tom

Tom Ela

Race Director 
434-9753
nachtambule@aol.com

Mesa State Sprints

Mother Nature provided perfect weather and snowcat operator Jon Canty provided perfect tracks for the first-ever Mesa State Sprints.

Here is a short video of the photo finish in the women's final. After viewing two different videos of the finish, we declared Western State skier Brittany Perkins the winner over University of Wyoming's Gwynn Barrows.

A hearty thanks to all the volunteers who came out to help. In particular, Tom Ela and Chuck Bodie, who came early and stayed late to make sure all was in order.

GMNC on TV

Colorado Getaways featured a segment about GMNC and Nordic skiing on the Grand Mesa in this week's show. In addition to some nice scenic footage, the show includes interviews with several Mesa State skiers, ski instructor/groomer Al Fournier, ops manager Leslie Brodhead, GMNC member Chuck Bodie, yours truly and others.

View it online here:

http://bit.ly/SkiGrandMesa

--Christie

come support the Mesa State Ski Team and GMNC

We've got two days of skiing fun coming up at Skyway.

Saturday: Mesa State Sprints

Sunday: Grand Mesa Classic

The Mesa State Sprints are spectator-friendly skate event offering something for everyone, kids included. 

Skiers begin by skiing the 1 km course for time. Racers start individually, every 30 seconds, then based on these qualifying times they are placed into elimination rounds to determine the ultimate winner. The start/finish is on the Arroyo Trail and the course features a short uphill, a sweeping downhill and a wide open finishing stretch for the sprint to the line.

The qualifiers begin at 11am, followed by head-to-head elimination heats beginning around 12:30pm.

The race features both collegiate and citizen's categories, with special prizes for the top citizens, and top masters (40+) racers. The citizens race will be held in conjunction with the collegiate race. There will also be a short kid's race (with the Grand Mesa Gliders) in between the qualifying round and the elimination heats.

In the college race, schools competing include defending national champions University of Wyoming, and Western State College and the US Air Force Academy.

The fun continues on Sunday with the Grand Mesa Classic, a 10km classic race. This is a Grand Mesa Nordic Council-sponsored event and will feature a college category in addition to our popular citizen's race. Start time is 11am.

Both events take place at Skyway on top of the Grand Mesa.

For more info, call GMNC race director Tom Ela, 434-9753 or email grandmesanordic@gmail.com

Grooming

Hi all
I arrived at skyway to find another 6 inches of snow just after 11:00 so I groomed most all the trails only loop three in the trees was left out witch will be first on the agenda for tomorrow . The moon rose at dusk and was spectacular . Enjoy some moonlight sking over the next few nights if you like that sort of thing .
Jon. Canty

Sent from my iPhone

Vasa musings:

With Christie's encouragement, I am sharing a bit of my dream-challenge-adventure that is the 2010 Vasaloppet to be held Mach 7 in Dalarna, Sweden. Last year, I participated in the the Vasaloppet's "Open Track" (all-comers) 90K race with my cousin Erik and a few of his friends. My goal was to simply finish the race, which I managed in a blistering (both feet) 8 hrs 50 min. The Open race is a relaxed event, with a rolling start time based on when one passes the start line with a micro-chip timing ankle strap. This year, cousins Erik and Bjorn, their father Torbjorn (age 70), myself and 14,000 others will race the official competitive Vasaloppet. So the bar has been raised...more to come.

newsletters

The latest GMNC newsletter should be arriving in your mailbox any time now. If you GMNC membership is current, your newsletter will include a 20-year anniversary window decal. 

Many of you have opted to save us money by receiving your newsletters via email (thanks!) but because of the decals all newsletters went out by snail mail this time. We are working to implement a new website and mailing list that will make it easy to send and receive the newsletter by email, so rest assured that those of you who have signed up for the electronic newsletter will receive the next one that way. 

If you haven't joined yet, please do and we'll get you a decal.

Now go enjoy the snow!

Christie

Ski Lessons Change of Venue, this weekend only

To avoid conflicts with the Mesa State Sprints, the GMNC's ski group
ski lessons will take place at County Line this Saturday.

The beginning classic class will begin at 10am at County Line.

Questions? Call Al: 872-3868

January 27 Grooming Report

SNOW, SNOW, SNOW.  Well, it snowed all today on the Mesa -- those of you who did your snow dance a couple of weeks ago are being rewarded ten times over now.  Jon did pack out the following trails, although they were pretty much covered within the hour:  Winslow, Sunset, Scales Lake, Loop 3, Dog Loop, Loop 2 (top), Kannah Crossing and Vista (Ridge only).  He also groomed out our race course for the sprint races coming up on Saturday.  Jon will be back up tomorrow late morning to keep working on the race course, as well as packing out the rest of the trails.  The snow looks to clear out by tomorrow afternoon, and then Friday and Saturday are looking pretty good -- partly to mostly sunny with highs in the upper 20s.  The grooming plan through the weekend is for him to groom out everything Friday afternoon into early evening, let the snow set up, come back on Saturday to groom the race course, and our high traffic trails.  And Al will be in Sunday morning to groom out the course for Sunday's race and touch up as well.  There is a chance of snow on Sunday, but right now, it looks like we'll get the race in before the snow starts falling again. 

 

Leslie

--
Are you a member of the Grand Mesa Nordic Council?  You can join for as little as $25/year -- click on the following link to join today!
http://grandmesanordicnews.blogspot.com/

January 25 Grooming Report

Al groomed out Ward top to bottom this afternoon and repaired all the snowmobile damage.  Please, if you know snowmobilers, remind them of how costly it is for us when they poach on our trails....  Next grooming of Ward will be Friday afternoon at 2 pm, and next grooming for County Line/Skyway will be Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. 

 

Tomorrow's weather will be mostly cloudy with a high of 24 degrees.  There is a chance of snow tomorrow night into Wednesday with a small weather system moving through -- only expecting a 2-4 inches of snow. 

 

Leslie

--
Are you a member of the Grand Mesa Nordic Council?  You can join for as little as $25/year -- click on the following link to join today!
http://grandmesanordicnews.blogspot.com/

GMNC on Channel 4

Denver's CBS TV station Channel 4 will be featuring a segment about
skiing on the Grand Mesa this Saturday, January 30 at 6:30pm (on their
Colorado Getaways program).

Video will eventually be available here too: http://cbs4denver.com/getaways

--Christie

January 24 Grooming Report

Al groomed the following trails this morning/afternoon --- snow had pretty much tapered off and it's going to be pretty cold tonight -- 4 degrees, so should be good skiing for Monday.  Trails groomed were Sunset, Winslow, Lion's Loop, Vista (valley), Will's Hill, Arroyo, Scales Lake, Dog Loop, Loop 3, Loop 2 (bottom only), and Kannah Crossing.  We are expecting a chance of snow on Tuesday night/Wednesday, but nothing like this past week.  Al will be grooming Ward tomorrow afternoon, and the next grooming of Skyway/County Line will be Wednesday morning at 9 a.m.  Happy Skiing!

 

Leslie

--
Are you a member of the Grand Mesa Nordic Council?  You can join for as little as $25/year -- click on the following link to join today!
http://grandmesanordicnews.blogspot.com/

County Line

County Line Loop One, nice and cold.

 

Lee Gelatt

January 23 Grooming Report

Whew!! That was quite a day for our grooming staff -- many thanks to Jon and Al who put in a lot of hard work and all day to get our trails in great shape.  Jon perservered and was able to get all the trails on County Line and Skyway groomed out.  Thanks to his early start this morning, he was able to provide skiable trails for our members as early as 10 a.m.  And Al persevered through massive drifts, mucho shoveling, and tracking with the snowmobile to get Ward done -- thanks for all your hard work!

 

Al will be up bright and early tomorrow morning (Sunday) to hit our most heavily used trails on County Line and Skyway.  He will be back at Ward on Monday afternoon to groom that out as well.

 

Forecast for tomorrow is similar to today -- snow showers with 1-3 inches of new snow, low of 6 degrees tonight and high of 14 tomorrow.  Monday might be the day to play hooky -- don't tell the boss I told you so! -- as it looks to be partly sunny with highs around 22 degrees. 

 

Happy Skiing!

Leslie

Wildcat Tracks

Last week we saw lots of wildcat sign on Skyway trails, these paw prints and scratchings. They are probably bobcat, but lynx are known to be on the Mesa.

 

Lee Gelatt

January 21 Grooming Report

Still snowing moderately on the Grand Mesa through today and high winds (50 mph, with gusts up to 70) and snow expected tomorrow.  Jon packed down several of the trails on Skyway and County Line including Sunset, Winslow, Lions, Arroyo, Scales Lake, Dog trail, Dog loop, Loop three, Loop 1, Kannah Crossing, Vista (hill and valley) and Wills hill.  We really appreciate Jon's perseverance in keeping up with the snowfall.  Jon and Al will be up bright and early on Saturday morning to try and pack down the trails and set track.  Snow should be lessening over the weekend with only 2-3 inches expected Saturday and snow showers for Sunday.  Winds will also die down for Saturday, so should be better for skiing.  We'll keep you posted.

 

Leslie

Road Closure

CDOT has informed us that they'll be closing Hwy 65 from 7pm tonight (Jan 21) until approximately 2pm tomorrow (Jan 22) for avalanche control.

Stay safe on the roads!

Christie

No Lessons This Saturday

Due to predictions of heavy snow and blowing wind, there will be no lessons this Saturday. 

Our instructor, Al, will be busy working with our other groomers to stay on top of the grooming. 

thanks,

Christie

Christie Aschwanden

President, Grand Mesa Nordic Council

grandmesanordic@gmail.com

http://grandmesanordicnews.blogspot.com

http://gmnc.org

January 20 Grooming Report

Well, as our local weather guru, Joe Ramey, predicted, we are getting bombarded with snow.  We are trying at this point, just to stay on top of packing down the snow, so it doesn't get insurmountable.  As one skier e-mailed me -- he was following Jon today, and it was great for about 20 minutes, and then the snow completely covered the tracks.  Al reported 15 inches of new snow at Ward today, and Jon reported moderate to heavy snowfall as well.  Al packed and rolled Ward, and Jon packed out Sunset/Winslow, Lion's, Vista (ridge only), Kannah Crossing, Loop 3 (through trees), Dog Trail (& shortcut), Dog Loop and Scales.  Of course, on Scales and Lion's, it was drifting fast, so pending weather (and possible road closures) for tomorrow, he will try to keep packing it out in the morning.  There will be no grooming on Friday at all due to blizzard conditions predicted, and both Al and Jon will be working Saturday morning 9- 10 a.m. on packing the trails again.  We're crossing our fingers that our stormy weather abates for the following weekend, and we will have primo race conditions....

 

Leslie

Grand Mesa Gliders Update

The Gliders started their season early  this year with a ski camp on November 21st.  Junior teams from Aspen and Crested Butte also trained on the Grand Mesa that weekend, taking advantage of our great early season snow.  We have been meeting to ski every weekend since and have been participating in the GMNC races.  Recently, Coach Christina has been teaching the Gliders how to skate ski.  Thanks to our grant from the El Pomar Foundation and discounted ski equipment from Powderhorn Sports, we were able to purchase enough pairs of skate/combi skis to outfit all of our Gliders.    January 2nd marked the start of the Little Gliders' season.  It was also a race day for GMNC - the Skyway Shuffle - and most of the youth participated (even though for some, it was their first day on skis!).  The last session for Little Gliders is January 30th, followed by a 1K race and picnic in the arroyo.  Little Gliders who want to continue their training with the Gliders (see schedule below) are welcome, but must be able to ski at least 5K.  Talk with Coach Annie for more information.   The Gliders schedule for the rest of the year is as follows: January 23 - 10am, Skyway, Classic; 11:30am - Team Picture! January 30 - 10am, Skyway, warm-up, register for race; 11am, 1K sprint race, freestyle, lunch picnic in arroyo following race January 21 - 11am - Skyway, Classic race, 2.5K, mass start February 6 - 10am - Countyline - Classic - Tour to Overlook. February 7 - 11am - Ward Lake - Classic - the Staircase (be prepared for hills) February 13 - Ski Festival in Aspen. Meet at AVSC Clubhouse by 11:00am; kids events from 12:30-4:00; awards dinner to follow; Registration must be in to coaches by February7th February 20th - Skyway, skate February 27th* - 6:00pm Full moon ski! Families welcome! (choose your discipline) - Celebrate GMNC's 20th year at Skyway - BBQ/Fire in parking lot at Skyway (bring headlamp. March 6th - Skyway - 10am - classic - Barneloppet youth ski races! March 7th* - Skyway - 10am - skate (*extra skate practice for those participating in Mesa Meltdown) March 13th - Skyway - 11am - Mesa Meltdown Freestyle race 2.5 K; End of year picnic to follow.  Turn in skis!   The Gliders is looking for a parent representative to serve on the Rocky Mountain Nordic ("RMN") Board of Directors.  RMN meets twice a year (April and September), usually in Aspen, to discuss junior club programs, summer and fall ski camps, to schedule the Junior National Qualifying races in Colorado, and to plan the Junior National trip.  If interested, please send an e-mail to Annie Murphy at gmgliders@gmail.com.

Big Bottom Marathon cancelled

Due to snowy and stormy conditions forecast for this weekend, we will not be staging the Big Bottom Marathon on Saturday.  Joe Ramey will be issuing a more extensive forecast for the week, but conditions simply are not safe to have skiers out skiing 40k. 

 

Leslie

January 18 Grooming Report

Kudos to Al for some great grooming this afternoon -- as Bryon and I were out doing some late skiing, we got some fresh tracks in on the Dog Loop and County Line.  He groomed Sunset/Winslow, Lion's Loop, Kannah Crossing, Loop 3, Loop 1 (bottom), Loop 2 (bottom), Dog Trail and Dog Loop.  Spies on the trails spotted a famliar face riding shotgun in the snowcat -- if anyone has further information, please contact the Ops Manager (me)!.  We are looking at some stormy weather coming in this week, which means lots of fresh powder -- Joe Ramey will be posting an updated weather forecast for this coming week.  Because of the stormy weather, we will be switching to morning grooming as of Wednesday -- Al will be packing down Ward starting at 10 a.m., and Jon will be grooming Skyway/County Line at the same time on Wednesday -- happy skiing!

 

Leslie

Mesa State Nordic Ski Team

Members of the Mesa State Nordic Ski Team, including these three, were training today at Skyway. Come cheer the team on during the Mesa State Invitational Races on Jan. 30-31 at Skyway. There's a 1-kilometer sprint race on Jan. 30 and a 10k classic race on Jan. 31.  They are up against teams from the University of Wyoming, Western State College, the Air Force Academy, and Colorado Mountain College.  Go Mavs! 

 

Lee Gelatt

January 16 grooming report

Jon and Al groomed Arroyo, Vista, Lion's, Scales Lake, Loop 3 (just section through trees), Dog Trail and Dog Loop this afternoon.  It will feel cooler tomorrow because it is going to be overcast with a high of 33.  Al will be doing some touch-up grooming tomorrow on Skyway/County Line at 2 pm.  We are expecting some snow Monday night into Tuesday, and our expecting a snowy week going forward into next weekend, with new snow for next weekend of over a foot.  Because of this stormy pattern, we will be doing morning grooming starting Wednesday morning at 9 am, and continuing with that into Saturday.  

 

Leslie 

January 15 grooming report

Jon groomed up the following trails for weekend skiing at Skyway/County Line -- Sunset, Winslow, Vista (valley), Lion's Loop, Kannah Crossing, Loop 3, Loop 2 (lower), Loop 1 (lower), Dog Loop, Dog Trail and Scales lake.  Conditions are spring-like with warmer temps in the afternoon, and cold temps over night.  Excellent for skating and classic tracks are firm and fast.  Jon will be doing some touch-up grooming tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm and then we will be crossing our fingers for some snow the first part of next week. 

 

Al also groomed Ward top to bottom this afternoon and it's looking good.  I skiied Ward recently and it is very fast coming back down from the campground -- fun times!  Happy skiing!

 

Leslie

January 12 grooming report

Kenton and Al groomed up Skyway yesterday afternoon -- Winslow, Sunset, Arroyo, Lion's Loop and Will's Hill.  Things are still firm and very fast.  We are expecting a little snow tonight and tomorrow -- 3-5 inches.  The next grooming will be Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. 

 

Leslie

January 11 grooming report

Al groomed up Ward top to bottom this afternoon and put in lots of extra work repairing snowmobile damage -- thanks a bunch for all your good work!  Kenton will be grooming Skyway/County Line tomorrow afternoon starting at 2 pm, and Al will re-groom Ward on Friday afternoon for the weekend.

 

leslie

Jump in snow depth at Grand Mesa Sunday

Howdy -

Yesterday I was at the Grand Mesa Study Plot and made a correction in the program for our ultrasonic snow depth sensor so that the reported snow depth matched the actual snowdepth (90 cm, or about 35").  So, the data show a roughly 8" (20 cm) jump up in depths in two hours yesterday afternoon, under sunny skies!  This correction should not be required again this season.  Overall, the study site was in excellent shape and folks have done a great job of avoiding the tower and leaving the snow around it undisturbed.  And, the ski trails were in fantastic condition ... kudos to the Grand Mesa Nordic Council's grooming crew.

Cheers,
Chris

--

Chris Landry – Exec. Dir.

Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies

www.snowstudies.org

Volunteer Assistant Ski Coach Needed

The correct email address for the Grand Mesa Gliders is: gmgliders@gmail.com

Found

A ring has been found in the County Line parking lot. Call or send a message to claim.

Tom Ela
434-9753
nachtambule@aol.com

GMNC Volunteer Opportunities

GMNC Members:

 

I am working as one of the Volunteer Coordinators for the Grand Mesa Nordic Council (GMNC).  I am reaching out to Grand Mesa Nordic skiers and all of the our members to ask how you can assist us in supporting our mission and providing the best skiing experience possible for our community.   We have been in the process of revising our vision and are identifying new opportunities that we hope to provide soon.  We have also been looking at new fund raising opportunities to help to ensure that we can continue to provide world class grooming into the future.  The GMNC has recently begun to provide new experiences to support Nordic skiing in our local community, such as adult ski lessons and the Grand Mesa Gliders youth ski program. 

 

Our membership and the use of the ski trails are continuing to grow and we are working to identify new volunteer opportunities that will help support all of our trail users and great skiing up on the Mesa.  We will continue to need help with races, special events, Barnelopet, pre-season trail maintenance, and with end of season trail work.  Some new volunteer opportunities that have been identified are fund raising, grant writing, volunteer organization, 20 year anniversary party organization, advertising/outreach, group ski leaders, skier and snowshoe trail ambassadors that would provide information and education to trail users, and assistants for the Grand Mesa Gliders youth program (equipment maintenance, race volunteers, assistant coaching, special events, etc). 

 

The Board would also like to know about any special skills that you may have that would help to support our mission.  We appreciate all of the donations and assistance that our members have given over the years and are gracious for any additional support that can be offered. Please contact me if you would like more information about specific volunteer opportunities or have suggestions.  We will also continue to reach out to our members as volunteer needs arise.  Please make sure to add your current volunteer interests to your GMNC membership form or contact me to add new interests. 

 

Kind Regards,

Christina

GMNC Volunteer Coordinator

gmnc.volunteer@gmail.com

January 9 Grooming Report

Just some touch-up grooming today of Lion's Loop, Scales, Dog Trail, Dog Loop.  Everything is firm and fast and holding up nicely.  Unfortunately, while we were skiing Ward today, snowmobiles not only encroached, but drove up the trail, so upper third of Ward is somewhat torn up.  Al will groom Ward again on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m.  Next grooming for County Line/skyway will be at 2 pm on Tuesday. 

 

Leslie

Volunteer Ski Coach Needed

The Grand Mesa Gliders youth ski program is looking for a volunteer to work as an assistant coach within one of the Glider groups.  The volunteer is needed to help coach a 10 year old with special needs that would benefit from extra assistance.  We are looking for someone that can help on the next two Saturdays (1/16 and 1/23) from 10:00 to 11:30.  The Gliders meet at the Skyway Trailhead.  If you are interested in helping or would like more information please contact Annie Murphy at 970.623.4424 or gmglilders@gmail.com.  Additional volunteer opportunities for Grand Mesa skiers will be posted shortly.

January 8 Grooming Report

Skiing is firm and fast right now -- excellent for skating, and still holding up well for classic as well.  Was a bit chilly in the a.m., though, so bundle up!  Trail system at County Line/Skyway was in good shape and classic tracks holding up excellent, so Jon just regraded skate lanes on Lion's, Scales Lake, Vista, Kannah Crossing, Loop 2.  Al groomed Ward top to bottom, including major shoveling to clear out trailhead -- thanks Al!  Jon will be back out there at 2 pm tomorrow to do some touch-up of Skyway/County Line.  We may wait on Ward to re-groom until end of next week, depending on weather conditions -- I'll keep you posted.  Happy skiing and think snow!

 

Leslie

Ward grooming

Forgot to include in my last post, that Al will be grooming out Ward tomorrow afternoon (Friday) at 2 p.m.

 

Leslie

January 7 grooming report

After a sprinkling of new snow, Kenton groomed out our high priority trails this morning, including Winslow/Sunset, Lion's, Scales, Loop 3 and the Dog Loop.  Jon will be back at it tomorrow at 2 p.m. to groom up the remainder of the trails for the weekend.  It's going to be super cold tonight -- 14 degrees below zero, but warming up to a balmy 23 tomorrow afternoon.  Happy skiing!

 

Leslie

January 4 grooming report

Kenton did a great job grooming up everything and cleaning the trails up from the weekend's ski traffic -- thanks Kenton!  All the trails at County Line and Skyway were groomed up this afternoon/evening.  We'll probably hold off on touch-up grooming until Thursday morning at 7 a.m., as we are expecting some snow (don't know how much at this point) on Wednesday night.  We'll also probably hold off on grooming Ward until Friday as well.  Happy Skiing!

Skyway Skuffle Results

A special thanks to Jerry Nolan for posting the Skyway Skuffle results. Find them here: http://bit.ly/Skuffle

Skyway Skuffle report

Once again Dave Aschwanden beat everybody and Christie Aschwanden beat all of the women and almost all of the men coming in one and three overall to capture the male and female wins in the Skyway Skuffle 10K freestyle race. Russ Bollig travelled from Broomfield and Kari Distefano travelled from Telluride to push Dave and Christie taking second for men and women. There was a good turnout for the race despite unsettled weather. Some other notable finishes from the pack were Kelsey Follett, member of the new Mesa State College Nordic Team, 4th place woman and 11th overall, Stu Krebs still cruising along at 75 in his vintage red suit, and Marty Wacker who decided to teach himself how to skate during his first ski race and finished smiling. Good job, everybody! Check out the nice coverage and photo of the race in the Sunday Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

 

The snow was cold and not very fast but the course was in great shape, firm and smooth. Thanks to groomer Jon Canty for race day grooming and fellow groomers Kenton Shaw and Al Fournier for consistently excellent trails. At 9:30 race morning it started snowing hard and began to blow so I was thinking, "Well, here's our normal race day blizzard right on schedule." Thirty minutes later the sun was out and I was grabbing my sun block. Maybe we've paid our dues after all. Generally, the day remained overcast but calm so everyone was able to comfortably hang out for hot minestrone and a generous variety of Clif Bar products after finishing. Thanks again to Clif Bar for sponsoring our races and to Acli-Mate Energy Drink for letting us try out their product. Bill and Shirley Ela, Tom Fanticone and Nilam Hypio were our much appreciated volunteer crew.

 

Tom Ela

GMNC Race Director

grooming report January 2

Attached is grooming report for Saturday, January 2.  Basically, we re-groomed race course -- thanks for a great job, Jon! -- this morning, which included Sunset, Lion's Vista, Arroyo and back Lion's.  Since there was no snow, we did not re-groom anything else today, but all of the other trails with the exception of Kannah Crossing and Dog Trail were re-groomed last night, so should be in good shape.  Because everyone's going back to work, we won't re-groom until later on this week, probably Monday or Tuesday afternoon/evening starting at 2 pm. 

 

Leslie

Dec 31 Grooming Report

As I write this, it has officially turned 2010 -- so Happy New Years!  Per requests, I am titling grooming report as of the day grooming was completed.  Jon groomed out all the trails on County Line and Skyway today, so should be great skiing for tomorrow.  He'll be back at it tomorrow afternoon at around 2 pm, and will be grooming the race course on Saturday morning for the race.  Al also groomed Ward top to bottom today as well and will be touching it up on Saturday at 2 pm.

 

No grooming report attached today, as I'm having to send this remotely using another computer.  I'll try to have one tomorrow evening for the race.  New Years Day high is forecast for 27 degrees, and we do have snow forecast for Friday night and Saturday for the race -- looking at 3-6 inches total right now -- so it might slow down the race a bit -- but then as we're finding out this year, it's not a race unless it's stormy weather!

 

Leslie