Crews were out today prepping our usual spots on the full 50K course and things are looking good the entire length of the trail. A few spots to hit, as usually happens this week, but we have real snow and great base. More snow is on the way too. Possibly a lot of snow with mild temps on the other side.
Speaking of mild, today was downright comfortable and the skiing was excellent if you were waxed for it. The entire trail held up well under the 42 degree day as there was no precipitation. There was also abundant cloud cover which minimized snow melt. A big thank you to the crews of people that headed out today prep some spots on the 50K course. I also saw some aid station folks taking advantage of the warm weather to do aid station site prep…although I fear that their efforts may have been in vain if this winter storm pans out – any snowblowing/shoveling will just be filled back in with new snow!
The lower ponds (about 3K from the finish) were in excellent condition with no slush (the trail crew did an amazing job to prep that area). There is some slush on both the Deer Lake crossing and the Basin, near the edges, but crews were out today smoothing out the transition areas and prepping for more significant snows on the way. It’s hard to say what those two spots will do next weekend, but the 10+ inches of new snow we are supposed to get Monday night into Tuesday should take care of that all on its own. We’ll know more at the end of the week and communicate anything skiers would need to take note of prior to reaching the water crossings. We ask skiers to keep in mind that the Noquemanon trail is not some man-made snow ski loop on a citified trail…this is a ski epic that cuts through the deep woods of the UP. If you have concerns, talk to some of the 19 year skiers (soon to be 20 year skiers) and get their tips for being prepared for varying conditions as they seem to be pros at it!
Ski on and we will be in touch about conditions through the week!