Saturday morning, January 16, 2016
GREAT NEWS! More snowfall since my last report has guaranteed us a full race course next weekend!
Since my last report we felt we needed 2-4 inches of snowfall to have a good ski course. Since then we have received more than that. We received between 4 to 10 inches depending on course location, with more expected in the next 2 days. This morning I skied the last 14km of the race course. I was able to ski all the way to the Dome (finish line) on good skis. We were able to set track all the way to the dome. It has probably been 10 years or so since we have been able to do that a week prior to the race. At this point, minimal work is needed to fix some thin areas over the last 2km. Other than road crossings, I don’t expect to need to haul snow in to cover the final 2km. We have been fortunate to get a larger proportion of snowfall in the Marquette area than we normally get. The snow has been dense and moist and makes for good packing. We don’t have quite as much snow as last year, but last year’s snow was very dry and difficult to work with. We have a better base in town this year.
I was also able to ski our new downhill onto the large pond (7km to the finish) and it skied very gentle and easy. The back of the pack skiers will find this a very welcome improvement!
Tomorrow I plan to view the first half of the race course, however this section has received more snowfall than we have had in the city. I expect that to look pretty good, but I will report back tomorrow night or Monday morning.
Regards,
Jon Mommaerts
Chief of Course