THE UTAH NORDIC ALLIANCE
Groomed this morning. Skate and some marginal classic. Rock skis for certain. Soft conditions, thin in places, and some poor bonding over some pavement areas. Forceful skate steps and snowplow will psh down to pavement in places, but you should be able to see it coming. Enjoy!
Opening Monday. We have started sledpacking , but coverage is thin, so if you try to ski Sunday, you will put skis on grass or pavement. More snow coming Sunday night and most of the day Monday. If you do choose to ski Monday, expect soft conditions and machinery on course almost all day. Looking forward to seeing all of you on snow at Mountain Dell again!
Forest Service is considering sledpacking today, but it will be snowing all day, so expect soft and choppy conditions no matter when you ski. Should still be fun in wider classic skis, as the surface underneath is solid. Skate will be a chore.
Not yet, but it is a step in the right direction. We will be closely monitoring the snowfall and will open a limited loop as soon as it is possible. The forecast looks moderately positive for a few inches on a few days this week, but we are starting from scratch.
There is some groomed nordic track in Salt Lake County. The Forest Service is working on a new track at the Spruces campground in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We sledpacked and dragged much of it on Thursday, and I skied it today. It is rough, but it is better than nothing.
Eventually there should be about 5k of groomed track. For now, there are bare spots and some very thin spots. I was able to skate some loops and some out-and-back without taking off skis or skiing across bare pavement. I also classic skied on the shorter western part of the track, but that required removing skis and walking two or three times.
To get to the best offerings, look for two white barricades at the northeast end of the parking lot. Walk past those, put skis on and head east. The first right and then left will keep you off pavement. Most of the good stuff is farther east (up canyon).
No classic track set yet, and almost all of the surface has asphalt underneath, so be very careful about thin spots. You should be able to see them coming. Snowmobile ski ruts and tread marks, so it is far from ideal, but it mostly is corduroy. The first 50 meters are bumpy and rough. It gets better.
Rock skis only, and no dogs. This is watershed.
Worth checking out. It should get much better after more snow arrives.
Nope. Rain on the front end of the storm took away more snow than was added later in the storm. No grooming yet at Mtn Dell.