by DK | Dec 20, 2019 | .
On Thursday, December 19th, a trail was groomed to Alturas Lake for the first time this season. It was not a blue jay day, but the temperatures had warmed somewhat and with more snow predicted overnight Davinius thought it was a good time to cross the bridge and break on through to the other side. He drove slowly and with some trepidation through the grey mist and the untracked snow. As always, he was fearful that something dreadful might happen. He might tip over or get stuck in a snowbank, miss a turn or lose his way. However, when he arrived at the lakeshore without incident and gazed out at the snow covered expanse, he realized that while he may have found the trail, he had lost himself instead. All that remained was the sound of the wind.
The Trail to the Lake was compacted with two passes of the snowmobile and then rolled one time. Over the Hill and South Loop were also rolled. Sheep Thrills got one snowmobile pass. Trails should be ok for flat tracking but are still a bit primitive for skating. There is not enough snow for directional signs yet.
by DK | Dec 16, 2019 | .
On the morning of December 16th, the 158th anniversary of the birth of the French painter Antonio de La Gandera, the pretty girl from the village ventured out in the early morning light in search of a stick or two of fire wood, but she quickly retreated indoors as the ball gown she was still wearing from the night before provided little protection from the biting cold. The Smiley Creek Airport weather station was reporting a low of 19 degrees below zero. The trails at Alturas, that had been rolled on Saturday by old man Davinius, were ginzu groomed by his young assistant, Chadius Maximus, on Sunday. Farther down the valley, Adam, the first man of Stanley basin grooming, had planned to do the same at Park Creek, but had not yet reported back on his results. In any case, the day did seem a bit cold for skiing the Sawtooth trails.
by DK | Dec 14, 2019 | .
On December 14th, International Monkey Day, some ski trails at Park Creek and Alturas Lake were compacted and roughly rolled. They need more work for any serious skiing but should be ok if you just want to get out and monkey around. At Alturas, Over the Hill, South Loop and the Trail to the Lake as far as the bridge junction and at Park Creek almost every trail except for Sego were upgraded from pretty poor to sufficiently skiable for a simian shuffle.
by DK | Dec 13, 2019 | .
We are celebrating Friday the 13th, 2019 as a lucky, lucky day. The Sawtooth Ski Club’s annual members’ meeting will kick off the Sawtooth Valley’s ski season at 6 PM at the Sawtooth Hotel in Stanley, Idaho. If you can brave the wintery highways, be there or be square. Earlier this week grooming equipment arrived at the Park Creek and Alturas Ski areas. Although snow levels have lagged behind those in the Wood River Valley, enough has piled up to begin grooming cross country trails. South loop, Over the Hill and the Trail to the Lake as far as the bridge were snowmobile packed on Wednesday at ALturas and then immediately buried by an overnight snow storm. The good news is that most of the sage brush should be covered now and a Saturday grooming is scheduled to reclaim and flatten trails enough to at least allow for some flat tracking. Skating will have to wait for things to firm up. Park Creek has slightly less snow that the upper valley but we hope to also begin grooming there in the coming week.
by DK | Dec 1, 2019 | .
On November 30th, Davinius and the pretty girl from the village drove for a final time to the inlet of Alturas Lake. It was the last day the road would be open to traffic for the season. Their 2020 Lamborghini Huracan EVO blew through the 5 inches of light snow that covered the road, purring like a wild bobcat in pursuit of a snowshoe hare. Elk tracks criss crossed the snow and Canada geese suddenly thundered off the lake, honking into the sky. Davinius ran his fingers through the curls of his white beard, softened by Alberto VO5 conditioner, and removed his Maui Jim sunglasses. The perks for his job as a major internet influencer had been pretty good… real gravy, just like the Swanson ready-to-serve turkey gravy he’d poured on his General foods stove top stuffing and Ore-Ida instant mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving. But now he was ready for a simple contemplative lifestyle in his snow cave by the lake and had definitely decided that once the snow got a bit deeper, he would move there and give up all the perks to start grooming the Alturas ski trails again for the winter. He just hoped that more snow would fall soon and that his Fabreze plug-in air freshener and his Brut Eau de Cologne would last through to the spring thaw. Otherwise this grooming job just might stink.
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