Monkey Ski… Monkey Do

On Monkey Day, the unofficial holiday celebrated internationally on December 14th, the ski trails at Alturas Lake and Park Creek are in the best shape so far this ski season, which is to say, at least they do exist and they are skiable. At Park Creek – Lupine trail, Shooting Star, Camas loop and some of the trail in Dry Gulch were rolled flat. At Alturas Lake – the Trail to the Lake, Over the Hill, South Loop, Sheep Thrills and Wapiti were all rolled flat. Expect trails to be soft, narrow and somewhat rough with no classic tracks or ginzu grooming. Now that the ski trails have finally been beaten in with great struggle through the deep early snows, the National weather service has issued a new storm warning stretching from 11 a.m. on Monkey day until 5 a.m.Friday morning with predicted snow accumulations of 10 to 14 inches and locally higher amounts in excess of 24 inches. Such serious monkey business in the upper atmosphere may slow ongoing grooming efforts.