by DK | Feb 9, 2015 | .
On Sunday morning, the rain soaked snow pack at the Alturas Lake ski area had a chance to freeze and set up a bit. However it was not frozen enough to support the snowmobile and ginzu groomer, with the snowmobile repeatedly punching through the fragile crust. After a try at grooming the Trail to the Lake as far as the bridge junction, Over the Hill and some of South Loop, all efforts were called off, since doing anything to the trails seemed to end up worse than doing nothing at all. His work all for naught and his pride defeated, our broken groomer Davinius who had thought himself smart enough to outwit the melting snow, returned to his dripping ice cave to meditate on the virtue of humility and the words of his hero Galileo who had died on this very date in 1642. Could it really be true that Galileo had “never met a man so ignorant that he couldn’t learn something from him”? Divinius decided he should keep that in mind. And as for that sun melting the snowpack, Galileo had summed it up well when he said that “The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.” Hmmmmm….
by DK | Feb 7, 2015 | .
On February 7th, winds and rain continue to buffet the Sawtooth Valley, making ski conditions at the Alturas Lake Ski Area a little worse than horrid. Skiing is not recommended at this time. In one bright note, the first redwing blackbird of the season has returned with its prophetic cry of Ku nam wi cu! Ku nam wi cu! An exclamation understood by the Chitimacha Indians to mean “The world and all is going to burn. The world and all is going to burn”.
by DK | Feb 5, 2015 | .
On Wednesday, the 4th of February, Timinius had a successful grooming session on the Alturas Lake trails, pushing through several inches of new snow, laying down corduroy on all trails except for North Cabin and adding classic tracks on all but Sheep Thrills. Stanley gals, who came out to ski and enjoy the fresh grooming, reported trails were a bit “sticky”. With Thursday morning temperatures in Stanley reported to be an alarming 42 degrees at dawn and a storm watch in effect for Friday and Saturday predicting up to a foot and a half of snow, wet and sticky conditions might be expected to continue.
by DK | Feb 3, 2015 | .
On Ground Hog’s Day all the trails at Alturas Lake to the East of the creek were groomed for skating and looked just great. Snowfall over night has no doubt erased any trace of corduroy. New snow is, however, good for revealing the tracks of the wild beasts that live along the trail. Excellent tracks of otter, badger, fox, ermine and skunk are often seen at Alturas. Today, the 3rd of February is not only the approximate mid point of winter but also the feast of St.Blaise, the patron saint of wild beasts. He loved all animals and animals therefore loved him in return. According to the Baldwin Project, bringing yesterday’s classic stories to today’s children…”The birds and beasts and fishes grew to love him because he never hurt them, but talked to them kindly and healed them when they were sick or wounded. The timid creatures were brave in his presence, and the fierce ones grew tame and gentle at the sound of his voice. The little birds brought him food, and the four-footed beasts ran errands and were his messengers. The legends say that they used to visit him in his forest home, which was a cave on Mount Argus. Every morning they came to see how their master was faring, to receive his blessing and lick his hands in gratitude.”
by DK | Feb 2, 2015 | .
On Sunday, the first day of February, approximately one half inch of new snow fell at the Alturas Lake ski area. Over the Hill, South Loop and Wapiti were groomed for skating. On Monday morning, the second of February, at 6:30 a.m., local groundhogs crawled up from their burrows into a shadowed world and seeing their shadows quickly retreated, predicting the return of six snowy weeks. But retreat not in fear from life, like our groundhog friends, in the words of Longfellow…
Be comforted; the world is very old,
And generations pass, as they have passed,
A troop of shadows moving with the sun;
Thousands of times has the old tale been told;
The world belongs to those who come the last,
They will find hope and strength as we have done.
by DK | Jan 31, 2015 | .
On Saturday, the last day of January, a brilliant white sun rose at daybreak and fought to ease the frozen grip of early morning at the Alturas Lake ski area. The temperature was still minus 5 degrees at 9 a.m. We predict that the sun will finally prevail and it will be a glorious day. On Friday, all trails except for North Cabin were given a corduroy treatment and should be excellent for skating and flat tracking once it warms up a bit. There are still a few refurbished remnants of classic tracks but they are scattered, not many in number and of a rather mediocre quality.
Recent Comments