On the 22nd day of 2022…

by | Jan 22, 2022 | .

On the 22nd at 9 a.m. the sun illuminated a quiet, clear blue sky over the Sawtooth Valley. At Park Creek, Lupine, Camas and Shooting Star were nicely groomed for both skating and classic.At Alturas Lake, all trails were rolled with added ginzu corduroy and classic tracks on the trail to the lake, over the hill and sheep thrills. More grooming scheduled for today to continue packing the 1 to 6 inches of new snow that fell overnight on Thursday.

Sawtooth trails all groomed…

by | Jan 18, 2022 | .

Over the long weekend, the trails at Park Creek, Alturas Lake and the Stanley City Park were all groomed. With the return of sunny skies, skier numbers were up and parking areas overflowing. There is a dearth of new soft snow for easy snowmobile regrooming, but on the positive side, trails are firm so skating conditions have improved and classic tracks still look good. And with the return of sunshine and beautiful vistas, one might say that trails are in their overall best shape so far this year. At Alturas,lake grooming of the skate lanes from the bridge to the lake is scheduled for Tuesday.

Cold Morning trails improving daily…

by | Jan 15, 2022 | .

On January 15th, the temperature in the Sawtooth Valley at 9 a.m. hovered around a chilly minus 5 degrees. Trails at Park Creek are getting better every day… thank you for your patience and thank you to our volunteers and groomers who are working hard overcome a tough and snowy Winter’s start. At Alturas lake, all trails are beginning to look first rate. More grooming is scheduled there today to add classic tracks from the bridge to the lake and to firm up North Cabin.

Sawtooth ski trails improve with sunny days…

by | Jan 12, 2022 | .

Over the last few days trails have been looking good. At Park Creek, Shooting Star, Camas and Lupine were rolled and reportedly fun to ski. The other trails were snowmobile packed with more intense packing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon with some help from the forest service. At Alturas all trails have been groomed and the trail from the bridge to the lake, while still a bit choppy is beginning to look pretty good. A ginzu grooming there on Wednesday should push it from the really good range to the super good. The much beloved picnic tables have returned to the top of over the hill. Picnickers can once again sit down and enjoy the views.

Ski trail trials and tribulations…

by | Jan 10, 2022 | .

On January 9th, the feast of St. Stephen, as Davinius groomed at Alturas Lake, he was reminded of these lines from Robert Hunter, the great Dead lyricist…

Stephen prospered in his time, well he may and he may decline.
Did it matter, does it now?
Stephen would answer if he only knew how
Did he doubt or did he try?
Answers aplenty in the bye and bye,
Talk about your plenty, talk about your ills,
One man gathers what another man spills.
All trails to the east of Alturas Lake Creek received some ginzu grooming after the two ginzu groomers were resurrected from a deep snowy sleep. More grooming scheduled there on Monday.
At Park Creek there was only a very short section of trail groomed for the weekend, but we are working at improving that situation. It has been a tough start for our new groomers in the deep snow. Your patience is appreciated.