d baniak

So, me and the G-man started today at 9:30 Apr 12 at the stables parking lot. Skied east Bluestem to the lookout, Chick loop,and Esk back to the parking lot. The ski track was very melted and shrunken, with the base of the track collapsing under my skis from time to time. I had decent luck keeping one ski in a track and placing the other…[Read more]

So, I arrived at the stables parking lot around noon Mar13, and skied Asp around the loop, Chick to the lookout, Esk hill, Chick loop , and via Esk, the Kiln loop back to the lot.
The Esk and Kiln have Not been freshly groomed: these trails (groomed Mar10) have had the 1-2 inches of Mar 11 snow skied in and are in magnificent shape with, in my…[Read more]

So, me and my “woodies” hit the park around noon Feb 28 at the stables parking lot. Did Asp l around its west loop, Chick to tower, Chick loop and Esk back to the stables. Blustm and Chick are only tracked trails. I hope this does not mean that the Bully is broke again. Anyway the tracked trails are in good shape, and the skier packed trails(…[Read more]

So, me and my friend G hit the trails at noon, Jan 25 in the heat of the day. Skied outgoing Esker to Chick,crossed over to Bluestem, did the Aspen loop west of Chick and then Esk back to the stables. The new snow had been skied in, the tracks well defined, and the glide was magnificent. No wind,and sunshine. Great ski on green wax.

So, I arrived at the stables lot at noon Dec 18, and tried the recently groomed trails. It was a good news bad news situation. The good: it was great to ski Aspen in its entirety, there is lots of snow for the Bully to manipulate, the sun was peeking through a slight haze, and the forest looked like a Christmas card with the snow sitting on…[Read more]

KM: It appeared to me that Aspen back from the Chickadee has been skier tracked. The Lime Kiln is still only skier tracked although BK reported that it was “doable” and the track at the junction of Esker showed a skier track that seemed better defined. Hope this helps.

Chickadee had been walked on but the path was a perfect width for skiing and had the advantage of being well packed so I could get some decent glide. I met a skier who had done Bluestem backwards from the Chickadee parking lot and they reported a decent skier tracked trail. There was app. 6-8″ of snow with some grass visible. An ok ski.

So, on Nov 13 I took my “talking skis” to check out the conditions. I did the Esker, which was horse-ridden and sleigh ride marred to the junction of Esker and Kiln; thereafter it was skier tracked to the lookout and down the Esker hill to the junction of Chickadee.

So, I ventured out to the park April 29,about 10:30 am to determine if the postings of dlivingston were accurate. I started at the Chickadee trail head, and went east to the crossroads. The track was doable with minimal hiker tracks. At the crossroads I noted that the trail back to the stables parking lot looked as good as what I had just skied…[Read more]

So, I was delighted to read dl’s report: I would have put money on that skiing was. over for this season. I may have to pull my gear out to set an all time new record for length of the ski season.
Speaking of gear, as I operate on the trailing edge of technology using 3 pin stuff, does anybody have a pair of boots in decent shape size 45 or 46…[Read more]

So, I am rejoicing in the snow dump, but not looking forward to breaking trail.
There are many enthusiasts out there enjoying Bird’s Hill trails, so I am proposing a trail breaking blitz Friday April15 at 11:00 am starting at the Chickadee trail head.
I envision groups of 2/3 skiers taking on a specified part of the Bluestem Aspen and bits of the…[Read more]

So, I arrived at 11:30 Apr.8 and skied Aspen loop backwards , up Chickadee backwards to Bluestem west loop and back to the Chickadee parking lot. Firm track with decent glide.
I still had some energy,so I decided to go east on the Aspen to the “crossroads” to see if anybody had skied the east Bluestem , which from my observations and GW’s…[Read more]

So, curious to see what the cold snap had done to the trails, I arrived at the park around noon Mar26, to the Chickadee parking lot which was dirt on the west side and packed frozen snow mounds on the other, but easily accessible by my sedan.
The Aspen trail to the stables parking lot was skier packed dual track,and back west to the Bluestem.…[Read more]

So, curious to investigate what Monday’s rain and high temps might have done to the conditions, I, ER,and AD hit the trails at noon. Debriefing skiers coming off the Aspen and Bluestem reported icy conditions at first with rapid softening,
On our ski on Esker and the Chickadee northern loop revealed soft tracks with a phenomenon never experienced…[Read more]

So, I had moderate case of cabin fever, coupled with the frustration of looking out my living room window at the best snow in about 15-20 years,and seeing temperature readings in the frozen appendages range. Today Feb 23 promised a relatively “mild” high of -22C,so I ventured out to the park at 1pm in the heat of the day.
Trails in perfect…[Read more]