Ski Report

Great conditions out there today. (Thanks Kenton!) Lots of snow left...temperatures are definitely warming though. Hit the trails in the morning for best conditions. Tomorrow (Sunday) should be great too.

Looks like we might get some crust conditions coming this week. Stay tuned for details.

--Christie

Final Grooming--This Saturday

Kenton will groom Skyway/County Line for the final time this season on Saturday morning. Get out there and enjoy it. With all the dust that keeps blowing in, the crust season may not be as spectacular as in years past.

We'll post crust reports here until the snow melts. Got a ski report to share? Email it to me at grandmesanordic.blog@blogger.com

Happy Skiing!
Christie

Grooming plans

Kenton will finish out our grooming season either Friday PM or early Saturday, depending on the weather. He'll post a report here...

Enjoy!

Christie

Bonus Grooming Day!

Sorry for the confusion...our final grooming has not yet happened.

Our last grooming of the season will take place sometime in the coming week, after this latest storm passes through. Our grooming crew is consulting with the weather guru to figure out the optimal day.

Stay tuned for details. Thanks for your support.

--Christie

weekend plans

We had planned on one last day of grooming today, but with the system settling in and the forecast, it looks like yesterday will be the last grooming of the year. Tomorrow being Easter, we have no groomers available. If you have been up this week, you would have noticed the effect of the dirt-layer(s) in the snow pack. It has made the conditions 'interesting' at best and I suspect the spring season will not be up to our usual standards. With that, thank you for your support of the GMNC. WRobertson

Surprise!

Hi gang, what a surprise this morning as two Dave's both Minnesota natives accidentally met at County Line for skiing - one from Mesa, the other from Paonia.  Mesa Dave went across the road and off into the trees for some hair raising 35 mph bare knuckle skiing. Paonia Dave found surprisingly excellent crust conditions and wore himself out in 90 minutes cruising around the flats. What an outstanding day! Both of us expected a lot more snow up there - there was barely an inch on top of the crust most of it drifted into the trees.

Dave Knutson

Fundraising Volunteer

Grand Mesa Nordic Council

970.527-3969 260-3260c

P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.

Stormy Easter Weekend...our Last Groomed Chance

GMNCers,

 

The storms just keep rolling off the Pacific. The next one is spreading clouds across the region today with gusty south winds and light snow and drifting snow tonight. On Saturday afternoon, a cold front will sweep over Western Colorado, bringing increasing snowfall and gusty winds. The NWS will likely issue a Winter Weather Advisory for the Grand Mesa for Saturday into Sunday morning with 4-10 inches of new drifted snow.The winds will diminish on Sunday, but some snowfall will probably continue. Suggestion: don't use white eggs if you do an Easter egg hunt on the Mesa this weekend! But do try to get up and enjoy the last grooming of the season.

 

The last in this long series of Spring storms will bring more Mesa snowfall on Tuesday into Wednesday. Right now, that storm looks like a big cold blowy hum dinger, but keep checking the NWS forecasts for perhaps slightly better adjectives.  

 

Then it looks like a strong ridge of High Pressure will build over the region next weekend. This could be the beginning of the crust season. Lets hope those dust layers remain buried.

 

This will be my last GMNC weather forecast for the season. But I will try to give you an idea of when crust conditions will be prime.

 

Thanks for your support this season.

Kiss a Groomer for Easter

 

Mojo

grooming update 4/9

Apologize for no reports, but have been out of contact for the past 4 days. John did not go up today due to weather, but will  groom Skyway/County Line on Friday. This will be the last weekend for grooming at the GNMC trails.  WRobertson

Grooming for the last week

Plan for the week is to groom following the next storm, probably on Thurs. Then for the last weekend of the season, we will groom Skyway/County Line on Sat. AM, and again on Sunday if needed. WRobertson

Spring Skiing

Superfine spring skinny skiing today. Thank you Grand Mesa Nordic Counsel for an epic year.

 

Lee Gelatt

grooming update 4/4

Kenton reported 8-10" of new snow, with about half falling during the day. Will groom most of the Skyway/County Line system tomorrow, Sunday.  Next grooming will be later in the week following the next storm, or possibly next Sat. Remember, this will be the last week of the '08-'09 season for skiing the groomed trails provided by the GMNC. WRobertson

Stormy Weather Continues...Pick Days are Sunday Monday and Tuesday

GMNCers,

 

Wow, what a weather pattern! March went out like a Lion and April is following the trend.

 

If you didn't get up top to ski last weekend or on Tuesday, you missed out on a real treat. The GMNC groomers prepared beautiful tracks and the snow was just spectacular. You have opportunities this weekend and next weekend to enjoy our groomed trails before we retire the snowcat and let crust skiing season dominate.

 

The next winter storm starts gusty wind and snow over the Mesa on Friday, but the big dump is forecast for Friday night through Saturday evening. The culprit is a Pacific upper level Low that moves right over the Grand Mesa Saturday morning. Expect storm totals of 10 to 20 inches of freshies by Sunday morning.

 

'In between' weather on Monday and Tuesday will also provide some nice skiing days. With sunset around 8PM, there is plenty of time for a ski after work.

 

The next Pacific storm system sweeps the region on Wednesday and Thursday. Yet another looks to pass on Easter weekend.

 

I love Powderhorn skiing, and they had a great season at the resort. But the GMNC started earlier and will go two weeks later than our downhill friends.    

update 4/2

John reporting 10" of new snow at Skyway. He will be grooming around 20 km at Skyway/County Line today. Next grooming will be on Sat. morning, and again on Sunday. WRobertson

Glenn Randall places 3rd at U.S. Nationals

Those of us who have been skiing on the Grand Mesa for many years and have followed our GMNC races will remember Glenn Randall.  I remember skiing in one of our races and having him teach me what "Track!" means.  I stepped aside and little kid about half my height went blasting by.  That was my first meeting with Glenn Randall.  Glenn went on to be a star cross-country runner for Palisade High School (his own school, Plateau Valley, didn't have a team), and then to Dartmouth University where he starred in both cross-country running and cross-county skiing.

Glenn most recently placed 3^rd, bronze medalist, at the U.S. National Championships. This was his first national championship podium.

Read about it at:

http://fasterskier.com/2009/03/stephen-and-southam-win-national-titles-with-gutsy-tactics-in-tough-races/

Glenn's Dartmouth Bio is available at:

http://dartmouthsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=48890&SPID=4723&DB_OEM_ID=11600&ATCLID=592412&Q_SEASON=2008

Our own "Go Glenn" page is available at:

http://home.mesastate.edu/~jerry/gmnc/races/Glenn%20wins%20NCAA%20Champs.htm

Jerry Nolan