Snowmobile Encroachment

While we have always had issues with ongoing snowmobile encroachment at our Ward Lake trail system, recently we had significant damage done to the County Linetrail system this past week.  It appears the snowmobilers actually entered and/or exited via our trailhead at the parking area, and criss-crossed our trail system several times.  It appears this happened on Wednesday or Thursday of this week.  This not only does damage to the track system and costs us money in terms of grooming, but also is a public safety issue for skiers who could be injured.  We are aware of the seriousness of this problem, and are in communication with the Forest Service about this.  The Forest Service is pursuing the issue and will agressively follow up on any leads on violators, which can lead to citations and fines.  If you have any information about this, please contact Mike Brown at the Grand Junction office of the Grand Mesa National Forest (970-242-8211) as soon as possible. 

 

We realize that the majority of snowmobile users don't engage in this activity and are responsible -- please encourage friends who may snowmobile to encourage everyone to share the Grand Mesa in a safe and responsible manner that allows of all of us to enjoy winter recreation up there. 

 

Leslie

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Are you a member of the Grand Mesa Nordic Council?  You can join for as little as $25/year -- click on the following link to join today!
http://grandmesanordicnews.blogspot.com/

Lessons Cancelled/Grooming Update

Because we are expecting some snow tonight into tomorrow -- 3-6 inches -- we are postponing grooming at Skyway/County Line/Ward to tomorrow morning instead.  Because Al is our groomer for Ward and also the ski instructor, lessons for tomorrow morning are cancelled.  We apologize for the inconvenience.  Jon will be starting grooming at 7 a.m. and Al at 8:30 a.m. 

 

Leslie

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Are you a member of the Grand Mesa Nordic Council?  You can join for as little as $25/year -- click on the following link to join today!
http://grandmesanordicnews.blogspot.com/

20 year celebration

Hi everyone, 2010 marks GMNC's 20th year, we'll be legal age next year - but don't let that stop you from celebrating! We'll be doing a bonfire, supper, and moonlight ski at Skyway's parking lot on Saturday night, February 27th starting at 4 p.m.  We'll have hot soup and bread, a bonfire - bring your own beverages. We'll ski, swap stories, read history of GMNC, and enjoy a moonlit night. Hope all members can join us!

Dave Knutson

Fundraising Volunteer

Grand Mesa Nordic Council

970.527-3969 260-3260c

32 days to Vasaloppet!

Our Skyway Classic was an great 10K workout, and most enjoyable to ski with (er, well behind) some excellent collegiate skiers. After gasping for air on the last hill to the finish line, it's a bit difficult to imagine skiing a race 9 times that long. I guess mule-headedness counts for a lot!

Greg Peterson

GMNC Member

February 2 Grooming Report

Sorry for the delay in getting this to you -- reports came in from groomers during the board meeting last night.  Jon groomed up Sunset/Winslow, Lion's Loop, Scales Lake, Dog Loop, Loop Two (top), Loop 3, Kannah Crossing, Vista (Ridge only) yesterday afternoon.  He'll be back at it on Friday afternoon grooming out the entire track system starting at around 1:30 pm or so.  Al also groomed out Ward yesterday as well, and we also re-groom on Friday starting at 2 pm.  We are expecting some snow Thursday into Thursday night totalling around 5-10 inches or so.  Slight chance of snow for the weekend with highs around 27 degrees and lows around 12. 

 

FYI, when the new website gets up, I'll be posting the grooming report form right on the homepage, which should make it easier.   

 

Leslie

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Are you a member of the Grand Mesa Nordic Council?  You can join for as little as $25/year -- click on the following link to join today!
http://grandmesanordicnews.blogspot.com/

Help us break 400!

We currently have 391 paid up members. Help us reach 400. If you haven't renewed your membership, here's your chance. 

Already a member? Maybe you know a friend who needs a gentle prod to join. 

You can join (and pay) online here:

http://www.gmnc.org/grand-mesa-nordic-council-membership-application

Or, make a spontaneous, kind-hearted donation here:

http://grandmesanordicnews.blogspot.com/

We appreciate your support. Your contributions pay for our grooming and programs. We depend on you!

Happy skiing,

Christie

President, GMNC

Snow depths

There has been a request for information on snow depth at the trail system for both Skyway, County Line, and Ward.  While our grooming team can try to note the depth at the stake located off Highway 65 just before Skyway parking area, these can change dramatically day to day, when we are not up there, or even while grooming.

 

Therefore, I suggest that trail users who are interested in this information use the following two websites:

 

http://avalanche.state.co.us/obs_stns/stns.php

Colorado Avalanche Information Center just installed a new site right off Sunset on the Skyway track system.  If you click on the above link, then scroll down to Grand Mesa, and click on Skyway, the last column provides snow depth at that location.

 

http://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snotel/Colorado/colorado.html

SNOTEL provides a map, where you click on various sites including Mesa Lakes and Park Reservoir.

 

Hope this helps for those of you who want to stay up-to-date on snow depths -- using the above links is much more accurate than our team trying to guesstimate.

 

Leslie

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Are you a member of the Grand Mesa Nordic Council?  You can join for as little as $25/year -- click on the following link to join today!
http://grandmesanordicnews.blogspot.com/