On the fly/ Chicken flight RE-revisited on Tuesday

Just a quick note to let you all know that the area received some grooming attention today from Mark and Brad, and as a result the following runs are groomed:
Upper and lower little Bauer
Rush Connector
The road, to the top
Rush Creek Loop (no classic track)

Still needing attention are the South portion of Hamlin Loop and the North portion of Turkey Creek.

As of 1:00 pm today (Tues) Andy is up there making things super-sweet again:
Bauer is Buffed!
Rush Connector is righteous;
the road is radical;
and it looked like Andy was headed for Hamlin to polish it up.  I'll give more information on Hamlin, Rush Creek Loop, and the south "Leg" of Turkey Creek Loop when I get a report from Andy.

Cap Allen claims it's the best Classic Track we've had all year.  The skating lanes all firmed-up overnight, and so the skiing was truly superlative.  We've got January conditions in late February, after having the reverse last month.  We'll take it (like we have a choice).

LATE UPDATE:
Andy says he buffed EVERYTHING, yes that includes Hamlin and both Turkey legs (since when does a loop have legs?).

Enjoy!

Thawed or unthawed?

Which is it? Does anybody really know?

Honestly, this morning it was frozen solid when I was out there; and so was my face for the first half-hour.  Technically, I believe that would be "unthawed."

Explanation:  I have actually seen that term - unthawed - in cookbooks.  Easy to determine from the context what was meant was "thawed," as in not frozen.  "Unthaw a whole chicken."  Where was the editor?  Possibly passed out from too many chicken mcnuggets.

Regardless, the chicken was quite frozen this AM, though I'm sure it "unthawed" later in the day.  Mark and Fred groomed this morning despite several technical problems - everything from a dead battery, to a shredded drive belt, to a broken wiring harness.  Still the mighty chicken tamers forged on; grooming for about 5 hours total.  Way to go, guys. Many thanks.

With today's heat,  my guess is the track will be fast and perhaps a bit treacherous tomorrow (Sunday).  The road to the top got groomed and will most likely be firm tomorrow, though it was a bit soft today.

Frozen or thawed, it's all good; so please have another helping.

Fricassee

OK, all you militant vegetarians can stop reading now as I'm going to wax poetic about chicken fricassee.  In Catholic grade school, first and second grades, everyone's favorite hot meal was the chicken fricassee.  That includes me.  I didn't often get to buy the hot meal due to the high cost (.25 cents) but the 2 or 3 times per year the lunch ladies threw down with fricassee I was right there.  It was tender, smooth with creamy gravy and biscuits.

Well, that's what the area was like today.  We may want to consider renaming the area if this keeps up.  The good news is it will be even better tomorrow.  That's right; Mark and new groomer guy Fred are planning to be out there bright and early Saturday morning to buff things out for you all.

Speaking of biscuits, a gentle reminder to the dog owners to clean up after your pooches.  There's a bunch of pooch-poo lying around right by the trailhead.  Yuck.

See you at the area tomorrow; and bring your forks.

So Sweet (Revised)(And re-revised)

Many thanks to groomer Andy who appears to be making a day of it up there.  We hit fresh sweet corduroy and matching classic track on the Bauer Loops, the Rush Connector, and the Rush Creek Loop, including the road.  The upper loops are still a touch soft for skating, but no complaints.

I'll update more completely later when I get a report from Andy.  But for now I just wanted to let you know the skiing is quite tasty.
Warm and sunny in the forecast, so don't dawdle...
PS  Andy also groomed Hamlin Loop!
Andy logged about 5 hours of grooming.  He also got stuck 3 times and had to change out the battery in the machine.  Groomer of the year? Huh, whaddaya say, folks?  Andy.  Rocks!!

Hearts to the Groomers

Hearts to the Groomers.

Snow falling lightly

Sun is peeking behind clouds

Skis on - set to go

Corduroy patterns

Blissful and ever serene

Thank you all groomers

Volunteers are they

Working hour by hour

Hearts to all of you!

And Hearts to the Skiers!

Remember to sign in (no name necessary) it’s the skier numbers that matter!

Thank you for your donations.  Chicken Creek Nordic is an ALL-Volunteer group.  Donations are used for gas/fuel/oil, equipment and equipment repairs.

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Happy Valentine’s Day! 

...May I have another?

Thank you Ullr.  And it looks like more is on the way, at least through tomorrow (Tues) night and perhaps into Wednesday.  Just in the nick of time as far as the Bauer loops are concerned.

So, here's what we are doing about it:
We groomed the Bauer loops today to a fine state of corduroy.  They turned out quite nicely, thank you.
The Rush Connector got two passes with the roller.  It's not pretty, but skate-able.  Same story for the road up to the top of the Hamlin Loop.  So there is some skating to be had.
Hamlin Loop, Turkey Creek Loop, and Rush Creek (West) got packed by snow machine followed by one roller pass.  They are all pretty soft and need more work before we can set classic track or call them fit for skating.  Our main concern was getting that snow packed down in case we get a big dump over the next 2 days.
No classic track set anywhere yet.  That will be and end-of-storm priority.
Mark, John and Peter were your groomers today, putting in a total of about 10 hours worth of work.  We will work to keep up with the snow, but it's probably going to be deep at some point when you go up there, so if you're a skater, take your classic skis along in case.  I'll try to keep the blog updated the best I can.

Thanks for all your support!

More grooming news

Tom R buffed out the Bauer loops today, and also did a lane up the road to Hamlin and down Rush.  He claims the skating is super fine.

It looks like the snow promise may become a reality by the weekend.  Last night's snowfall didn't even qualify as a "skiff."  Let's see what the weekend brings...