News from Nordic Center at Purgatory

The Nordic Center at Purgatory will be holding a women's skate clinic Saturday, January 1st at 1pm. There will be classes for all levels of skiers. Equipment rentals are available on site. The cost of the clinic is $15 for Nordic season pass holders or $25 for other skiers. For more information please call 385 2114.

Frozen Chicken Report

This morning we had 2 brave volunteers willing to freeze their tail feathers off for your skiing pleasure. Alan and Peter fired up the sleds to pack down the additional 5-6 fresh inches of snow on the Bauer loops.

CONDITIONS: Only the Little Bauer Loops are groomed, but they are Finger-lickin', stick clickin', pole-diggin' good. Really quite nice; a tad soft, and it will take a little while to level the trail out, but the snow feels Great! Cold and forgiving, but firming up fast as the temperatures head for the south side of zero.

We are anticipating some assistance from the Forest Service early next week so we can open up more terrain. Please check back often to see where we're at with that.

Get out the COLD snow wax

The entire Bauer loop is groomed and ready to ski, and at least part of it has a classic track set as well. With so much snow falling all at once it may be a little while before we can fully groom more terrain, but we are working on it. Anyone out there have a snow cat they're not using at the moment?

Our groomers (all volunteers) report that there are about 24 new inches of snow at the Bauer Loop. There is probably substantially more at the upper reaches of the area.

Many thanks to our groomers today for a stellar job; John, Tom R., Brad and Andy - a job well done!

Ketchup on your Chicken?

My dad always used to repeat this little ditty when the ketchup (catsup?) bottle made an appearance on the kitchen table

Curses on the
Ketchup bottle

None will come
and then a lot'll

This ketchup bottle, posing as a winter storm, has unleashed its load on the ski area. This is only a preliminary report, more details to follow. But I wanted to let all you anxious skiers know that yes indeed, the groomers have been busy grooming the ski area. My understanding is that the Little Bauer loop is track packed and groomed, and I believe that is all for the moment.

I will provide more information as updates become available. Please check back for further updates. And please, no catsup on MY chicken, please; I like chicken.

Monday Grooming Report Nov. 29

Snow. Cold. I think it's winter. Chicken Creek Ski Area received about one foot of snow from these last two storms, and there's substantially more than that up higher.

Hank, John and Peter got on it today and started track packing with the snowmobiles and even laid down a little corduroy.

Lower Little Bauer Loop is groomed, and should be good for skiing, though perhaps a bit choppy in spots. The Upper section of Little Bauer is "roughed in," meaning it was tracked packed and rolled; but the deeper snow and quick job means it is noot as finished as the lower loop.

Rush Creek Loop, including the road, got track packed and rolled. The road is in pretty gnarly shape though, as someone put foot-deep ruts in the mud this fall. It will take some time - and lots of snow - to iron that mess out. The rest of Rush Creek Loop should be pretty decent though.

This week will be a kind of calculated gamble, as far as deciding how much grooming to do. There are warm, sunny days lurking in the tail end of the week which could easily melt quite a bit of this snow. We will watch closely and groom prudently. But the limited resources we have must be utilized to maximum benefit for the duration of the season.

We will keep you posted...

Trail Work Day Highlights + news and a question...

Thank you John Gilbert, Gary & Jackie Smith, Cap Allen, Michael Nusser and Hank Taylor for clearing trails on Saturday, October 16th. This energetic crew cleared trails on the upper and lower Bauer Loops and the connecter trail to Rush Creek. Yeah!

Chicken Creek has bought a much needed 20” wide snowmobile which will enable groomers to do a better job. Exciting!

Question: Does anyone have a barbell weight larger than 25 lbs??? Please leave a comment if you do. Thank you.

Trail Work Day on October 16th

A message from Hank Taylor, President of Friends of Chicken Creek

Help! The oak brush is taking over parts of the ski trails.

We need to trim many places that have mostly small oak that can be cut with pruning shears or loppers.

We could like to have a work day on

Saturday, October 16th.

Please meet at the main gate at 9am.

Bring any cutting tools that you have.

We have one brush cutter.

If you cannot be at the Work Day, it would be helpful if you can carry shears or loppers with you when you hike the CC trails.

You can take out clumps of oak as you hike!

Thank you and please help out.

Hank Taylor

Chicken On Ice

As you folks have undoubtedly noticed, the weather has warmed considerably (Yeah!) which has put the ski area grooming on ice. Most likely, there will be no further grooming this season. But what a season we had, I mean - come on folks, let's give Ullr a great big hand. (Pause for applause).

Thank you, thank you. Many thanks are due to all the folks who make the Chicken "cluck," and a future blog will address that issue. For now, I just wanted to advise folks that:

1. The ski area is not "closed." Go, and if you can find enough snow, ice and slush to move around on, have at it.
2. Unless we have an extended cold front with lots of precipitation, we're done grooming. Even then, there are no guarantees.

The Chicken has left the building. Get out your running shoes, roller blades, bikes, climbing gear, backpacks, hiking boots, volleyball nets, whatever. Enjoy the summer.

Weekend Grooming Report

In an apparent attempt to debunk the global warming position, we have been having quite a string of winter weather. The plot is about to unravel, however, as the trend looks to be for quite a bit of warmth and sun, once we get past this little weekend "thing."

Today: Both Bauer loops were groomed, as was Road 41 from the picnic table up to the Rush Spur. New classic track was also set on all but one short leg of Bauer, as things were getting a bit mushed up.

Tomorrow: The plan is to have more terrain groomed early in the morning. Not sure exactly where Tom is planning on going, but it will be obvious when it's done.

IF the weather forecast is accurate (a mighty big if) then it seems reasonable to assume the end is near. The chicken has grown fat and happy, but the butcher is approaching.
Don't forget that you need to mess around with your clocks Sunday night and kiss an hour's sleep goodbye.

Grooming Report, or the chicken that wouldn't stop laying white eggs

Well skiers, what is there to say. We've been asking Ullr for snow for so many years that it seems this year we could not be denied. Tom Groomed Sunday, and then John groomed yesterday.

Here's my understanding of what got groomed yesterday:
Both of the Little Bauer Loops
Road 41 from the picnic table to Rush spur
Rush connector
Classic track set around the perimeter

We keep saying this, but this may (or may not!) be the last hurrah, with temps in the 50's predicted after the snow stops. So if you can, get up there this week since there's plenty of good, fresh snow.

Friday Grooming Update

It's not the end of the week, it's the beginning of the weekend. And the area got about 2-3 inches of fresh snow last night to help freshen things up. Ace groomer Andy was up there today grooming the Bauer loops as well as the Rush connector. The plan is to have another groomer up there tomorrow morning to groom more of the terrain. Stay tuned for more updates...

Sunday Good News

The Little Bauer loops were groomed in their entirety this morning and are now in very good shape for skate and classic skiing. There are a few spots too hard for the groomer to penetrate, but it's mostly very nice.

Steps were also carved in the mound of ice by which skiers gain access to the trail, so climbing in is no longer a maneuver requiring the balance of a balarina and the dexterity of a gymnast.

Upper loops were very nice yesterday, and will probably be kind of scary fast today, unless we get a bit of fresh snow on top or things warm up enough to soften the snow. So be careful up there.

Weekend Olympics @ Chicken Creek

Hey all you Nordic Notables, don't forget to take a few victory laps at Chicken Creek this weekend. The Little Bauer loop got groomed to perfection by our number one nitpicker groomer, Andy. Truly, it doesn't get any better.

All the upper terrain got a quick brush-up and should be very nice skiing. I actually skied most of the upper terrain today before it got groomed and it was all decent, but with the fresh courderoy it ought to be mighty fine, though perhaps a tad on the fast side.

Excutive Summary: It's all really good. Go ski!

Updated Grooming Report

Alright skiers, Barry got after it this afternoon and packed/groomed both the Dolph Kuss and Hamlin Loops. So the skiing tomorrow ought to be simply superb all over the area. When we can muster the manpower, we'll get classic track set on the upper stuff - right now only the Bauer Loops have classic track.

Groomage and zoomage

As of early afternoon today, more grooming has taken place. Now in addition to Little Bauer Loop, the Rush Connector, Rush Creek Loop, and the road to the top are groomed and open, though no classic track has been set as of yet.

We have another groomer going up now, so there will be another report later.

PS. The trail map posted yesterday showed Turkey Creek and the road to the Gate at the very top as closed. They are not technically "Closed" (as in 'don't go there'). They are simply not groomed.

Trail Map redux

Please note the uppermost loop is - and has been for weeks - closed. Probably for the duration of the ski season.

Grooming Report: Darth Vader Has Returned

Good news for all you Chicken Creek skiers. We have retreived the black machine from up by Hamlin Reservoir. That thing has always reminded me a bit of Darth Vader (though I'm guessing Mr. Vader doesn't smell quite as bad).

Anyway, before the condition report, some thanks are due. Here they are. Thanks Hank for going up early and making an exit ramp for the machine (and we also very much appreciate that you did not keel over in a snowbank last night as you were hiking out 4 miles). Thank you to Bob and Nancy for breaking trail most of the way up for us; that was major. John went up and did heavy excavation on the snow machine which was instrumental in its extrication. Joan and Peter did a great job of standing around looking puzzled. And Barry was excellent moral support, not to mention the fabulous job of carring out the ski poles. Truly it was a group effort.

And now, the moment you've been waiting for:
More thanks go to Lance for GROOMING and setting classic track on the Little Bauer Trail. And since it stayed pretty cold today the snow is still in very nice condition. Mid-winter conditions, no crowds, never any waiting for a chair lift. What are you waiting for?

THE SKY IS FALLING!!!

Not so fast there, blogger. Seems we have a glitch, skiers. One of our groomers got sucked into some deep snow up near the top of the course today and had to hike several miles out. He's fine. The snow machine is still up there and will require a concerted effort to recover. So sorry, kids. No grooming 'til then.

Saty posted for further updates.

Grooming Report

The Olympic Marathon Ski-Doo groom is underway at the ski area today. Beginning at around 7:30 AM today, the grooming has been nearly non-stop in an effort to keep up with this snow storm. The baton was passed twice, and the grooming will resume early in the morning.

We'll keep you updated and give a more detailed report when the dust settles. Meanwhile, go enjoy the soft, fluffy snow!

Report for 2/19

Barry rolled all the trails this A. M.. The classic is still very usable throughout and with the few inches of new should have some nice bite to it. We are in a wait and see with this storm and will try to maxamize our efforts. A request to the folks who like to walk and snowshoe at CC:Please consider doing so on the far side of the skate lane (opposite side of the classic track). This seems to be the best compromise for the most users, and would be appreciated. As you know, a tremendous amount of time is spent by our volunteer groomers preparing the trails for the variety of modes of transportation. This also, would help to maximize our efforts.
Enjoy the trails. It looks like we are going to keep grooming as long as the moisture stays white.
An update on our #1 grooming snowmobile is: 3500-4000 for all the repairs, so we have to off-set that cost somehow.
CC nordic
p.o. box 111
Mancos, 81328

Condition report, or "My, what a handsome chicken you have there"

Thanks to groomers Lance and John, the conditions at the area are quite nice as of this afternoon.

Newly reconditioned are:

• Lower Little Bauer
• Rush Connector
• Dolph Kuss Loop
• Hamlin Loop
• the road from the picnic table to the top of Hamlin Loop

Things got soft enough today for the groomer's teeth to reall bite in to the snow, ergo lovely flow.

So, go ski. Don't blow it by lying low.

Bonus round: More of the white stuff on the way to freshen things up, with tomorrow and Friday shaping up as the likely days for precipitation. The skier in me is excited, my inner shoveler is underwhelemed at the prospect. But hey, it's winter.

Grooming Report for Tuesday

John put in some hours today on the sled (in addition to all the volunteer hours he puts in as President of the Chicken Creek Nordic Association), so thank you John.

Here's what he did:

• He dragged the groomer over the Bauer Loops
• The Rush Connector and Spur
• The road from the picnic table to the top of Hamlin Loop
• Hamlin Loop
• Dolph Kuss Loop

He did not groom Rush Creek, but that was groomed the day before.

We're experimenting with ways to derive maximum benefit from the gear we have available, but the big guns are out of commission for the time being. We're looking at a multiple-thousand dollar fix on the work-horse sled. Ouch! Your generous donations make this possible. We know this is a difficult time for many, and we appreciate the contributions of you skiers.

If it is within your means, we would greatly appreciate additional contributions, as our yellow machine had no health insurance:

Please send contributions to:

Friends of Chicken Creek Nordic

PO Box 111

Mancos, CO 81328

Have you ever groomed a chicken?

Good day, skiers! Looks like a lot of you got out this weekend and danced on the trails, and that's superb. Conditions today were getting pretty crusty, and so the Bauer Loops, as well as the Rush Connector, Rush Creek trail, and the lower part of the road - from the picnic table to the Rush Spur - all got a combing.

The results are not uniformly excellent. But, in most places the groomer was able to scratch the snow up at least a little bit. We're using older equipment which simply doesn't have the ability to work up the snow like our ginzu does. The softer snow took the groomer in its fluffy embrace and transformed into sweet corduroy. The really hard stuff had it skittering along like a child's toy.

Please exercise extra caution on the trails as the snow more closely resembles ice in certain southerly exposed places.

Looks like a possibility of more precipitation late in the week, possibly in the form of rain. Chester the Chicken says - better ski while the skiing's good!

Weekend Update

It's "ballroom dancing" on our trials, w/ our classic and skate lanes re-groomed yesterday and today. The snowgods have delivered, and We've received. All of our fantastic loops are open (w/ the exception of upper Turkey Creek road, (past Rush Loop), and will most likely get some attention over Sat. and Sun. If you like beautiful loops through the pines, sustained sections for getting your skate/classic groove-on and no-crowds, that sort of thing, come ski!

Light a candle for our grooming machine "Old Yeller", now in the shop for transmission repairs.
Donations always appreciated. The season is still young. Happy Trails!

Grooming Report; More, more, more!

More snow, more grooming, more skiing.

I went up this morning to find 2-4" inches of fresh, light snow on the trails. Two at the bottom and about 4" up high. Nice fat fluffy flakes of fun and frolic.

John groomed the Bauer loops today, and there is more grooming scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

I suggest all of you who still have jobs quit them and devote the rest of the winter to skiing at Chicken Creek. This is only a suggestion, but I think it's reasonable. Hey, skiing is more than a job - it's a way of life!

Grooming Report - Getting Better

The snow remains in great condition today, with enough clouds to keep them from melting into a solid block of ice. Lets hope the clouds stick around and the days don't get too warm, and - oh yeah - don't pray real hard for snow, since we are experiencing an equipment deficit (see earlier blogs). Is that asking too much?

Tuesday morning the Bauer loops were re-rolled, widened and had classic track installed (at least on the perimeter).

Rush connector to the road, and the road to the picnic table got the same treatment.

The road up the hill from Rush connector got widened and repacked.

Dolph Kuss and Hamlin are still only half rolled.

Rush Creek loop has not been rolled yet.

Condition and Grooming report - Lots of New Snow!

Thanks to groomers John, Allen, and Peter we have lots of groomed terrain up at the ski area. The Bauer loops are in great shape, as is the Rush Connector, the road (from the picnic table to the top of Hamlin) which accesses the loops, and even Dolph Kuss and Hamlin loops are groomed.

The caveat is that the trails are only groomed on one side. As soon as possible we will groom the right hand side and set classic track. Meanwhile, the classic skiing is phenomenal, and the skating on these trails ought to be very good.

Rush Creek loop has been track packed but not yet groomed. The road from the top of Hamlin up to the gate has not been touched yet.

Good News/ Bad News

First the good: Nice fresh soft snow up at the Creek; go take a peek. And more on the way. John and Alan were up grooming this morning and into the afternoon. Even better, due to the high holy holiday (Super Bowl) there is just about nobody up there.

The snow is soft, so classic is probably best until things set up a bit more.

Now the bad news. The yellow snow machine, our reliable work horse, has taken a dive and may be out of commission for some time. We plan to trailer it for repairs on Tuesday. It sounds like the transmission is fried. Not good. Almost as if the machine read the previous blog predicting imminent immobility.

We'll keep you posted as to it's recovery, and we'll do our best to keep the snow packed down with the remaining machine. Our only options are packing and rolling until the big yellow machine is revived. So the classic track will become history, at least for now. Thanks for all your support this season. And if anyone has a super-duty utility type snow machine we could utilize in the meantime, please respond with a "comment" to this blog entry.

Grooming plans/Donations

Chicken Creek Lovers: It looks like another series of storms. The conditions should be great for saturday, and we plan to groom some new snow sunday morning. We are also asking that you consider making another contribution to the Chicken Creek cause. We are entirely a volunteer organization and rely on donations from CC users. We presently groom with two snowmobiles. The black machine is a 2000 model that is not designed for the torture we put it through. It also responds by belching fuel/oil smoke into the very considerate groomers lungs. We spent over 2K last year to keep it going through this year, but a new machine(approx. 10K) would be more efficient and appropriate for grooming. It would also be an investment in the future of CC. The yellow machine is an 05 and is surely due for an overhaul soon. There is no question that CC is a great value. A for profit Nordic area charges, 12-15$ for a day pass,125$ for an individual annual membership. We explore various avenues to fund CC (grants,etc.) however all of us who enjoy CC should be the people who support it. Donations can always be made in the green donation box at the trailhead or: Chicken Creek Nordic, box 111 Mancos, 81328 Thanks very much!

Snow Farmers Almanac 02/05/10

Greetings, fellow Chicken Creek Folks. Our "latest storm installment" delivered approx. 1-2" on to our trials, (Wed, eve. 02/03/10). All trails were "re-conditioned" (skate lane) w/ our "Ginzu" sled and track leveler, mixing the new snow in w/ the old. Skiing remains fabulous, fast in the a.m. on firm/frozen, or "packed-powder" to borrow a phrase from the ski areas.
Our Classic track remains intact, and we encourage folks of all levels to slide through the Ponderosa Forest. Pets welcome on our Dog loops!

Let's keep up the snow dancin"!

Grooming report, or "Kiss my Kuss, Dolph"

Late on Monday the majority of the trails got groomed, levelled and packed. So the trails are in Very Good condition as of this writing. Things got pretty crusty over the weekend and were a bit scary this morning - slip sliding away.

• So, the Bauer loops are now re-done and should be quite nice for a morning ski.
• The road is refreshed from top to bottom.
• Dolph Kuss loop got the treatment.
• So did Hamlin.

The odd one out here is the Rush Creek loop and the Rush Connector. Until that is groomed, the nicest access to D-K and Hamlin would be the road, starting by the picnic table. Rush Connector and the Rush Creek loop are certainly open and skiable, just kind of hard to get an edge in.

Condition Report for Saturday

Once again, duty called to me this morning and I made the big sacrifice and put on my skis. Oh the tribulations of the condition checker. All of the Bauer Loops are in excellent condition. Conditions are a little more variable as one gets higher on the hill.

The Rush Creek loop is mostly quite nice. Great for classic skiers and will need additional levelling before we can say it's great for skating. Nonetheless, we skated it this AM and had no real problem. It will simply be easier once it gets more flat.

Hamlin and Dolph Kuss loops are a bit better than Rush. While there are still some funky spots, overall they were very enjoyable to skate.

The road from the top of Rush Creek to the top gate is the most challenging of all (for skaters) and will require substantially more levelling work before it is in prime condition. Still, it is "do-able." It's in perfect condition for classic skiing and there is set track to the top.

Comments are welcome, especially regarding the condition of the road, since we only skied a small piece of it. We did from the bottom of Dolph Kuss to the picnic table, and it was great.

Rapidly Approaching the Elusive State of Perfection

This writer skied the recently packed Rush Creek, Hamlin, and Dolph Kuss loops today - Friday morning - to discover they were in very good condition; better than expected! Also, some kind soul got up early and groomed all of the Bauer loops as well as the piece of road that connects from the picnic table to the end of the Rush connector. This made for some superb skating down low, since the area got about enough snow (1-2 inches) to refresh the surface of these heavily-used lower loops. New classic track was also installed there.

The plan for this afternoon is to continue to roll and pack the upper reaches of the trail system in a bid to open as much terrain as possible. The skiing should be incredible this weekend. Is this the best season in recent memory, or what?

Please remember to register when skiing. Many thanks...

Progress, Not Perfection

Hello Skiers. Yesterday (Wednesday) we made progress towards getting more terrain open to skiers. Both the Dolph Kuss and Hamlin loops are now packed and groomed, as is Rush Creek loop. The condition of these newly opened loops is apt to be a bit on the soft side and will need more work to fully level them out. The road connecting all the loops is packed but not groomed. There is a lot of snow up there and the process is labor intensive, so please be patient as we work our way through it. Many thanks to Chris and Tom from the Forest Service for leading the charge through the deep snow. I don't think our machines would have made it without their trail-breaking. As of this writing I'm not sure if the precipitation we just received fell as rain or snow up at the area. Regardless, the skiing ought to be just fine. So keep on skiing...

Fantastic Skiing Now! More to come...

I just skied most of what's open on my classic skis, as well as Rush Creek Loop. The snow is firming up nicely so conditions are superb. It would be irresponsible not to go up there and ski with a toothy smile on your face. If you have no teeth, then just show some gum. Enough people have classic skied up Rush Creek thet it's pretty smooth going. The only problem is that one's poles tend to get no purchase in the deep powder. Coming down is not a problem.

If all goes well, we should be able to get the remaining terrain open in time for the weekend. Please stay tuned to the blog for updates. Better yet, go check it out!

Grooming Update as of Sunday, Jan. 24

All of the Bauer Loops and the Rush Connector - to the road - and the road back to the picnic table have been freshly packed, rolled and groomed. Everything has classic track (everything that's open, anyway). We've had lots of fresh snow and the trees are loaded. The Cathedral of the Woods is open folks, so please go ski it!

Click on the photo to see the dynamic, flawless skate technique of Chicken Creek's human dynamo, John G.

In the spirit of reciprocity, we've included a link to the website for the Southwest Nordic Ski Club out of Los Alamos, NM. One of our groomers ran into one of their board members on the trail today (NOT literally) and he promised to link to our blog on their website. Viva Mexico Nuevo!

http://swnordicski.org/

Grooming report as of Friday Jan 22

On Friday afternoon (1/22) Alan and Tom R. rolled and track packed the lower loops as well as the main road to Hamlin Reservoir.

It was dumping buckets of snow while we were out.

Annie has just made a huge contribution at the donation box located at the trailhead. She feels good about that. Can you tell?

Grooming Status as of Thursday PM

How do you like the new signs? Just a friendly reminder to the two legged friends of the four legged ones. Skis and dog poop are a bad combo. Thanks for understanding!


Fearless groomers Tom and John packed and rolled like a couple Rastafarians today. Only the Rush Creek Trail and the road to the top remain ungroomed as of this writing. Drifting snow and more snow on the way will mean conditions may be less than ideal for skating.

Apparently we don't need to worry about running out of snow any time soon. Let's hear it for the groomers, and the Forest Service for coming through with the necessary fuel.

Snow, Groom, Ski, Snow, Groom, Ski, repeat!

There's about a foot of fresh snow at the top of the Chicken Creek Cross-Country Ski area as of mid-day today. More snow on the way. We will be doing everything an all-volunteer organization can do to keep the snow packed down. Classic track may be a way off in time, as the bulk of our energies will be geared toward keeping the snow packed down and the trails open.

Peter B. and John G. rode the mighty beasts today like rodeo champs. The trees are beautiful, loaded with giant dollops of the fresh stuff. We'll keep you posted as the storm progresses.

Grooming report as of Sunday Jan 17

My those groomers have been busy. Dolph Kuss got rolled again and the entire Bauer loop got freshened up for the long weekend. We tried the D-K loop Staurday and it was a tad on the soft side. Hopefully the re-roll did it proud. Only one way to find out... See you up there!

Many thanks to the responsible dog owners for removing the mutt manure from the trails. Also, if you know someone who needs info on grooming updates, please tell them about the blog. We had to give up on mass emails as they were being treated as spam.

Jan. 18 Trail Update

Tom Y and Hank worked on the newly opened Dolph Kuss loop on Sunday, and smoothed the lower loops for MLK day skiing. The next week looks to be a doozy for snow. We will try to keep up by packing as much as possible, as the storms hit. Your classic skis may be the best bet for a while. Keep checking the blog for condition up-dates.
We are making headway on saving enough $ for a new machine, but make a generous donation as you can

Dolph Kuss Loop is ready for skiing action

Grooming update for Friday, Jan. 15. John and Andy groomed out Dolph Kuss loop and the connector from the picnic table today for the first time this season. They reported that it may be soft this afternoon, but it may set up quite nicely for Saturday morning. They also set a classic track which may be some really good skiing for the holiday weekend. Just as in the past the Dolph Kuss loop is closed to dogs. We also stress to clean up after your dogs on the trail. Carry a litter scooper along to toss it off the track or a bag to pack it out. "Dog Poo" does not mix very well with kick wax, so please be considerate to the rest of the area's users.
It has been reported that the rest of the trails are in quite nice condition so enjoy the weekend.

Trail condition/Grooming report as of Monday night

John made a run around most of the trails Monday night and reports them to be holding up quite well, despite the lack of snow. The trails got a minor facelift and it sounds like they'll probably get another just prior to the weekend.

Many thanks to the contributors whose generous support helps to keep the equipment running. We could not do it without you.

Trail Condition Report

This report is "as of" 4pm Friday, Jan 8th. Bauer still has good coverage and is overall pretty good. A bit crusty in spots where the sun bakes it. Classic track still there, though a bit like a louge run in some places.

The road past Rush Connector is good to very good; nicely groomed and little used.

Rush and Hamlin Loops are very good to sublime (in spots). When we skied it this afternoon, there were only 3 previous sets of skate tracks, so lots of fresh corduroy up top.

The Road past the top of Rush is still excellent all the way to the top.

Pray for snow.

Groomering Report as of Thursday Afternoon, January 7

Andy and Tom Groomed all open trails and report good "fast" skiing all around. The classic track is holding up but getting a bit crusty on the bauer loop. The grooming crew may attempt to reset the classic track this weekend, conditions permitting.

Thank you for all your donations to date. Contributions may be made at the trail head or mailed to our PO Box as follows:

Chicken Creek Nordic
PO Box 111
Mancos, CO 81328
Happy New Year and enjoy the skiing!

Tuesday January 5 Grooming Report

Hello Chicken Lovers. All trails were groomed this morning (apologies to those of you I nearly ran over) and there is classic track set on the entire system. Conditions are Good to Excellent, with nearly everything up there being Very Very Good! There are a couple slick spots to watch for but 99.9% of the trails are just fine. Hamlin Loop got an overdue face lift and the road that loops Hamlin got the same treatment.

The good folks at Durango Nordic will be linking to this blog, and so welcome to all you folks at Durango Nordic. You can visit their website at http://durangonordic.org
Thanks to all the donations at the trailhead and the PO box (listed below). Your contributions keep the Creek at its peak. We would especially like to acknowlwdge the generous contribution of the Winn family of Mancos / Albuquerque.

New Year Grooming Update

As of 5:30 pm Friday night, all open trails are freshly groomed and almost all trails have classic track set. The new snow has really freshened things up and conditions are excellent. All hail Ullr, Norse god of snow. Enjoy the fresh corduroy and the lovely snow.

Grooming Report as of New Year's Eve

Volunteer groomers Brad and Barry gulped down snowmobile fumes for several hours in order to deliver freshly groomed terrain for all you nordic skiers. There is classic track set on the majority of the trails. According to reports, the snow is "superb." Get out there and tear it up. Well, not literally.

Happy New Year to all. And don't overlook the donation box at the trailhead please.