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.