New Nordic Website for the San Juans

Lance Webster has recently created a website encompassing all things Nordic in the San Juan (South) region.  Great information and some fun things as well.  Please check it out when you get a chance.
 http://www.xcsanjuan.com/

Still not enough snow to do anything up at the Chicken Creek Ski Area.  With the cold temps, there is still snow on the ground in many places.  We do need more snow to make this work, however.  We'll do our best to keep you posted.  As of this writing, there is no mention of snow in the 7-day forecast.

On the happy side, the skiing has been superb up at Lizard Head Pass.  The Trout Lake RR grade has been in lovely shape for skating or diagonal stride.  It's a lot of miles to ski, but worth it until something closer to home shapes up.

Chicken Creek Needs Some Help. Can You?

Our dedicated staff of volunteer groomers (most of whom also serve on the board) met last night to prepare for the upcoming season.  We decided we could use some help, so I'm putting this out there to you all, hoping perhaps a few can help.  If you can not, but know someone who might want to, feel free to forward this entry.

Things we'd love help with:

• Snow
• Cold temperatures
• Volunteer groomers
• A Facebook presence.  Do you love Facebook?  Are you good at connecting with people in that forum?  In an effort to increase our web presence, we'd love to talk to you about getting us up and running in that world (about which all of us appear to be stunningly ignorant).
• A Twitter feed.  (Whatever that may be.  See previous entry).
• A public relations person who could help increase our exposure in more traditional media outlets; press, radio, etc.
• A high-energy, enthusiastic person to spearhead Development (that means raising money).  This person would contact businesses, write grants, and or organize fund-raising events.

That is an incomplete list, but I think it gets the main idea across.  We perennially struggle to meet our expenses, despite heavy usage at the area.  When we do apply for grants, grantors always want to see "in-kind" contributions from the community.  So if you love skiing at Chicken Creek, and have been pining for a way to give back, here it is.  Contact Peter at 970-533-1605.

Tastes Like Chicken

Really fantastic skiing up the Transfer road today.  The San Juan Sledders groom about 80 miles up in the forest there for snowmobiles.  The sun was getting after it, of course.  The track was considerably softer on my way out than it was going up.  I saw very few snow machines (2), only one fat bike rider ( I mean he wasn't, it's the tires), and no other skiers.  Oh yeah, and a dog sled team of 10 dogs and followed by a grinning woman.

I only saw one bare spot poking through this afternoon.  I'm guessing the weekends may be much busier in terms of motor-driven traffic.  If you go wear bright colors and watch out.  They go really fast.

Chicken gets demotion, Transfer

The Chicken got the short end of the snow stick this past storm cycle, and the bare spots are showing through already.

Kick and glide skiers should do just fine over the next couple days, but the warm sun is going to melt it out quickly.  Grooming activity is suspended for now, but keep an eye on the blog for updates.

Brad notified me last night (Wednesday) that the road to Transfer Campground was groomed last night.  Duty calls and I'm going to investigate that this morning.  I will report later with my findings.  That forest service road has little charm compared with Chicken Creek, but it beats driving to Lizard Head Pass for some skiing.

Poultry In Motion

Today the Bauer Loops got groomed again, just as things were warming up.  The snow falling as grooming commenced turned into something closer to rain by the time grooming was complete.  Still, the track is in decent shape and the skating was good, though a bit tiring due to the high moisture content of the snow.  Coverage is complete for now.  That may not last if things get any warmer.

We'll keep a close eye on the weather and groom some more if we feel conditions warrant it.  It was nice to see a full parking lot and plenty of people taking advantage of the snow today.  Hungry for winter, hungry for the Chicken.

Snow Kidding!

Kudos to Brad for getting on the fresh snow.  The skating was good - not perfect - but no complaints.  Only the Bauer Loops are groomed presently.  And as of last night - Saturday - there was about 2+ inches of snow on top of the groomed track; probably more than that now.  We will attempt to rally the troops and take advantage of this snow.  Stay tuned to the blog for more updates.

New Snow, Old Machine, Fresh Tracks

Some good news for all of you champing at the bit to ski this fresh snow:  Brad fired up the only machine left at the trailhead (a 20 year old Polaris) and groomed the two lower loops with the roller.  I cannot make any judgement calls on the quality of the skiing experience until I have sampled the snow myself.  A good excuse to get off my bloggy butt and go ski.
According to the weather service, this storm will be around for a few more days before blowing out on Tuesday.  At least that's the prediction.  Looks like a slow warming trend follows, but if we get some more snow now, we may be able to keep it ski-able through next weekend.
Check in with the blog in a day or two for updates, and I'll do my best to keep everyone informed.

Happy winter.
Again.