Mike the Headless Chicken

Okay, first the good news.
That was a pretty good dump of snow we just got, perhaps as much as 8 inches at the higher reaches of the ski area and perhaps 5-6 at the trailhead.  The area looked like a post card until the sun started getting after it. (more on that later under "bad news'.)  Groomers were out working late last night (Monday) trying to get all the air out of the snow, in order to enhance the skiing experience for y'all.

Here's the grooming report:
Bauer Loops: groomed for skate and classic
Rush Connector: ditto
Upper Loops (Rush and Hamlin): Track packed but NOT groomed

Conditions are as follows:
Bauer: Good to excellent, depending on where in the system you are. The snow was soft at the end of the storm and has been a bit difficult to tame. There are uneven areas and ruts more than capable of catching a ski and inducing involuntary face plant. Caution advised, but mostly pretty darn good
Rush Connector: Amazing!
Hamlin and Rush: see above

Now for some not-so-happy news. You may have observed the verb "trying" in the first paragraph. Two machine malfunctions - one relatively minor, the other of unknown magnitude - crippled grooming efforts last night. David B, Allen F and Peter B were out past dark last night doing what they could with what they had. The new grooming machine was instrumental in the work last night. That, and a flexible volunteer crew meant we got a lot of work done. I calculate 17 hours last night. Meeting with the mechanic and touching things up (including the installation of the aforementioned classic track) tallied another 5.5 hours volunteer labor today.

The mechanic's labor, however, was not volunteered, nor should it be. He came to OUR house on short notice and quickly got one machine back up and running. New parts are on the way for the mystery ailment.
All this serves as background for my next pitch:
Please don't neglect the donation box at the trailhead. There is a paypal button on this page for those so inclined. Non-cash carrying Luddites can send us a check at Chicken Creek Nordic, PO Box 111, Mancos 81328.
We are tearing through fuel, and now we will have machine repair expenses as well. Your generosity makes this all possible. Thank you.

22.5 volunteer hours logged since last update.