Season's Kick (and glide) Off

It must be winter since there are lots of grown men in tights on the TV chasing a small pigskin ball around an unnaturally green rectangle with odd marking on it.  Seems to happen every year about this time.

Winter means snow and cold, which in turn facilitates strapping slippery boards to your feet and going fast up and down hills.  Or going casually or leisurely through the trees with said boards on feet.

Groomer Gabfest
The unbelievably dedicated volunteer groomers met today to discuss the season and get a look at new toys for getting the heavy machines unstuck.  Hank, the Godfather of the Grooming Squad, spent many hours this summer getting our snow machines in tip-top shape.  When you see him on the trail give him a big smile and thanks.  He is the backbone of the machine end of things at the ski area.  The good news for everyone else is that by noon tomorrow - Monday Dec 9 - there will be some grooming done.  Preliminary work on getting the trails groomed will commence in the morning hours and, if the groomers' faces don't fall of from the extreme cold, the rest of us can start the season on some new corduroy by Noon or thereabouts.   We plan to have three machines out for two to three hours. 

Clearly many of you could not wait for the grooming to begin and there were many cars in the parking lot today.  Excited about snow.  Yes!

Let the skiing begin!

Chicken Creek Needs Your Help!

It's late summer and the Board of the Chicken Creek Ski Corp is gearing up already in anticipation of an epic ski season.  And we need your help.  We are actively recruiting one member for our board of directors.  Board members attend one or two meetings a year and are generally required to do very little.  But a willingness to do a lot is a definite bonus!  We are also seeking a few volunteers to assist a grant writer gather information for the completion of a grant to pay for grooming equipment.  The grant will be submitted in Late October so that will be a short-term commitment. 

If you would like to help or simply need some more information, please call Peter at 533-1605

Please pass this along to anyone you know who might like to know about these exciting opportunities in the wild world of Nordic skiing in Montezuma County.

Fried Chicken Coming Right Up

Well folks, I went up to the area after the last snow and took a look around.  There was a decent amount of snowfall, 8-10 inches at the higher reaches.  Sadly with temperatures predicted to be in the 60's in a couple days it's a case of too little and too late.  The kicking and gliding should be pretty good for the next couple days.  One brave soul tried to skate on the new stuff and it must have been exhausting as they kept it short.  We could not rally a groomer to pack down the new snow so it is probably a bit of a mess up there by now as far as trying to skate.

We had a pretty good run this year.  Time for a little picnic to celebrate.  Anyone for some chicken?  Fried?

Thursday Morning Buff

Groomer Tom made the rounds on the Bauer Loops this morning to freshen things up after a couple days of almost warm temperatures.  The upper loops were still in very good shape as recently as yesterday afternoon, having seen very little traffic over the past few days.

Warmer days are on the way; this could be the last gasp of the chicken.  We recommend you get a big helping now, while it's still edible.  Ciao for now...

Monday Preening

The Chicken got it's feathers preened this morning:  Fresh corduroy all around.  The existing classic track was preserved and is in tolerable condition.  All things considered, it's pretty dang nice up there...

Saucy! Friday 2/22

Heavenly gravy was ladled all over the chicken the past couple days, albeit sparingly.  Still it was enough to breath fresh life into a very tired bird.  I'd guess about 4" of new snow at the parking lot and more like 6-7 inches at the upper reaches.

John G, Alan F, and Peter B all hit it hard with the groomers starting about 10:30 this morning.  Everything got groomed and the area is in Very Good condition.  The snow is still a bit soft / un-bonded but cold temperatures tonight ought to help that out.  The weekend skiing really should be terrific. And it looks like we may be getting even more gravy tomorrow and possibly into Sunday.  We can sure used it so let's hope it materializes.

Sorry folks!  I thought I published this Friday night, but I accidentally saved it as a draft.  My bad.

Hank Loves Chicken

Sunday early afternoon:
Hank was out doing some scratching on the Bauer Loops around mid-day today, which should improve the conditions considerably; for now at least.

Snow coming Wednesday??
Lets hope it is.  We need it.