C’mon snow! and Nashotah Park race preview.

Well, that weekend stunk! 40+ temps and rain rain rain. The good news is there is new snow in the forecast. Perhaps more up north, but hopefully enough so that they can pull off the Waukesha County Citizen’s Cross Country Ski Race at Nashotah Park.

*C-A-N-C-E-L-E-D*

BAH !!

 

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I won’t be racing this weekend, but I will be there with my camera gear and I’m looking forward to it.

  

(Yeah, that’s the best I have from there)

So here’s the forecast and latest snow depths this week:

  

So, get out there and ski if you can, but if you can’t,

pray for more snow and enjoy this video of the day!

OH!! and check out last weekend’s racing from Prague on Universal Sports: HERE. Universal Sports is a breath of fresh air, allowing us here in the states access to this incredible coverage of this year’s Euro race scene.

Merry Christmas !

All I want' for Christmas is a foot of snow … better yet, 17? Whoo Hoo !!

  

Lapham Peak was quite busy today, busy with skiers of all abilities.

The temperature was 15F with a light wind and picture perfect trails.

 

 

What a WONDERFUL Christmas Day. A skier couldn’t ask for more.

More Dusseldorf

Just trying to wrap things up for the holidays, plus have to work all week, so no skiing for me today. Just some quick notes on this past weekend’s racing in Dusseldorf, Germany. Check out the cool course they skied on.

(from Ski Paradise)

   

Closer to home, we’ve got ourselves a real white Xmas brewing for this year!

 

There is easily 12 inches of snow on the ground with more coming! I know some

of you have new ski gear and I’m confident that you’ll get to use it often!

(The early leaders during last season’s Greenbush race)

Just got this email from CXC – check out the video they posted from this past weekend’s Junior Olympic Qualifying races:

http://www.cxcskiing.org/site_pages/juniors/MN-Valley-JOQ.htm

Check it out now, because it’s only going to be up for 3 days!

Hey, it’s warming up!

-2F here this morning with a high of 6F !

Did you folks see the FIS Sprints from Dusseldorf,

Germany on Universal Sports this weekend? The course

was right in the city, next to the river on a 1km

loop, just like a criterium. The lights were on, the

fans were there, it was cool! The web page is down at

the moment, but check the link on the right side of this

page later today. The coverage from Saturday runs 1hr 45m !

Andy Newel placed 11th overall. In his early heat, he was

lined up right next to Christian Zorsi and other heavy hitters.

Andy was a ROCKET and led the first lap! You gotta see it.

Here’s Andy from a pic on his webpage: XSkiFilms.Com

Hopefully I can get some shots like that this winter! I’ll post the direct link to the video (on demand) when it’s available.

Get those boards out today, I will, with a camera too!

Edit: Universal Sports is back online. Here's this

past weekend's race.

Double Edit: Check out Andy Newell’s blog on Faster Skier! Lots of current pix there.

First Day of Winter – Brrrr !

It’s WINTER! Celebrate!! 

We did get 3 more inches of new snow last night though, that’s awesome!

Ski today, hmmmm … I’ll wait until noon, then see how the wind is. When I

put bird seed out this morning (no gloves) my thumbs were in pain within

60 seconds. That’s just plain cold reality! But, if you want to race in the cold,

you’ve got to train in the cold. Remember last year’s Birkie? That was no picnic.

That was a cold day, even if you were from Siberia

(or somewhere).

Anyway, it’s now Winter, enjoy it the best you can …

and that’s on skis of course !

Blizzard!

A foot of snow on the ground already and it’s still snowing! It was almost a white-out driving home from work this morning it was BAD.

Quick preview – more later…

Okay, I admit I'm very biased when it comes to driving in snow. You see, I love it! I've always been a wanna-be rally car racer, so when it snows, I go for a drive ... just to drive in the snow. I've got AWD, Blizzak snow tires, and I know how to use 'em ... but it was BAD this morning … near white-out at times so you really couldn’t see how deep it was. State HWY 36 was one lane, 30mph MAX, and every once in a while, you'd run into a drift you never saw and POOOF the wave would break over the hood! It was crazy. The exit off of 36 was one set of old tracks, and I wasn't sure that I could make it ... I just keep my foot in it (25mph) and tried to point it straight. Luckily I made it. Arriving at home, I found a 4 ft wall of snow at the end of my driveway. Parking the car in the road (no choice) I grabbed the grain scoop out of the 'boot' and shoveled just enough to at least get off the road (only 4ft high, 6 feet wide, and 5 feet deep). From there again it was keep my foot in it and let the Blizzaks do their job, plowing snow with the front bumper as I crawled up the driveway.

So now I’m finally dug out, so it's back to skiing Saturday night. I’ll be at Lapham peak skiing and shooting pix under the lights. The trails should be groomed again, lots of folks out skiing, and it could be snowing some more.

It should be cool !

Zillmer Trail

Chilly start this morning ... I think it was 11 when I woke up. Looking at the current snow depth maps this morning, I think I'm going to Zillmer and check it out. It's just north of West Bend, WI.



It looks like they may have the most snow in the SE Wisconsin area, so I want to check it out. It's "B" on the Google map.

More later .....


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Well, the weather was beautiful ... 15F, light wind, and skies turning sunny. The Zillmer trails had 2-3 inches of fluffy snow on top of a thin, lumpy base. Skating was 'ok', classic was fair to good. Had the DNR simply rolled the fluff down, it would have helped a lot, but that's okay. Even a mediocre day of skiing is better than ... well, just about everything! Here's a few pix and a short video from today. Video starts at the Sunburst Ski hill just south of Kewaskum. I know that's not XC, but it's the sights and sounds of winter which I simply love!

Time to hit it!

Most areas around Milwaukee and Madison picked up about 3-5 inches of snow overnight. Pretty fluffy, but I'll head out early this afternoon to see what's skiable. There probably won't be much in terms of classic tracks, but some rolled trails might be good skating.

Channel 6 in Milwaukee is giving this forecast for Thursday:

SYNOPSIS by FOX 6 meteorologist Rob Haswell

---

The snow has ended from across all of Wisconsin with between 3 and 5 inches reported in most areas as expected.

A high will now move over us today but a very strong low system will develop
over Colorado and track across central IL Thursday night with heavy snow likely for our area. This is a classic storm track for big winter storms in souther WI. Significant accumulations are expected. However, we could see some freezing rain and sleet mixed in with the snow and lower snow totals near the illinois border. North of that expect somewhere between 6 and 12" by the time it stops later Friday morning.

After that a brief high pressure ridge builds back in for Friday night and Saturday morning but then another low tracks into our region Sunday with another few inches possible.

So, wax 'em up brothers and sisters, it's gonna be party time for the Winter Solstice on Saturday!




Update: Whitnal - the golf course is skiable but ungroomed. Mallard Pond is now frozen over, unknown ice depth though. We've logged many many laps on that pond, but be sure the ice is thick enough though, and stay away from both the damn and the feeder creek !!

Heading over to Minooka Park, again - plenty of snow, but no grooming.

Last stop - Little Muskego Lake.
A few ice fishermen out, ATV tracks on the ice. Could be
skiable if you're REAL CAREFUL. SAFETY FIRST!!
But looks inviting, eh?


Lastly, to all those folks where were jumping with glee when the warm temps
hit on Sunday .... I say:

PFFFFFT !! WE'RE STILL SKIING !!!!

Game-on! (again)

Okay, I'm done grinding my teeth over the past weekend's thaw out and rain event. I've wiped away the tears after loosing all that snow, because there's more coming for this weekend!! Img courtesy of Scott Bachmeier and his nordic skiing weather page!








The long range forecast for the upcoming week. I suspect this img. changes from time to time, so check Jim's weather page for the most up to date information.









Yes, there was a race up in Ironwood this past weekend. By what I've read, it was a good one (report), but there was no way I could make it so first race covered here will be the Nashota Park race on January 3rd which is about 5 miles north of Laham Peak (I assume you all know where that is). I'll post the flyer for that race once I find it. The grooming is done by Waukesha County so it will be pristine, you won't want to miss it! However, if you do, all the pix will be right here.

So, rest up guys and gals ... we'll be skiing again soon!!

December at Scuppernong.

 

This past Thursday I gave up some sleep and drove out to the Scuppernong trails near Eagle. This classic only system is a wonderful network of trails set into the Southern Kettle Moraine forest which is a mixture of mature oak trees and towering pines. I used to come here with my older brother starting in about 1976 (I was 16). Leaving as soon as the roads were drivable after a snow storm, we came here in his '72 VW Squareback. I struggled to stay behind him as he broke trail through the fresh snow. We had a blast.

 

Last year we had the snowiest December on record, and at this point we are 3 inches ahead of that pace. Who knows what’s in store for us, but as of right now, the skiing is incredible. It’s mid-winter and all the skiers are loving it!

 

As you ski along the Scuppernong trail you encounter the first split. To the right is a picnic area which is closed from the road, but open to skiers. Be adventurous and check it out. Bring a lunch, or play some hoops!

 

On this day, there weren’t many skiers so it was very quiet in the forest. I’m sure the sound of my skis carried far into the trees as I chuffed my way up and zoomed my way down the hills. Listen for yourself in this short video.