Green means go, folks. I was surprised to find Woodpecker and Squire trails in such good condition today. I give the loop overall a green rating, which is rare for this trail set. With temps going in the icebox, I'm going to guess that this report will hold until Saturday, maybe Sunday. If you have been wanting to hit a backcountry trail without having to worry about treacherous conditions, I'm thinking Friday or Saturday's your day. This is as good as this trail gets. There's plenty of easy stuff for a beginner, with enough challenging stuff to keep the hardcore satisfied.
There have been some walkers, but they've been sticking to a single-file pattern down the middle of the trail. Lots of fresh snow to be had, and because of the nature of our dense early-week snow, the walker path can actually be used for skiing if you like. There is no walker postholing, just packing.
The fresh snow is a fine fluff on top of a fairly dense base, though the base can easily be crushed and carved up thundering downhill in the steeper sections. I took my big crud-busters today but found I could have easily gotten away with cruisers like the Fischer Jupiter (rent at Fin and Feather or buy at Geoff's) or Solomon Snowscape/Siam (buy just about anywhere). For real fun, though, go with the thickest thing you've got (F&F last year had Alpina Woodies--maybe see if you can "demo" them) and lay down some turns.
Condition notes: 1. Deer have been rooting around in the snow on and near the trail looking for acorns. There's lots of leaves on the trail in these areas but they're frozen, so just go right through them. 2. There's a wide variety of poop on the trail. Mostly domestic canid. Some other brands as well. This adds a fun "slalom" aspect to the skiing.
Here's how I rate the trails today. Usually this map would be all blue and black, with just a few sections of green:
There have been some walkers, but they've been sticking to a single-file pattern down the middle of the trail. Lots of fresh snow to be had, and because of the nature of our dense early-week snow, the walker path can actually be used for skiing if you like. There is no walker postholing, just packing.
The fresh snow is a fine fluff on top of a fairly dense base, though the base can easily be crushed and carved up thundering downhill in the steeper sections. I took my big crud-busters today but found I could have easily gotten away with cruisers like the Fischer Jupiter (rent at Fin and Feather or buy at Geoff's) or Solomon Snowscape/Siam (buy just about anywhere). For real fun, though, go with the thickest thing you've got (F&F last year had Alpina Woodies--maybe see if you can "demo" them) and lay down some turns.
Condition notes: 1. Deer have been rooting around in the snow on and near the trail looking for acorns. There's lots of leaves on the trail in these areas but they're frozen, so just go right through them. 2. There's a wide variety of poop on the trail. Mostly domestic canid. Some other brands as well. This adds a fun "slalom" aspect to the skiing.
Here's how I rate the trails today. Usually this map would be all blue and black, with just a few sections of green:
