Summit Prairie - FR 16 South & 1660 1/20/18

the snow returns!

Location: Summit Prairie, co. 62 to FR 16

Road & Trail Conditions: plowed & gravel

Snow Conditions: thin. 4-6" base, groomed last week; 2-5" powder on top.  sno  mo tracks on most trails,  well packed, easy traction & skiing.  great conditions for being thin.

Skis on & temperature: 1pm 30 degrees

Skis off & temperature: 4pm 30 degrees

Distance: +/- 7 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10, for the company & finally getting out to ski.

Comments: allen taylor, stacia kimball & i made this trip on a lovely day. temps under 32 made it work; no sticky. forecast has 1-2" over next 2 days.  warming temps could change conditions significantly.

skied down (up) 16 s for 2.5 miles & back downhill.  nice, controlled downhill.
turned up toward 1660 & south for 1+ miles & back down hill. some breaking trail on 1660.  the pack from sno mos & breaking trail made it zippy fun.

everything is pretty thin. probably too thin to groom. sno  mo tracks almost as good.

Groomed Trails - Logan Valley FR 1640 to Roads End Trail 1/19/18

glen johnston reports:

Cat #2 groomed FR 1640 north from FR 16 to Roads End, but I haven't heard if any additional trails were groomed.  Will update when I have more information ;-) G

Christmas Ski - Summit Prairie - FR 16 12/25/17

fr 16 & 1651 jct looking west; tire tracks with 1-2" powder

Location: Co. 62 rd from prairie city south to FR 16 jct.

Road & Trail Conditions: packed snow & ice. not plowed to summit.  4-8"

Snow Conditions: 1-3" base; 4-12" fresh powder on top

Skis on & temperature: 11am 26 degrees

Skis off & temperature: 2pm 32 degrees; occasional wind dropped 15 degrees

Distance: 7 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10

Comments:

beautiful day, blue skies, sunny. lots of fresh powder.

started out down 16 S., got too deep breaking trail 8-12". backtracked & headed west on 16.

no grooming, a few tire tracks. two snomos passed me heading west as i was returning east on 16.  looks like they started at huddleston, came down 153, a ways down 16 S & then back to 16 west to logan valley.  there are some older & newer tracks to follow.

outside the tracks, it is 8-12" of breaking trail.

kona in the deep stuff

 i don't mind skiing in tracks.

16 west is flat for about 3 miles (jct 1651) then 3 miles of rolling hills into logan valley, returning to flat.

 

Windfall Creek Loop - Starr Ridge - FR 333-465-353 - 12/24/17

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Location: Hwy 395 to Starr Ridge Sno Park

Road & Trail Conditions: snow & ice pack with gravel on curves

Snow Conditions: 2" base with 4-6" fresh powder on top

Skis on & temperature: 10 am  20 degrees

Skis off & temperature: 2pm  22 degrees

Distance: 8 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10

Comments:

lovely day to ski. fr 333 has recent tire tracks with powder.  465 & 351 have deeper powder & more breaking trail

tire tracks on fr 333 - easy to ski

breaking trail thru 6" on fr 353

still no signs of snowmos, possibly not deep enough yet.

kona ~ snow dog

Winter Solstice - 1st Ski of Season - Starr Ridge FR 4920 12/21/17

Location: Hwy 395 at Starr Ridge Summit, FR 4920 to Vance Creek Fr 3920

Road & Trail Conditions: going out at 10am 395 from canyon city to co. 65 was treacherous. lost control once on a straightway doing a giant slalom s curve across both lanes.  was ready to turn back when the road improved.  de-icer applied before return trip.  much better.

snow over cattle guard is thin.

Snow Conditions: 1-2 inches packed base, 1-2" fresh powder

Skis on & temperature:10:45a 22  degrees

Skis off & temperature: 12:45p 28 degrees

Distance: +/- 6 miles

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10+

Comments:

almost didn't go today. 5" on starr ridge snotel seems thin.  turned out to be excellent.

not deep enough for snomos.  tire tracks packed a base.  fresh powder on top.  no need to break trail. has to be best conditions  ever for first ski of the season.

all the roads around starr ridge should be similar:  333 & all connecting up to 4920

huddleston snotel shows 8".  am guessing those roads 101 etc, and summit prairie should be good as well.

should stay that way for the weekend with forecast, cold, maybe a little more snow on top.

took a buddy on the trip, kona toy-cueno.  didn't have the right size ski boot, so she trotted along.

Windy Skylline Ridge FR 101 - 3/30/17

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Location: Co. 62 to Summit 101-125-skyline ridge

Road & Trail Conditions: 62 icy going up, clear going down

Snow Conditions: 3-4" new overnite over 3' solid base

Skis on & temperature: 12:30pm  27°    (JD 36° )

Skis off & temperature: 5:30 pm 30°  (JD 42° )

Distance: 12+ miles, 1600' elevation

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 8 for wind & ice on ridge

Comments: windchill was intense for whole trip, 20mph consistent, regular gusts 30-35, peak gusts at 50. kept temps. at 10-15 at lowest, 20 consistent.  headwind forced kick on downhill.  tailwind pushed me uphill, double poling. kind of crazy.

lots of tree debris blow down.  rock ski season.

first time i considered returning home.  in 4 winters, haven't seen this kind of wind up there.

where wind swept new powder away was pretty icy.  some of the descent on 125 was difficult.

101 had some sweet powder.  125 started getting crusty.  ridgeline alternated powder with firm ice.  tough to move thru.  in a rare wise moment, decided to skip going down east slope & backtrack.

still looking for a loop to jump off ridge & come in on 101 before skyline trailhead.  getting thru the trees is the challenge.

Dixie Butte - Spring Ski 3/26/17

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Location: Hwy 26 east to dixie summit sno park

Road & Trail Conditions: 26 clear, snopark mushy. FR 2610 all the way

Snow Conditions: declining base with 1-4" new sno

Skis on & temperature: 9:30am  33°

Skis off & temperature:  2:30 pm  36°

Distance: 10 miles, 2000' elevation climb

Rating (1-10; 10 awesome): 10 on the spring ski scale

Comments: some new sno at elevation, still pretty warm - dubious. snopark was very patchy & ice.  beginning of 2610 was questionable.  a few bare spots along 2610, one required skis off. almost turned around.

very glad didn't.  about 1/3 ascent sno got powder & deeper, some of the best of the season.  first 1/3 crusty on ascent, mushy on descent.  after that pretty darn good.

did first hot wax a few weeks ago which probably kept sticky sno off.  worth learning how to do it.  without, imagine would have used 1-2 applications of maxiglide on trail with marginal results.

1/2 mile from top a snosquall blew in, happened every trip up dixie this season. waited an hour huddled behind a skinny tree.  clouds socked in, visibility 20 yds.

planning to summit & practice turns down east slopes.  wind has swept slopes pretty bare. base has dropped considerably, lots of ground exposure.  low visibility & many exposed shrubs & rocks changed my mind.  with clear visibility could probably find a line.

stiff wind dropped windchill in 20's higher, disappeared lower; glad packed googles & winter layers.  even when snopark seems balmy, take winter gear!

last ski was 3/5 at anthony lakes practicing downhill turns.  paid off for today.  great downhill even along 2610, in some ways better than anthony.  powder!

last thurs. kayaked monument to spray, north fork, 60 sunny, blu skies, 26 miles, 3+ hrs. ski dixie today, back to winter.

~  i love this place ~