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.