Trail pass is required to ski at the area regardless of day or hour
Trail passes are required 24/7. Rules apply 24/7 including designated dog trails and walking on groomed trails. We appreciate your help to keep the groomed trails in excellent condition by using them appropriately and supporting them financially.
Friday-Sunday 9am-5pm please pay in the rental office near the main parking lot. Season passes are on sale at the City Parks and Recreation Offices. It is important that season pass holders sign-in at the yurt with each use, as this provides us with documentation of the necessary use numbers to justify the area staying open. If no one is staffing the A-frame, simply put payment in red fee box near parking lot or Creek Side parking spots. To reduce costs, the honor system is in place.
Trails are typically groomed daily by city employees or PXCSF volunteers. Everyone utilizing the groomed trails needs to pay the daily trail fee or hold a season pass even during mid-week and night use. Please be honest: The survival of the area depends on it. Wouldn’t you like to see the area get better? Leveler trails, grooming machinery maintained, new structures, lights…? The growth potential is endless, but we need your help. Grooming isn’t free even with volunteer groomers.
Groomed all trails tonight. Upper Canyon was groomed to the middle loop (which i now know the name due to the tank trap). It was windy up on top this evening and was spitting out the occasional snowflake. It was 27 degrees when i left. Should be great skiing tomorrow.
Started early to pack and groom upper Canyon and side loops and give myself time to get stuck and unstuck during daylight. Accomplished. Packed lower side loops 4X but not firm enough to not get stuck w Ginzu. However, all trails have been packed and should be ready to Ginzu tomorrow if someone else wants to finish the job. (Watch out for the bomb crater on middle loop). Lemon Loop has also been packed. It would be great to ski these trails this winter!
Groomed Race Loop, Mule Deer, Creekside and Ermine all for skate. Super slow going to get things smooth. Set a couple classic tracks here and there but too firm plus old ones were still ok. Should be excellent skiing tomorrow. 13 degrees when I left.
I groomed everything last night except for upper canyon. The snow was a mix of very hard to soft and wind blown with the wind still blowing up top. A few chunky areas – sorry, Creekside looks pretty good after a long period of minimal snow. Dayles has some interesting walls and drifts of snow. Tony did a lot of work trying to flattening things and did a good job with as bad as the wind made things. Thanks Tony. There is a classic track that is still pretty good although some wind blown areas up high.
Sunday night I groomed all trails except Upper Daley’s (lots of wind drifts) and Upper Canyon. I set classic track on all those trails.
It was still breezy and 32 degrees at 9:30pm.
I groomed everything again this evening with the exception of Upper Dayleys. The wind was fierce and created more drifts. All trails now have a Classic track. 25 degrees when I left.
More new snow! It can be a mixed blessing. Everything was groomed this morning. The Race Loop and Creekside have classic lanes. The wind is blowing quite hard and the track is drifting in a bit. The lower trails are less windy than the upper trails, notably Upper Dayleys at High Basin. It is sideways up there.
I used the Gator this afternoon and rolled (kinda groomed) the trails above Ermine. It is very deep up top with between 12″ to 18″ of new snow along with some massive drifts on Dayley’s. Tony is planning on taking the Bully Piston out tonight to groom and widen the trails….along with working the drifts over. It’s getting deep out there.
I groomed the Race Loop, Mule Deer, Creekside, Deer Trail and Ermine tonight. I reset the classic tracks on the Canyon side of Race Loop, Mule Deer, Creekside Connector and Creekside. I did not groom above Ermine tonight due to the Sherpa have some issues along with the depth of the new snow above Ermine. It will need to be groomed tomorrow. The groomed runs should set up nice tonight as it was 25 degrees when I left. The skiing should be fantastic tomorrow…unless it snows alot……which really is not a bad thing. I will check with Tony tomorrow to see if he will be able to groom the upper trails, if not I will ensure they are groomed tomorrow during the day.
Unfortunately, I was only able to groom the race loop and Ermine tonight. Both should ski really well tomorrow. I was told that Creekside got groomed just before I got there so I didn’t go down there. Nothing above Ermine has been groomed since the last snow fall. 25 when I left at 11:30. The snow gauge showed 20”. Better late than never!!
Groomed the Race Loop and Creekside under heavy snow conditions. There were several inches accumulation over the new tracks when we left at 8:30 pm and I suspect several more inches will fall overnight. Thanks to Steve for helping with machine issues.
groomed creek side with connectors, race course 3 passes, ermine, screamer/lagomorph, water trough and high basin. classic track reset on creek side trails, race course, and ermine. Other upper trails were touched up during the day by Brent Patch, so everything has been groomed.. 20F and lightly snowing at 9pm. Skiing will be soft but good on Monday.
With beautiful new snow, Karina and I groomed the upper trails early afternoon today. We tried to get a good wide swath pushed back around Lost Groomer and Upper Dayley’s including High Basin Loop. We also did 2 laps around Lagomorph, Screamer, and Ermine and 1 quick loop around the race course. We left what classic tracks were there, but didn’t set anything new. The upper trails could use new/refreshed classic tracks. Skiing is wonderful!
Groomed all trails this evening. Took care of the drifts on upper Dayleys. 17 degrees and lightly snowing at 10pm. Should set up nicely overnight.
Good News! Around 6 to 8 inches of new snow from yesterday and this morning. In fact, it is still snowing! I groomed everything except Lost Groomer. Dayleys has only one lap because of drifts. All other trails are groomed skate and classic. Upper Canyon has been rolled but not groomed. Enjoy!
Groomed all trails tonight. It was snowing heavy while i was grooming so i did not set any new classic tracks. The Nordic Center had received 1″ of snow on the bottom and 2″ up top. The temp was 32 degrees at 9pm, Should be some great freshies in the morning along with the undercover corduroy just waiting to be enjoyed.
Go skiing Thursday!! Groomed Creekside to bridge and mule deer. All existing classic trails still decent plus too firm to reset anyway. Groomed everything else 2 passes except only one pass on Lost Groomer and Connector. Connector is getting supper thin on the south side. Also groomed Upper Canyon.
Should be excellent skiing tomorrow. 32 degrees at 10PM but snow is staying cold and didn’t warm up enough to be at all icy tomorrow.
Go Skiing!
I groomed Tuesday night . The skiing is really good right now as the snow is somewhat soft and the coverage is good (except for Creekside). I groomed the race course and redid the classic track (Fox’s Tail, the Meadows, Sage Loop, Lower Canyon, Red Fox, Ruffed Grouse, Cottontail, and Chickadee), Mule Deer and the hill down to Creekside ( I did not do Creekside). I also groomed Deer Trail, Ermine, Screamer, Daley’s, Lost Groomer, Jack Rabbit to the top of Water Trough, Water Trough, Lagomorph and High Basin. Keep praying for snow and cold weather. There is a classic track on most runs right now. A thank you to Tony for cutting down the snow drifts on upper Daley’s.
Groomed all the trails except Lagomorph and Upper Canyon. I laid new classic track on Race Course, Deer Trail, Ermine, Screamer, Water Trough, High Basin, and Lost Groomer. Creekside seemed too thin and hard underneath for classic track. Winds seemed to diminish in the evening, so the tracks may not get blown in right away. Around 32 degrees at 9pm.
Joe and I groomed for the Potato Cup tonight. I also groomed Creekside, Muledeer, Deer Trail, Ermine, Lagamorph and Screamer. It was super windy today with a bit of new snow.
I groomed everything except Creekside tonight. Set new classic tracks on all runs except Upper Canyon. The trails are in good shape and should provide some great skiing tomorrow. It was 29 degrees with the occasional snowflake floating around when I left at 10:30.
I groomed everything except upper canyon tonight. Skate and classic. Creekside is still very thin and the classic tracks didn’t turn out very well. Honestly, Creekside won’t be very good skiing until we get more snow but at least the dogs will be happy! The rest of the trails are in great shape. Skiing should be very good tomorrow. 28 degrees and snowing lightly when I left at 9:30.
Almost 4” new. Day groomed race loop 4 laps+classic. Should be excellent tomorrow
Groomed 2 passes on most everything except Creekside and Upper Canyon. Did just 1 pass around Lost Groomer. Did not touch classic tracks. GO SKI!
Groomed all trails, single pass on Daley’s and Water Trough. Did not reset classic track, track is fair to good in most places and thought we need more snow to reset. 18F at 9pm. Course should ski good on Monday
Before I get to the grooming report, I would like to address an issue that has come up more frequently this year. As most of you are aware, outdoor activities are on the rise all over the US. This has put a serious strain on public resources. Some areas are being loved to death. Mink Creek Nordic Center has also been exceptionally busy this year. We have seen an increase in new skiers as well as snowshoeing and sledding. As it happens, I have, almost daily, come across evidence of users violating the restrictions granted by our permit. Just this evening while grooming, I saw snowshoe tracks on several of the ski trails. Worse yet were hiking tracks heading to Meadow. Adding insult to injury, there were footprints and sled runs down Deer Trail. For some reason, I have never caught these people in the act. Boy, I wish I could. I am appealing to your sensibilities to help police the ski area. If you see people in violaiton of the restrictions, whether ignorant or willful, please be polite but firm and let them know the rules. In the A-frame are the numbers for Lance Clark, the Forest Service and the County Sheriff if necessary. Thank You!
Now to the grooming report: I did two laps on the Race Loop and one lap on everything else. The classic lanes are holding up ok. It was 14 degrees when I finished at 11pm. Should firm up nicely.
Hello snow fans! Little over an inch of new snow greeted me this morning. Race Loop and Creekside have been groomed and now I am working on the upper trails. It should firm up nicely in an hour or so. New classic lanes on all trails as well except for Creekside.
Groomed all trails. Some classic but many are not due to thin or hard base. If the wind doesn’t blow expect pretty good skiing. 1” of new snow with some areas with several inches wind deposited.
I groomed Tuesday night under a full moon and 20 degrees. It was beautiful but clouds and new snow would have been better. The skiing is actually really good right now as the snow is somewhat soft and the coverage is pretty good (except for Creekside). I groomed the race course (Fox’s Tail, the Meadows, Sage Loop, Lower Canyon, Red Fox, Ruffed Grouse, Cottontail, and Chickadee), Mule Deer and the hill down to Creekside ( I did not do Creekside). I also groomed Deer Trail, Ermine, Screamer, Lower Daley’s to Lost Groomer, Lost Groomer, the cut over to the top of Water Trough, Water Trough, and Lagomorph. Keep praying for snow and cold weather.
From Kevin:
Sunday night I groomed all trails except Creekside. Classic track remains on all those trails, except Upper Canyon. 12 degrees at 9pm.
Conditions are excellent.
Ok folks! Here’s the lowdown. Groomed everything including Creekside. (Here’s to you, Lisa). I set new Classic lanes on all trails except Creekside, which is still too thin. In most cases, the lanes are superb. A few spots did not take well. I made three laps on Race Loop and two laps on all others. It was 19 degrees when I left the Nordic Center and 26 when I arrived home, Inversion! Enjoy tomorrow!
Trace of snow overnight. Groomed two passes on Race Loop, one pass on all other trails except Creekside. Still too thin to groom. Snowing lightly at 8:30pm when I finished.
We received just a dusting of new snow this evening at the Nordic Center. The upper trails received a little more, but still less than an inch. I groomed everything but Upper Canyon. I tried Creek Side but it is solid ice. I missed Tony’s note on Creekside, but do agree there is no use going down there until we receive several inches of new snow. the classic tracks are still holding up…some what. But I don’t know that we can reset them until we get more snow.
I groomed everything except Creekside. Skate only but the classic tracks are holding up well in some places. I only made one pass on the upper trails as they hadn’t seen much traffic since they were last groomed. I don’t know how long it’s been since upper canyon got groomed but it should be way less scary now. I don’t think we’ll be able to groom creekside again until more snow arrives. 21 when i left at 8:30.
For Brent Patch: Groomed everything except creek side and upper canyon.
Groomed all trails except creek side and upper canyons. skate only to thin to reset classic track. 30F and cloudy at 8:30pm