Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Chuck tells me that he skied for 1.5 hours at Lapham Peak on Monday, giving him ninety days of skiing this year. And he's not done! But I am. It was a great season, but now the temps are in the 50's and 60's and I'm riding my bike.

From Tom Detzner:
Last week I imitated my friend Chuck and classical skied on patches of snow along the treelines. This week there is no snow here at all, not even in the woods.
I am still hoping to have a ski party this year. I am still in ground school and will be out of town each weekend in March. I don't know my schedule for April yet. When I have a weekend home I will post an anouncement on the NIN website and to everyone I have an e mail address for. It may be short notice, but hopefully I will be able to give some advanced warning. As always, anyone with an interest in XC skiing is invited. I encourage anyone with pictures or Olympic ski videos to bring them, and I am accepting nominations for Rockford area skier of the year.

From Tom Detzner:
I skied this morning (Sat) at Rock Cut for over an hour and skied most of the groomed trails. It wasn't great, but if you really want to ski (and I really did) it is skiable. There was still mostly good coverage. It was rutted and icy as I expected it but not too many bare spots. As it warmed up it became better. Even the tollway hill was well covered though there were some bare spots starting on the road below that. I saw a good sized coyote on the Hart Road trail who stared at me like I was some kind of nut case. He may have been right. I may try to ski again Sunday before I go back to school.
Last Wednesday the company moved us back to the new airplane, so all the training I did on the classic airplane for the first 3 weeks (including the day of the Birkie) was mostly a waste of time ! Yes, I'm still happy to be employed.

From David Oldenburg:
Congratulations to you and all the NIN that skied the Birkie/Korte. It sounded like an incredible day.
The last two days I've been able to ski at Atwood Park. The south side of the Kishwaukee River valley still has held a healthy amount of snow. In the woods there is anywhere from 6 to 8 inches and almost all of the wooded trails on the south side of the park are still covered. Once the fore-casted rain and above freezing night temperatures get here it will go fast. But, I have not complaints here. I've been able to get out on my skis 60 days since Dec. 9 with only 5 of those days outside of the area. We've had a few good years of skiing in Rockford in a row. I hope it continues. Thanks for the information on your web page this year.

From Rick Nelson (two days ago...sorry):
Kirt & I skied McMiller this morning and found very good to excellent conditions. A couple icy areas and as it warmed a few soft areas but the consistent grooming has allowed for a good solid lane that will probably survive to provide weekend skiing in gym shorts.
Great grooming and enforcement of a no walking policy on trails policy has allowed very good ski conditions on the same snow totals we have in Loves Park.

From Rich Garcia:
I live in Lake County Il. and I am considering getting into roller skiing now that the snow is going. I am wondering where I could find some used roller skis, because for new I am looking at a $ 500 investment in something I have never tried before.
Any advice would be appreciated. (Please contact Steve if you have a pair you are interested in selling.)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Still skiable snow here, but the conditions are not great. Sunny and high in the high 30's today. Chuck, Ken, and I did some tree-line classic skiing this morning with klister and it was OK. We got in a decent ski. It looked like crust skiing for skaters would be excellent in the morning, anyway. It might be a little soft in the afternoon.

From John Arntzen:
Remind everyone not to miss out on some great golf course Crust Skiing right now. Ledges golf course was screaming fast yesterday. Today will be great and maybe Thursday morning too!

From Tom Detzner (yesterday):
I skied on Sat and Sun at Huron Meadows Park, in Brighton MI, but didn't enjoy it much. This morning I went to Willow Metropark to ski. The groomed classical trail was in terrible shape due to the thaw and refreezing so I didn't even try it. Instead I got out my skate skis and crust skied for an hour. It was so much fun and a well needed attitude adjustment.

From Ed Reiser:
Saw no one has mentioned Rock Cut and how the trails are doing. I went up this morning about 9AM, the trails need some real attention. Any day to ski is always a great one. I do not mind ice because it is great and I sort of love the pace. You have to be on top of the game but it is fun. I did not have the Klister with me so wax disappeared about every fifteen minutes. Sorry to say but many folks are unable to read the sign about for for ski use only. Many dog tracks and foot tracks. Plenty of snow to still work with if they set track. Also many skaters on the classic track. I hope they keep setting track as I always leave feeling like a million bucks. Caution for all the squirrels out and about they were enjoying the warm weather. Nice to see all the attention at the Olympics for nordic skiing. It seems like it has been since Bill Koch that nordic skiing was so public. Maybe more folks will get into it.

From Jeff Lightcap:
the Vasa loop at Rock Cut was still fully covered yesterday...some icy sections that will burn through very soon. I skied the classic track with waxless skis from 1-3 PM.
snow was softening but the track was still firm.
skating would have been much softer and slower. Temps will need to be above freezing to ski anywhere at Rock Cut unless you like icy conditions.

From Dan Riggs (yesterday):
I was out this morning and groomed the ski trails at Rock Cut, only a few icy spots and they very limited. All in all some of the best conditions of the year. Classical track was set on the Vasa and Figure 8 trails and for free style on all trails except the Figure 8.

From Tom Detzner (a few days ago. I lost it...):
I SKIED for over an hour yesterday at Huron Meadows Park in Brighton, MI and it was considerably better than I expected. About ½ of it was golf course skiing but the rest was in the woods. The trails had been groomed that day for skating and classical and were quite fast, despite the warm (32) temps, thanks to the Fast Wax bronze I had on my Madsus skis. About ½ of the time I skied in the dark. It was a little difficult in the open areas but pine boughs in the snow marked the groomed trail. In the woods, the trail was a white ribbon between the trees and it was very pleasant- I hated to stop. It’s about a 35 mile drive from where I am staying, so I can’t afford the time to do this very often, but it did me a lot of good to get on skis for a while.
I have taken study breaks to watch the ski events at the Olympics and have enjoyed it immensely, especially the Nordic combined and women’s downhill. If anyone recorded last Sunday’s Nordic combined or plans to record the other Nordic combined or XC events, I would LOVE to have a copy of it to show at the ski party.
Happy skiun