The race

We went up to Elk River today to host a small Macalester fundraiser race. We had a pretty good turnout and everyone had fun (I think) so that was good. It was much sunnier than forecast so the trail got petty soft, but had full coverage. That won't last long, though; there are already holes forming in several spots—be especially careful on the paved paths on the prairie loop near the start. If it freezes up it should be good, if not, it will be pretty soft. The end is near.

Woodlands Trails

I headed up to Elk River to do course recon for the Macalester Spring Fling race there this weekend (Saturday at noon, tell your friends).The course should be in fine shape for the ski race on Saturday. There is good, continuous coverage around the 10k outer loop, and the snow is firm and solid. Conditions vary based on exposure, areas which have seen the sun are icy, those in the shade are still well-packed powder. The trails will be groomed Friday night or Saturday morning based on the weather (with cloudy weather, the course should stay rather firm). There are two icy spots—one on the Prairie Loop and one on Peeper Hollow, which will be shoveled or cut out of the course as necessary, but for now we plan to run a full 10k lap. Conditions should be good for the biathlon event on Sunday as well.

I took lots of pictures which will come on Skinnyski soon, here's one for fun going down the Gravity Box.

Woodland race report

Woodland did the best with what they had for the race, which was just barely enough. It would have been nice to have not been routed on the asphalt, but what are you going to do? With some new snow (check) and a good roll and groom, they'll probably to get it back in good shape, although there is enough dirt at the surface that it'll need a good snow before it is perfect again.

The registration, day-of (because I was way too lazy to register online and don't mind giving Elk River a few extra dollars) was $35, and I had $33 in bills in my wallet. And lots of quarters. I think I started the race with about five Euros and $1.50 in my back pocket (proverbially, my wallet was in the car). I warmed up with Zach Handler to the X and back (skipping Gravity Box) and felt okay, and went and lined up for the start.

Because of the snow, the usual start that I came up with a couple years ago (backwards on the winder prairie loop and through the start to thin the field) wasn't possible, so several dozen of us went, in 100 meters, from a 30-meter-wide course to a 3-meter wide trail, which meant that those folks who got up to the front did well and those who didn't, well, fought it out on the trail for quite a while. About a kilometer in someone fell in front of a pack of us and we all stacked up, which would be a theme for the day. Craig Ruud blamed his wife (nice, Craig) and we strung out along the trail. The skiers were tightly packed and one competitor (who shall not be named) kept yelling at people about watching their poles. Seriously? I mean, either ski further behind us or way out in front, but don't ski where my poles are being planted.

Anyway, the race hit the Stony Rollers which were kind of grassy, and headed back through the rest of the course and on towards the lap, where there were some very thin areas over asphalt. I hit asphalt once and scraped a bit of laminate off my skis, which makes my skis look badass (oh, wood on the side? yeah). Then it was in to a second lap and I wasn't feeling particularly peppy, and finished in 1:07 which is not very good, but whatever. With a lot of kids back from college and some potential olympians leading out (everyone is home for Christmas, although the field is probably not as stacked as next week's Boxing Day Como race, which, at least, is groomed out real wide) I wasn't going to place real well, although I'd have liked to have a better percent back.

Of course, I'm not planning to peak in December. To the rollerboard!

Flurries awards: grooming of the year

This one is too easy. Is there any question? First a few comments on trail systems with good grooming (which did not win):

1. City of Lakes. Who else grooms 35k including snowmaking and lakes, and shovels to make sure of a major race? No one, that's who.
2. Elm Creek. Mastery of the manmade.
3. Battle Creek. Since volunteers took over a few years ago, Battle Creek has gone from a mess, with hit-or-miss conditions even when the base was thick, to a well-groomed trail with consistently great conditions and grooming.
4. Terrace Oaks. Terrace Oaks somehow holds snow better than anyone, and is always groomed promptly and well after snow, although touchups sometimes are needed.
5. Murphy Hanrahan. Murphy has done quite well grooming even when there isn't feet of base.

But the winner is, of course, Woodland Trails in Elk River. Hands down. It cemented it's position--and it was already way ahead of the field--in March, when Elk River had fantastic skiing on March 14 when everyone else was melted out. But, I can not say enough good things about Woodland. (Seriously, check out my reports for them.)

Where else do the groomers refer to themselves as "Slaves"? Where else do they groom every time they need to and never when they don't? Who else takes as good care of their trail, year-round? No one, that's who.

And then there's their grooming equipment. A lot of ski trails invest oodles of money in the latest and greatest grooming equipment, with a new piece coming in every year. I have nothing against that, but am consistently amazed what Woodlands can do with two snomobiles, some lengths of culvert and screens with the ends pointed down. Seriously, with $500 of non-snowmobile equipment, they have the best conditions around. I think it goes to show that sweat equity beats dollars, hands down, every time. From the meticulously grassy trails to the constant care, Woodlands has the best grooming in the Cities. By far.

The trail slaves deserve this award more than anyone else deserves theirs.

Woodland, one last time

Going, going ...

... which describes my ski this morning, and the snow this afternoon. When I hit the trails at 9 it was still mostly powdery (yup, untransformed) with a couple icier sections (climbs up Top o' the World, Peeper, Scouring in particular). As the temperature climbed and I disrobed, it began to slow down. I noticed that it was significantly slower by my third lap, and my fourth (down to shorts) was wicked slow on my cold-base skis.

My good skis with faster bases are sitting in my living room, so I took out my rock skis, which were not necessary but had the requisite "induced structure" from meetings with rocks, sticks and asphalt. They were decidedly faster than the other skis, but that's like saying a Pinto is faster than a bicycle—there were no illusions of speed, just a little less suction-y lurching. With the temperature in the 40s and the snow transformed, my fifth lap was slow but nice, and from Thursday's 0˚ outfit of shorts, long underwear, pants, two shirts and a thick fleece I had subtracted everything but the shorts (and had thinner socks on to boot).

The slaves were out as sawyers in the afternoon (they were skiing earlier on) and will groom what they can tomorrow. My money is on about an 8k loop, losing Stony Rollers, Peeper Hollow and Wash Pond (which is already down a bit) with an icy/wet spot on Scouring Rush Run, but continuity elsewhere, with thin spots on Top o' the World and Scouring. I'd also say it's likely it'll be a short walk to the trails tomorrow from the lot (100m). But they'll work their magic, the low is forecast in the 20s (so ski early) and whenever you can ski on the Ides of March it's not a bad thing.

I can only get to two trails at most, on a good day! Check out all the trail reports at skinnyski.com

Woodland

Ancient One said to call it as I see it. I say "Excellent, Excellent, Excellent."

If you want one more day of skiing, skip work tomorrow and head up to Elk River. I just had one of my best skis of the year there, not bad for March 12 on a thin cover of snow. It is midwinter conditions with sun until after 7:00—hard to beat.

My first lap was in the late sun, the second was during dusk, and the third was in the dark (I helped one non-lighted fellow find his way back to the parking lot after almost running in to him—that's reason to wear reflective jackets). Most of the way through the third lap I found Babe and Ancient One out on the sleds, going the wrong way with the screens (no, the screens were still behind the sleds, they were just grooming the course backwards).

I'd been thinking about a fourth lap (seriously, at close to 40k I think this was probably the longest after-work ski I've ever had) but their work, and the cold temperatures that should set it up perfectly, put the kibosh on that. I finished the lap, taking a loop through the range for an extra k, and then headed south on the railroad grade. I just didn't want it to end. I V2ed to the turn around, came back, and finally finished, about the same time as the sleds. I thanked them profusely (of course) as they have done a wonderful job this year (as always). They deserve a break, though, and will probably get one come Saturday, but they're still out tonight—and it was down near zero if not below—making the trail superb (and, I know, come summer they're out mowing and cutting, but it's warmer at least).

So go. If not tomorrow, Saturday morning. You'll be sorry if you don't. And, again, thanks to the trail crew for all their hard work!

I can only get to two trails at most, on a good day! Check out all the trail reports at skinnyski.com

Woodland

All things considered, excellent.

I will never cease to be amazed at how well Elk River holds snow. The golf course there had less snow than Highland did last night when I arrived and my expectations were low, but of course once I crested the hill in to the woods the conditions were pretty much perfect. There were a couple icy sections (the hill right before the Pin especially, as well as some of Wash Pond) and Stony Rollers and The Mitten were closed, but otherwise it was fine skating. I was on it right as it was hardening up but the base looks pretty good, with only a couple thin spots in the usual locations (bottom of Peeper, top of Scouring).

I can only get to two trails at most, on a good day! Check out all the trail reports at skinnyski.com

Woodland

Close to perfect.

I could go in to the areas at Woodland that have issues (a couple icy spots on Wash Pond and Prairie Loop) and say that the snow is part powdery but icy in a few spots but ... with the bit of snow the whole trail is in excellent shape. Somehow, with a few hundred dollars of equipment the trail wokers have the best grooming this side of the Birkie Trail. It's always amazing how there is grass all the way to the trailhead, but the trails themselves always have snow. I don't know how they do it.

In other words, Woodland was totally worth the drive. I started skiing right around dusk when the last of the walkers came out of the woods, and had two hours of headlamp-lit pleasure. By the time I left, the stars made a magnificent show (except to the south, where the Cities' lights blocked them out) and the skiing was still great.

Kudos to the slaves, and ready the rollers!

I can only get to two trails at most, on a good day! Check out all the trail reports at skinnyski.com

Woodland

Good coverage but slow.

I left my skate poles in Elk River, and had to get them for a "race" at Como tomorrow. The trails at Elk River are still in good shape despite the meltdown but were quite slow in the tropical heat. With the fog it was an interesting ski at night, but I only caught enough of an edge to gain myself a faceful of snow once, and that was on the edge of the trail.

I can only get to two trails at most, on a good day! Check out all the trail reports at skinnyski.com

Woodland

Conditions:

The race today at Woodland was on very good conditions, although the skiers chewed up the new snow, especially on the hills, so they were slow and choppy. As we left the groomer was pulling the roller. Also, the new Stoney Rollers trail at the end of Terminal Moraine at Woodland is fantastic. The hills are well graded and well banked, the curves are perfect and the ups and downs quite fun. It seems to be well graded so far, so even without a ton of snow the conditions were great.

With new snow falling, the drive to Elk River was interesting. I was doing about 50 on 280 but when we got on to 35W there was a car, upright, facing the wrong direction, about fifteen feet up an embankment on the side of the road. We didn't go much faster than 50 the rest of the way, without incident (except thinking we missed the turnoff to Highway 10).

The race itself was nice, slow and suited for my soft RCSes. I didn't go out particularly hard and was fine with letting the pack drop me on the first uphill. (We used the Prairie Loop backwards start, for which I take credit from last year's MLK short notice race. It works great to thin the field.) I skied in and out of a couple packs for most of the first lap and then found my way in to leading a pack for the second lap. My sunglasses had been on for, oh, all of 4k before they were hopelessly fogged up and pretty much useless. Oh, well.

Around the end of Stony Rollers I started to let someone else lead, saying they might be able to go faster, but they told me that they liked my pace. With no wind, I didn't really mind leading on. With a few K to go—we dropped off Wash Pond, so around Scouring, we saw a group ahead, and worked to reel them in by North Mickey. Hitting the little hill before Prairie, I was about fifth in a pack of seven and realised that no one else in the pack knew the course—it was 700 flat meters to the end. I made my move and jumped in to third place and started sprinting, catching up to the top two racers. One beat me legit. The other beat me according to results but I'd protest that if I cared. It was a good finish.

We went and skied a half a lap before deciding that it was cold and we were done. The slaves were headed out to pack the new snow when we left. With the snow it was a long drive back to Saint Paul.

And the best part of the race? I got girled, but except for Bjorn Batdorf (who is a pretty good skier), so did everyone else. And he only beat Caitlin by four seconds.

Results: skinnyski.com/racing/results/2008/elkriverrace.pdf

Oh look, Bruce took lots of pictures (thanks to skinnyski.com):

Oh hey look it was snowing.

Despite the fact that 16k we'd be in the exact same position, I didn't ski right behind Mary Beth the whole way.

The race leaders. Seriously, Caitlin is leading the race, and came within 4 seconds of winning.

Jakob finishes, all alone. The next picture in the photoset shows him looking at his watch, or something.

I get ready to spring. I think I won. But I am not an objective opinion.

I can only get to two trails at most, on a good day! Check out all the trail reports at skinnyski.com