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Generic User
Username: Nordic
Registered: 09-2009
| | Posted on Monday, April 15, 2013 - 07:56 am: | |
Not finding any updates since 3/24/13 and unable to persuade my friend Pete Kurtz of Sven's Bicycles to join me, I visited Haggin on 4/14/13 due to the new snow in town thinking it might be okay. I was pleasantly surprised even after the recent warm spell.
I had a nice ungroomed late season ski on wider and/or metal edged touring skis (E99) from parking lot and Californa/Upper Crooked John loops, base was firm consolidated, non-rotten corn with about 4" on top, 25 to 32 degrees, with only a few jogs needed around 2-3 marginal "shoal" spots. The downhills were fine albeit a little slower than usual which was fine as one should use caution in late season conditions. Death Dip holding snow nicely (esp. bottom), the only really bad section was across one of the creeks on the return, the snow was gone from the bridge and a following 20ft long herring bone spot, so I walked across and up.
Folks are still skiing, I was the only car when I started, but upon leaving, there were 4 more vehicles. I should add that obviously, no skating is available now, but there was also ample coverage on Lower Crooked John and Sugar Loaf Loops for classical based upon my visual. I expect things to hold nicely through next weekend as we are not expected to get above 40 in town and light snow is forcast all week. Dust over crust, but stil a nice ski!
/s/ Jim Dolan, Anaconda |
Generic User
Username: Nordic
Registered: 09-2009
| | Posted on Sunday, March 24, 2013 - 06:32 pm: | |
Does anyone have a report of how Haggin is holding up as of Sunday afternoon? I'm thinking about sneaking over there Monday morning if it's still top notch! -thanks |
Generic User
Username: Nordic
Registered: 09-2009
| | Posted on Friday, March 22, 2013 - 03:08 am: | |
With New snow and cooler temps, all trails were groomed Thursday. Tracks were set on all the trails and Crooked John along with Sugar loaf are ready for skating. It was winter like skiing today, but how long that will last will be dependent on sun and temperatures. |
Generic User
Username: Nordic
Registered: 09-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 - 09:51 pm: | |
Pete Kurtz of Sven's Bicyles of Anaconda and I classical skied California, upper Crooked John and Sugar Loaf loops late Sunday, March 10th. Track was well defined and firm, with temps in low 40's and transitional fresh snow with ice/corn snow on parts of the track. We used Toko Nordic Yellow for kick and had reasonably positive results, save in my case on various sections of icy track.
The track is turning hard and corny, so use caution on the downhills & turns as it is fast. We suspect skiing should be good for a few more weeks, but did note that our snowfall is down compared to years' past. Klister may be advisable if skiing early am. It has been in the 20's to 10's at night.
/s/ Jim Dolan |
John Lundborg
Username: Lundborg
Registered: 12-2009
| | Posted on Thursday, March 07, 2013 - 02:41 pm: | |
Due to popular sentiment, we have elected to keep some grooming equipment at Mt. Haggin for the time being and groom if and when conditions are OK. In fact Paul and Mark groomed on Tuesday and ski conditions are currently excellent.
We did store most of the grooming implements today and moved the three older 2-stroke snowmobiles to Jerry Creek on the Wise River Jackpine Savages snowmobile trail that runs up American Creek and down Long Tom Creek. We left the warming hut at about 6500', crossed the saddle at Hungry Hill at about 8250', and ended up some 22 miles later on lower Jerry Creek at about 5900'. The ride was a hoot! This will probably become an end-of-season tradition for the grooming crew. |
John Lundborg
Username: Lundborg
Registered: 12-2009
| | Posted on Friday, March 01, 2013 - 04:55 pm: | |
The temps were too warm today to groom. With the forecast for the weekend, the packed surfaces are going to harden into ice. Fortunately, the snow off the pack will develop a firm crust and we can start thinking about spring skiing (crust cruising).
We will have an opportunity next week to take our snowmobiles to summer quarters at Jerry Creek by driving them. The Wise River Jackpine Savages Snowmobile Club has groomed a route from the Mule Ranch to the head of American Creek. On Monday they will groom from Jerry Creek to upper Long Tom Creek, within about 2 miles of the head of American Creek. One of the Savages has offered to guide us over the gap next Wednesday. The gap involves a very steep climb up to the divide at Hungry Hill and a fairly steep descent down to Long Tom Creek near Fish Lake. End-to-end distance from the Warming Hut to summer quarters is about 25 miles through some spectacular back country.
Bottom line, it appears that spring has sprung, and the groomers are shutting down with an epic journey, driving the fleet to summer quarters. |
John Lundborg
Username: Lundborg
Registered: 12-2009
| | Posted on Saturday, February 23, 2013 - 03:16 pm: | |
Everything is caught up and ski conditions are excellent. While we were grooming the temp was in the upper 20's and the wind had calmed down close to normal. Skies were overcast.
We got'er done by noon, starting at 8:00. There had been several inches of new snow since last week, but the wind had redistributed it. We had lots of drifts to deal with, and in many spots the pack was impossible to see in the flat light. Hence we fell off the edge numerous times and spent lots of time (and calories) getting rolling again. We were smart enough to operate in tandem, so there were always extra hands available. |
John Lundborg
Username: Lundborg
Registered: 12-2009
| | Posted on Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 08:47 pm: | |
We are going to follow the weather forecast: <http://forecast.weather.gov/mapclick.php?lat=46&lon=-112.978&site=mso> and wait until early Saturday to groom. There has been little new snow this week. Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty warm. The bulk of the new snow is supposed to fall tomorrow night. Therefore we will skip tomorrow and groom early Saturday morning. |
Generic User
Username: Nordic
Registered: 09-2009
| | Posted on Sunday, February 10, 2013 - 04:39 pm: | |
I was at Haggin on Saturday and enjoyed the great snow and appreciated the grooming immensely. I classic skied Little California and wondered about the wider grooming and the skating. I saw one skater, but didn't say anything, because I was not sure of the expectation. I was more effected by my technique, or lack thereof, and the elevation, than the skating tracks. I also thought about the amount of work that must go into grooming up there. Lots of snow, lots of terrain, and nice wide trails, giving skaters and track skiers plenty of room. I'd like to think that the folks who did skate on Little California did so out of ignorance, rather than the lack of consideration for others. I hope you are not too discouraged, your efforts are appreciated. Thank you! |
John Lundborg
Username: Lundborg
Registered: 12-2009
| | Posted on Saturday, February 09, 2013 - 11:57 pm: | |
It is discouraging that in our 28th season of grooming at Mt. Haggin, we have had some skate skiers ignore the tradition of leaving the Little California loop as classic-only. Most of the timber sections of the loop are too narrow for a skate lane, and in fact we don't groom any of the loop wide enough for a skate lane along side the set tracks. This was very apparent today as the set tracks were cross cut with virtually every other lunge of the skaters.
We have been grooming Li'l Cal wide enough for two classic skiers to ski along side each other and for adequate room to herringbone/snowplow on the grades. Since a few skaters choose to destroy the set tracks on Li'l Cal, in the future we will reduce the grooming width, except on the grades, so skate skiing (and side-by-side classic) will be impossible.
Of the groomed trails at Mt. Haggin, over half are groomed with generous skate lanes. These trails require significantly more grooming effort per K than L'il Cal. Since skate skiers represent no more than 25% of the total, it would seem that the skate community is well served, and we appreciate the skaters who have honored the Li'l Cal classic-only tradition over the years.
In response to the Missoula query, no grooming has been done since Friday. The trails were heavily used today, and the surfaces were getting very hard. This evening there appears to be significant snowfall in the area around Mt. Haggin, so tomorrow there will probably be a fresh coat of snow for skiers to deal with on top of today's hard-pan. |
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