Kongsberger Ski Club

The Kongsbergers' Gunnar Hagen classic ski race is on Sunday, January 7. If you're racing: everything you need to know, particularly the registration deadline of 5:59 pm on Thursday, January 4 (if you don't want to pay a late registration fee), is on the Kongsberger website. If you're not racing: the USFS doesn't allow the trails to be closed to the public, so if you do want to ski there that day, be aware that the parking lots will fill up early and the trails will be very active until early afternoon. Most years, the race course follows the road and around the Berg and Viking loops, leaving Amabilis open and racer-free. This year, unless Good Saint Nick can magically pull another six inches of snow out of thin air in the next week, there is a chance the race will be moved to Amabilis, leaving the lower trails free. Check the KSC website (kongsbergers.org) as we get closer to race day for the latest updates.

 With colder temps and snow in the forecast for this weekend and the possibility of real grooming taking place soon, the Kongsberger chainsaw team headed out the road and up Amabilis yesterday (December 6) to clear out the trees that came down in the last storm, thus saving Nick's budget for actual grooming instead of yard work.  Don reports they took care of a number of small alders and a fir, plus this big one that fell all the way across the trail: Kyle Capizzi photo And what about the snow?  The guys found about 24 inches at the top, 12-15 inches at the saddle, and 6-8 inches at the Y.  They said the conditions above the Y were deep and excellent, exactly the words you want to hear in early December!  below the second switchback Down on the road, there was still plenty of snow for rock skis.  An ATVer had driven down the road, but there was room on the shoulder for some very satisfying early-season-conditions classic striding, and hopefully Mr ATV is do...

  We get it; snow is falling and we're as eager as you to put skis on snow.  Our healthy snowfall this weekend is about to get pineapple expressed, so time is becoming of the essence.  Rune reports that, after some back and forth with the State Parks manager about when the road at Cabin Creek can be closed to motorized vehicles so packing and prepping of the snow base can begin (State Parks, who manages the grooming, thought grooming couldn't begin until there is 18 inches of snow on the ground, but Rune reminded him that KSC came to an agreement with the USFS, who manages the road, that the groomer can start packing the road with as little as four to six inches of snow), the road has now been shut down, the grooming contract has finally been officially awarded to LandTek (hooray!), and the groomer has started packing on the lower trails and is getting ready to head up Amabilis, with the hope of protecting as much of our precious snow base as possible.  There are som...