The Second Annual Vintage Ski Race took place last Saturday in between heats of the CMU Sprints. Competition was fierce. Dave Poling turned up with Asnes wooden skis and Paul Allen showed up with antique, hand-made poles. There was also a mysterious Russian sporting wooden skis and a long wool coat, and a skier who had hopped right out of the hot tub time machine.

But Tom Ela took home the coveted “Best in Show” prize. “I finally won a race!” said Tom, with a smile.

Thanks to all who came out to support the CMU Nordic Ski Team.

We are in for it! A look at weather satellite imagery this weekend will show a long stream of moisture from off the Pacific directly into Western Colorado, often called a Pineapple Express as it originates near the Hawaiian Isles.

This moist and rather mild stream of moisture is forecast through Thursday of next week, finally letting up just in time for Christmas Eve. By the end of this prolonged wet period, the Grand Mesa trails will see feet of new snow. One model (NAM12) is producing 3 feet of new snow by Tuesday, another model (GFS) has 4 feet by Thursday. Southwest winds at mountain top level mean that Ward Creek and County Line will get higher snow amounts, while Powderhorn will get less. Still there is reasonable hope that Powderhorn will be able to open sometime next week. If you are Jonesing for some downhill skiing, Durango Mountains Resort and Crested Butte will likely do very well in this storm.

Temperatures will range from the upper teens to low 20s in the early morning to low to mid 30s in the afternoons. If you have splurged on high fluro waxes, now might be the time to use them. Also expect the roads to be very slick at times due to a rain-snow icy mix. Slow down and don’t end upside down!

Southwest winds will be strong at times causing blowing and drifting snow in the open areas. Areas of fog will make for some magical skiing and frosted eyelashes, but take extra care not to get lost out there.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning at least through Tuesday, and it will likely be extended. Take extra time and care when traveling, and it will be a very fun ski period.

Its not too late to renew your membership to the GMNC. The GMNC is a grassroots organization that is dependent on member’s donation to create the nordic wonderland on top. And your donation is tax deductible.

Enjoy!
Mojo

Mild, breezy, and mostly dry conditions are expected for the next 7-10 days at least. This should produce some nice fast cross-country ski conditions as the track firms and the snow continues to loose its sharp crystals. Just be sure to dress for the cold breezes in the open areas.

Details: A weak high pressure ridge is dominating the weather over Western Colorado this weekend. Little disturbances passing through the ridge will produce periods of clouds and breezy winds but little snow.

Weekend low temperatures will range from the mid teens (clear skies) to low 20s (cloudy) with afternoon highs dancing around the freezing mark. (Subtract 5 to 10 degrees off those values for the deep freeze that is the Vista Valley trail!) Southwest to west winds will be light in the trees, but gusting to 15-25 mph in the open. Any snowfall will be light.

For the Winterstart race on Sunday,
Air Temperature: 24-29F
Snow Temperature: 20-25
Snow Condition: transformed older snow, though there is a slight chance of a skiff of new snow overnight.
Relative Humidity: 40-60%
Winds: light in the trees, SW 5-10 gusts 15-20mph
in the open, diminishing through the day. This will put some fine wind blown snow into the tracks in open areas.

The upper level ridge breaks down on Monday as a stronger Pacific low pressure system works over Colorado. Snowfall Monday afternoon-Tuesday morning is estimated now (Friday morning) to be 3-6 inches. Tuesday will be the cold day with highs in the low 20s. Wednesday afternoon temperatures climb back to near freezing as clouds invade again. An unsettled NW flow aloft will bring some light snow Thursday and into the next weekend. Snowfall for the Mesa looks to be light, with bigger accumulations for our friends in Steamboat Springs.

As always check on the latest National Weather Service forecasts for the GMNC trails, and current conditions here:

http://www.gmnc.org/conditions/weather-condition-reports/

Enjoy!
Mojo

GMNCers,

It is waxing season again, where time spent glide waxing your skis adds speed, safety, and fun to your ski days. Unless you are the most dedicated nordi (which rhymes with nerdi :~), waxing is tedious, time consuming, and wasteful. So much of that expensive wax ends up scraped off the base and in the trash.

In the latest Silent Sport magazine http://www.silentsports.net/  Lee Borowski outlines a faster, more efficient, and less expensive way to wax. He states ‘Crayoning Beats Layering’ and ‘Heat Gun Beats Iron.’  Basically, Lee recommends crayoning on your glide wax of the day, running a heat gun several inches above the base to just melt the wax, and then corking the wax to further work the wax into the base. After the ski cools (& they will cool much more quickly than an ironed ski) scrape off the miniscule amount of wax on the surface, brush, and ski.  

Read the article here:  http://www.silentsports.net/content/xc-skiing/stories/glide-waxing-borowski-11-2010.php

As to how to choose the wax of the day, use the Weather and Conditions link on this GMNC page http://www.gmnc.org/conditions/weather-condition-reports/   to get an idea of the temperatures for your outing.  Remember that the National Weather Service forecasts air temperature, while recommended temperature range on your ski wax is the snow temperature. The snow temperature is most often somewhere between the low and high forecasted air temperature of the day, usually closer to the morning low temperature in the heart of winter. When in doubt go with a colder wax. The glide penalty is much bigger for a too warm wax than vice versa. If it is really humid up top, then the much more expensive fluoro waxes may provide some advantage. But one of the many nice things about GMNC skiing is that the less-expensive carbon waxes do very well on our cold dry snow.

Enjoy!

Mojo

GMNCers,

The snow from our first winter storm on the 25-26October has taken a beating in recent days. Towers at Mesa Lakes and Park Reservoir have been climbing into the 40s for the last week. With a strong ridge of High Pressure building overhead this weekend, we may see lower 50s on the trails this weekend. This is something like 10-15 degrees above noraml. Enjoy the warmth and sunshine for it all changes next week.

A deep and cold Pacific trough will dig over the Rockies. Monday, strong southwest winds will veer to northwest overnight bringing snowfall with the shift. Snowfall looks to be the most intense on Tuesday and Tuesday night. By Wednesday morning, several new inches of snow will blanket the trails. But more is to come as a second surge of unsettled cold air works over the Mesa on Wednesday into Thursday. The latest forecast models, as of Thursday afternoon, indicate their may be an even colder storm in store for the next weekend. A foot or more of new cold snow is possible within the new week. This snow will likely stay for the season.

For the really long-range outlook, we are headed into a strong La Nina winter. Typically La Ninas bring a dry and mild autumn (so good so far!), then a stormy January. The last three strong Lan Nina seasons were 2007-08, 1999-00, 1998-99. 07-08 was the year of the freshies with continuous storms from mid-December through May, and was the wettest La Nina on record. 99-00 and 98-99 both had stormy Januaries but below average seasonal snowfall.

For your observing and forecasting pleasure, the automated towaer off the Sunset trail is now up and running.  See it here    http://tinyurl.com/6qb85u   or see at our webpage under Conditions/Skyway Weather Station.

And while you are at it, please consider renewing your membership today.  The Lambert-Foundation Snowcat and snowmobiles will soon be running and that can’t happen without your tax-deductible donation.

Mojo