Nordic Pulse

Good morning, Mt. Spokane Nordic skiers. Captain Ginge here with the latest grooming report.

We picked up 1–3 inches of new snow overnight—always welcome—but then it rained hard for about 2 hours right on top of it. We got out there quick before the winds really kicked in and made it work as best we could. Higher elevations groomed out nicely with the fresh stuff, and the decks look decent where coverage held.

That said, things got crazy fast once the winds started. Quite a bit of debris is coming out of the trees—needles, branches, you name it—and I suspect there are likely some downed trees scattered around too. The snow we got was quite sticky; David tried Mica but said it was unworkable—globbed right onto the machine and made a mess. So lower stuff no bueno, and even on the better-groomed higher trails, expect a lot of junk from the canopy to be in your way.

I’m pleased we got the new snow, but I can’t imagine it’s going to ski that well with all the tree litter everywhere. If you’re heading up, especially the early-morning crew, watch for trees down in the park, on 206, and Forker Road. Your fearless groomer crew cleared a path on 206 last night, but there’s still a ton of debris on the road—I suspect by morning there’ll be more trees down across the way.

Bottom line: proceed with caution, stick to higher-elevation trails if you go, scan ahead for branches and blowdowns, and maybe leave the super-fine skis at home until things settle. We’ll get out again as soon as it’s safe and see what we can clean up, hopefully.

Fingers crossed the wind calms and we can keep building on this little refresh of snow, we need it. Stay safe on the drive up, watch the roads, and thanks for hanging in there.

Be well, be kind and have a great day,

Captain Ginge and Husky Dave