Sunday 6-April'25

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SURVEY: Interested in providing us with feedback on the Reciprocal Program & the Grooming Report? Got 5 minutes for 18 questions? (Multiple choice answers)  please click on this link. Thanks for your time.

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GROOMING - The Closing Act:  Final grooming of trails took place Friday, April 4th. The grooming staff have exchanged their skidoo & snocat keys for the staff issued golf clubs (Beres 09 of course). Next trail grooming will be sometime after you buy your Early Bird 2025/26 Season Pass this fall!

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WRAP UP: It has been a pretty decent season: Altho some of the die hard rock skiers (the 150 days+ crowd) were on the trails before they were officially groomed, we got the equipment out on the trails by Nov 17th, and did 116 days of grooming between then & our final hurrah on April 4th. Early generous snows, & some cold spells allowed us to compact the base from being eroded by the intermittent warm wet patches of weather that occurred mid season. 

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SKATE SKIERS:  For those that are loath to pack their skis away quite yet, there should still be adequate skiable trail terrain for a few days & potentially week(s) yet. For days like today, where the temperature stayed above 0°C overnite, the skate lanes softened up nicely by mid morning. There should be a few more nites of below 0°C weather, so wait a bit longer on those mornings before you come for your workout. Check Otway's weather station (link below the report) for overnite lows if you want to ski earlier than later. Some mornings the temperature difference between Environment Canada's airport temperature & Otway's is 5 C°.

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CLASSIC SKIERS:  The last tracks were snowcat set Sunday, 30-Mar'25.  Current status: somewhere between "historic artifact" and "melting memory."  There will be a few stretches with a longer life.  Head to the Northern Lights section—shade is your best friend. If that fails, go off-script and pretend you're blazing a new trail. Just you, your rock skis, random sprouting devils club, and your imagination.

Enjoy it while it lasts. Spring skiing: where every trail is an adventure and every ski is a surprise.

Reported on Apr 6, 2025 at 6:00 PM by Snow Scribe

NEWSLETTER

For those rare and mysterious individuals who somehow resist the irresistible charm of Otway’s newsletters—packed with thrilling updates, enticing offers, and all the latest happenings—fear not! You can still redeem yourself. Click here to catch up on current and past editions. We won’t even judge you (much).

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PLANNING AHEAD

There are no old skiers at Otway. None. Not a single one. However, we do have a few who have enthusiastically redefined the limits of “youthful vigor” (some might say stretched those limits like an overused ski boot liner). If you’re thinking ahead to the day when your enthusiasm for skiing remains boundless, but your balance and joints politely disagree, check out what one particularly stubborn lifelong skier did to keep gliding. Click here—because planning ahead is way cooler than just face-planting into the future.

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GROOMING

Ever wondered how ski grooming works? Some folks assume our snowcats just zoom around the trails playing tag, or, on the narrower routes, a thrilling game of hide and seek. And yes, on the steeper sections, there may be some sideways surfing involved (purely for entertainment purposes, of course). When things get dull, the operators occasionally engage in synchronized stadium laps to see if one snowcat can outwit, outplay, and outrun the other. But alas, this is merely a snow-fueled fairy cat-tale.

If you actually want to understand the real logic behind grooming—where, when, and why it happens—click here while your second cup of coffee is brewing. Bonus tip: If you’re one of those mesmerized souls who obsessively watch the trail map change colors, click on the blinking snowcat icon. That will show you the speed:

  • 2–5 km/h: Slow and steady, battling nasty ice

  • 8–10 km/h: The dream—10 cm of fresh, dry powder on a solid base

  • 14–18 km/h: Skidoo + Ginzoo magic when early-season snow is deep enough to groom but not quite enough for the full snowcat treatment

Basically, grooming is part science, part strategy, and part extreme sport.

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LENGTHY SNOW REPORT

If you think this Snow Scribe can get a bit long-winded in the Grooming Reports (gasp!), then you might get a kick out of Lucy Welsh’s 1,264-word snow report for Sugarbush Resort (Vermont), dated March 1, 2025. It was, shall we say, thorough. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay published for long. Let’s hope she still has a job.

If you prefer actual literary value over snow grooming rants, check out this article from Morice Mountain, where the writer waxes poetic about the deeply personal joy of Nordic skiing. Some people really know how to write. Click here and be inspired.

Updated Apr 3, 2025 at 9:00 PM by Snow Scribe

Weather:,

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CNSC's year-roundweather station (South side of the Stadium)

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Weather guesses:

Environment Canada

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Weather Network

Accuweather 

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Weather Net

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Weather Channel

Updated Apr 3, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Today
1-3 Days Ago
4-6 Days Ago
7-10 Days Ago
11-14 Days Ago
14+ Days Ago
Closed / Unknown

Nothing Groomed Today Distance OpenLast Groomed
4-6 Days Ago Distance OpenLast Groomed/ TracksetTrackset
Fingers
3.56km
GApr 3, 8:38 PM
TMar 29, 10:00 AM
Mar 29, 10:00 AM
Northern Lights
2.55km
GApr 3, 8:38 PM
TMar 23, 9:20 AM
Mar 23, 9:20 AM
Under Dog
0.8km
GApr 3, 8:38 PM
TMar 29, 10:00 AM
Mar 29, 10:00 AM
Sun Dog
1.11km
GApr 3, 8:38 PM
TMar 29, 10:00 AM
Mar 29, 10:00 AM
Race Maze
1.8km
GApr 3, 8:38 PM
TMar 29, 8:44 AM
Mar 29, 8:44 AM
Pine Flats
1.46km
GApr 3, 8:38 PM
TMar 29, 10:00 AM
Mar 29, 10:00 AM
Nite Rider
1.26km
GApr 3, 8:37 PM
TMar 29, 10:14 AM
Mar 29, 10:14 AM
Larch Loop
1.91km
GApr 3, 8:37 PM
TMar 29, 10:00 AM
Mar 29, 10:00 AM
Iceman
0.56km
GApr 3, 8:37 PM
TMar 29, 8:59 AM
Mar 29, 8:59 AM
Greenway Corridor
1.18km
GApr 3, 8:37 PM
TMar 29, 10:22 AM
Mar 29, 10:22 AM
Dogonit
2.18km
GApr 3, 8:37 PM
TMar 29, 10:00 AM
Mar 29, 10:00 AM
Dog Bypass
0.19km
GApr 1, 8:08 PM
TMar 29, 10:00 AM
Mar 29, 10:00 AM
7-10 Days Ago Distance OpenLast Groomed/ TracksetTrackset
Tigger
1.85km
GMar 30, 6:43 AM
TMar 30, 6:43 AM
Mar 30, 6:43 AM
Upper Parking Lot
0.12km
GMar 29, 10:22 AM
TMar 29, 10:22 AM
Mar 29, 10:22 AM
Canada Cup
0.72km
GMar 29, 10:14 AM
TMar 29, 10:14 AM
Mar 29, 10:14 AM
Cranbrook Climb
0.49km
GMar 29, 10:06 AM
TMar 29, 10:06 AM
Mar 29, 10:06 AM
Hickory Wing
1.6km
GMar 29, 10:01 AM
TMar 29, 10:01 AM
Mar 29, 10:01 AM
Up the Creek
0.54km
GMar 29, 9:45 AM
TMar 29, 9:45 AM
Mar 29, 9:45 AM
Hickory Wing West
2km
GMar 29, 9:44 AM
TMar 29, 9:44 AM
Mar 29, 9:44 AM
Gravel Pit
0.91km
GMar 29, 9:26 AM
TMar 20, 7:56 AM
Mar 20, 7:56 AM
Homecoming
0.11km
GMar 29, 8:52 AM
Stadium
0.26km
GMar 29, 8:51 AM
TMar 29, 8:51 AM
Mar 29, 8:51 AM
The Hub
0.24km
GMar 29, 8:44 AM
TMar 29, 8:44 AM
Mar 29, 8:44 AM
Iceman Cutoff
0.3km
GMar 29, 8:18 AM
TMar 29, 8:18 AM
Mar 29, 8:18 AM
Caretaker Hill
0.32km
GMar 29, 8:15 AM
TMar 29, 8:15 AM
Mar 29, 8:15 AM
Teaching Area
0.11km
GMar 29, 8:02 AM
Biathlon
0.36km
GMar 29, 8:01 AM
TMar 29, 8:01 AM
Mar 29, 8:01 AM
Teardrop
0.51km
GMar 29, 7:32 AM
TMar 29, 7:32 AM
Mar 29, 7:32 AM
Supersprint
0.22km
GMar 29, 7:28 AM
TMar 29, 7:28 AM
Mar 29, 7:28 AM
Top Dog
1.6km
GMar 29, 7:19 AM
TMar 29, 10:00 AM
Mar 29, 10:00 AM
Eh Climb
1.12km
GMar 28, 10:57 AM
TMar 28, 10:57 AM
Mar 28, 10:57 AM
High Five
1.28km
GMar 28, 10:46 AM
TMar 28, 10:46 AM
Mar 28, 10:46 AM
Paranordic Cutoff
0.12km
GMar 28, 10:11 AM
TMar 28, 10:11 AM
Mar 28, 10:11 AM
Lynx
0.79km
GMar 28, 9:48 AM
TMar 28, 9:48 AM
Mar 28, 9:48 AM
Ridgerunner
1.45km
GMar 28, 9:45 AM
TMar 28, 9:45 AM
Mar 28, 9:45 AM
Raven's Col
2km
GMar 28, 9:31 AM
TMar 28, 9:31 AM
Mar 28, 9:31 AM
Birch Bend
2.47km
GMar 28, 9:24 AM
TMar 28, 9:24 AM
Mar 28, 9:24 AM
Santa's Cabin Connector
0.21km
GMar 28, 9:09 AM
TMar 28, 9:09 AM
Mar 28, 9:09 AM
Old Biathlon Loop
0.25km
GMar 28, 9:04 AM
TMar 28, 9:04 AM
Mar 28, 9:04 AM
Bullseye
0.19km
GMar 28, 8:05 AM
TMar 28, 8:05 AM
Mar 28, 8:05 AM