Nordic Pulse

NEWSLETTER: For those few that deny themselves the pleasure of subscribing to Otway's Newsletters with all the latest events, offers, & activities, click here for the current & archived editions.

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PLANNING AHEAD: There are no OLD skiers at Otway, although there are a few that push the youth continuum to and past its traditionally accepted limits. That said,  if you want to plan ahead for the day when you want to continue to ski, but have more physical and/or balance challenges than you would like, click here to see what one imaginative (and stubborn!) life long skier did to keep on skiing. 

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GROOMING: Curious about how grooming works, and why we do what we do? Some folks figure that the snowcats just chase each other about the trails, playing tag, or on the narrower trails, a touch of hide & seek. The steep pitches lend themselves to surfing, sometimes sideways, which is pretty entertaining. And when the operators get bored with those frolics, they then drive in circles around  the stadiums, seeing if they can catch the other snowcat. Well, that is but a snow-fairy cat-tale. Curious about the logic of when, where, & if grooming happens? Click this link while your second cuppa is brewing/steeping.  Extra hint for those that are memorized by watching the trail map change colour: Click on the blinking snowcat icon on the trail map, that will indicate the average speed. 2-5 km/hour is typical while setting tracks in nasty icy conditions, 8 - 10 km is typical speed when there is a lovely dry 10cm fresh snowfall on a good base. Early in the season, when there is a fresh snowfall, but the base hasn't built up enough to groom with the snowcats, the skidoo/ginzoo combination can do a mighty fine job of setting tracks @ 14 - 18 km/hour.

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LENGTHY SNOW REPORT: For those of you appreciate a concise, 100 word Grooming Report, and grumble now & then about the draft you feel from this Snow Scribe's long windedness, you might get a kick out of Lucy Welsh's 1264 word Snow Report of 1-March-2025 for Sugarbush Resort, an alpine ski facility in Vermont, that had the "opportunity & privilege" of hosting some VIPs recently.  It didn't stay published for long. . . Hope she still has a job.

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Another article (not so much a grooming report) that speaks to the personal value the writer places on nordic skiing, from Morice Mountain: Click here.  Some of these folks know how to write!

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

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Accuweather 

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Weather Net

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Weather Channel