Conditions Report: Not Yet… But Soon!
Old Man Winter has been letting us know he’s feeling limber and ready to shred… but hasn’t quite pinned ‘er quite yet.
Generally the zones are not ready to ride yet, but we’ve got hope that we’ll be slaying pow and grooming trails by mid- to late- November. Our next report will be a grooming report!
It’s been a busy summer and fall for us in Golden and it’s sure not to let up for the next couple months.
Quartz Creek is “not quite good to go” but has seen a fair amount of traffic so far.
We’ve got some projects on the go at Quartz Cabin, including building a bit of an interior porch for the cabin to keep more heat inside and installing some telephone poles to give our solar panels access to a bit more sun. These projects are going to be going on over the next week or so, so that we’re ready for the season.
Gorman has also seen quite a bit of action this fall. It was our hope and dream to have a new cabin up there by the time the snow flew, but it’s been held up by government antics so we’re forging ahead with plans to get a mobile unit up there this winter. This won’t replace our plans for a permanent structure but will be a sweet interim measure that we can use elsewhere once we have the permanent structure in place at Gorman. We still need some CASH to get this project rolling – about $50k – if you want to donate or support the cause, please email snowmobile@snowmobilegolden.com.
In tandem with our cabin project we got the 2nd parking lot tuned up so it’s not such a spring mud bog. It’s now level and has a nice cap of gravel on top so when you drive in you can be fairly certain to get out again. We’ll also be installing some new bridges to improve early season grooming and doing some brushing as well -but likely not til next spring.
Silent Pass has been pretty hands off for us this year, but we’re STOKED that the forestry license holder will be logging out of McMurdo all winter. That means that they’ll be plowing the road to the 45 km mark and making a nice parking area for us there… and the trail ride in to the zone will only be about 15 km this year! All that good news comes with a bit of a hitch – you’ve got to get yourself a truck radio to drive down that road and keep our logging crews happy. Check out Alpine IT in Golden for some great VHF radios that come pre-programmed with all the logging road channels for only $200. We highly recommend. (Also check out the safety video below).
Quartz Creek
Generally we’ll say this area is not ready to go. But if you’ve got a hankering to pull on the throttle (gently) you can certainly ride around the zone with serious caution. Snow is about 30 cm at the cabin and 60 cm in the alpine with a serious crust buried about 40 cm deep.
Update November 5 – We’ll have a hoe heading up to the cabin on November 7. Please expect: poor conditions until we get more snow and delays on the road and trail in. This work is crux for our operation so please be patient or avoid the area altogether! Thank you!
