Happy New Year Snow Report- 12/31/08

Snow on Ground 19-20 inches
Packed Trail Base 12-14”
New Snow last 24 hours 1/2 inch
New snow last 7 days 7 inches
Groomed and Tracked

Banadad –31 km-12/29
Lace Lake –5 km – 12/30
Knapp-3 km- 12/30/08
Tall Pines (Westside) 1 km - 12/29

Conditions Rated -Skiing good to excellent some trails wind has blown snow onto tracks

For More Information:Boundary Country Trekking and Poplar Creek Guesthouse

First Skiers Through the Banadad This Winter

Gunflint Trail-With the temperature hovering above freezing, the ski conditions on the Banadad Ski Trail were not great, as Erik and Karl Hoeg became the first skier to complete the entire 31 kilometer Banadad non-stop this winter. The two boys time was about 4 hours. They both are very good skiers and they explained afterwards that had the ski conditions been better they certainly would have made the trip much faster. Their parents shuttled a car to the western end of the Banadad then skied in from the western trail head, about 7 kilometers, where they met-up-with Erik and Karl. The pair were staying at one of Poplar Creek Guesthouse’s cabin with their parents.

Snow and Trail Conditions

Banadad and Adjoining Ski Trails- Gunflint Trail, Minnesota. Ski and snowshoeing Trails- map

DATE: December 17, 2008

SNOW DEPTH IN WOODS: 20"

COMPACTED BASE ON TRAIL:12"

NEW SNOW PAST 24 HOURS: 0

NEW SNOW PAST 7 DAYS: 11"

GROOM/TRACKED TRAIL: 10 km.

SNOWSHOE TRAILS: 6 miles open

ADDITIONAL COMMENT: excellent - plenty of snow/eastern end of Banadad to Lizz Lake and Lace Lake Trails Tracked; remaining trails packed and grooming underway

Lodging at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B, Ski-in Cabin and Yurt
Boundary Country Adventure Trips - Ski Yurt to Yurt and/or Lodge to Lodge- on the web

Great Snow for Skiiing on the Gunflint

Grand Marais, MN- The cross-country skiing season has begun along Minnesota’s famed Gunflint Trail as the snow piles up- over nine new inches of snow fell yesterday. More is expected this week. With yesterday snowfall, area B&B and lodge owners along the Gunflint report eighteen to twenty inches of snow now on the ground.

According Ted Young from Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B, which operates the Banadad Ski Trail, “we are grooming the east end of the Banadad now and we should be completed tracking all our trails by the weekend. With this new snow skiing should be great!” Those responsible for the Central and Upper Gunflint Ski Trails expressed similar optimism.

Nordic Skiing is by definition an eco-friendly sport but the Gunflint area ski trail managers have taken this one step further. Last year, the Banadad Ski Trail became “carbon neutral” with the purchase of carbon credits to offset the emissions of grooming. This year, the Central and Upper Gunflint ski trail systems are adopting carbon neutral strategies. The cost to sequester the carbon released into the atmosphere from the maintenance and grooming for the Gunflint Nordic Ski Trails will be invested in planting of trees along the Gunflint Trail.

Packing of the Banadad Ski Trail Underway

With about four inches of snow now on the ground, the final stage of maintenance of the Banadad began yesterday. This stage is the packing, which is done by snowmobiles running back and forth along the trail to compact the snow in preparation for setting track. During this process any remaining trees and brush blocking the trail are cleared with handsaws and nippers. Usually the packing takes about of week. After that as soon as another four to six inches of snow falls tracks can be laid down and the Banadad will be opened for skiing.