East End of Banadad Tracked

Trail Groomers tracked the east end of Banadad yesterday. Groomers found more brush from last weeks storm blocking the trail. Hope to track the west end within the next three days.

Banadad New Years Eve- Snow Conditions- December 31, 2010

Snow on Ground – 18 inches

Packed Trail base – 14  inches where rolled
New snow last 24 hours –  4-5  inches
New snow last 7 days –  4-5 inches
Groomed and Tracked – Banadad eastend-  tracked 4 kilometer, Lace Lake Tracked 6 kilometers and Tall Pines  tracked 3 kilometers. .

More Information click-on Banadad Trail Association

Addition Information- Perfect snow condition; set a great track Plan to start tracking the reminder of the Banadad Tomorrow

Banadad Opened and Roll East End Trails Tracked

Banadad Ski Trail- December 23, 2010

Snow on Ground – 16 inches

Packed Trail base – 13  inches where rolled
New snow last 24 hours – 0 inches
New snow last 7 days –  5 inches
Groomed and Tracked – Banadad eastend- 4 kilometer, Lace Lake Tracked 6 kilometers and Tall Pines 3 kilometers

 

Additional information- entire Banadad opened and rolled as of December 21. October wind storm and Novermber rain/snow resulted in the dropping of many trees and ice/snow covered brush into the trail. This made opening the trail very difficult. 

Banadad Snow Conditions- First Tracks Set, December 11, 2010

Banadad Ski TrailSnow on Ground – 20 inches

Packed Trail base – 14  inches where rolled
New snow last 24 hours – 0 inches
New snow last 7 days –  6 inches
Groomed and Tracked – Lace Lake Tracked 6 kilometers and Tall Pines and Banadad 11.2 kilometers Rolled-
More information – go to  Banadad Trail Association

Good Early Winter Snow Conditions

Banadad Ski TrailSnow on Ground – 15 inches

Packed Trail base – 6-8 inches where rolled
New snow last 24 hours – 4 inches
New snow last 7 days –  9 inches
Groomed and Tracked – Lace Lake and Tall Pines Rolled-
More information – go to  Banadad Trail Association

November's Snowfall

Almost enough snow

We now have 8" of snow on the ground but because the ground has yet to freeze we cannot get on to the trail to begin compacting and rolling the snow in preparation for setting tracks.  However the from the east end the first 3-4 kilometers are ski able.

Banadad Closes for Season

Sorry folks the snow is gone; the Banadad is no longer ski-able. See you next winter.

East end of Banadad Still Open for Skiing

There still is enough snow left from the east end of the trail to the lisz lake portage to ski. Tracks are about gone, bare spots on the sides of the trail and 3 kilometers out at the first swamp the snow is gone for about 50 meters across the beaver swamp.

Banadad Ski Trail Snow Report

Banadad Ski Trail - Saturday March 13, 2010-  Trail Map

Snow on Ground	0- 10
Packed Trail Base	6-8”
New Snow last 24 hours	0
New snow last 7 days	0
Groomed and Tracked	Banadad –8 km- west from eastern trailhead. Entire Bandad 30 km has mostly 6"-8" of continuous snow cover. Only eastend tracked.
Conditions Rated	Good spring skiing -continuous snow cover on trail Bountry Trekking and Poplar Creek Guesthouse

               

bct@boundarycountry.com

 

Boundary Country Trekking/Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B
800-322-8327       218-388-4487
11 Poplar Creek Drive                 218-388-2253 Fax
Grand Marais MN 55604          
        
Before printing this e-mail, assess if it is really needed                

Banadad Ski Trail - Feb 26, 2010-  Trail Map

Snow on Ground	23 inches
Packed Trail Base	16”
New Snow last 24 hours	none
New snow last 7 days	trace
Groomed and Tracked	Banadad 31 km, Tracked -Feb. 19 Lace Lake 5 km, Tracked Feb. 24 Tall Pines 2 km , Tracked Feb 24
Conditions Rated	Skiing excellent; great snow conditions. For More Information: www.banadad.org

Trail Conditions

Banadad Ski Trail - January 14, 2009-  Trail Map

Snow on Ground	25 inches
Packed Trail Base	16”
New Snow last 24 hours	traces
New snow last 7 days	1 1/2 inches
Groomed and Tracked	Banadad 31 km, Tracked Jan. 12 Lace Lake 5 km, Tracked Jan. 11 Tall Pines 2 km , Tracked Jan.  11
Conditions Rated	Skiing good to excellent - some brush on trail from trail clearing following ice storm great snow conditions. For More Information: www.banadad.org

               

Storm Clearing Continues on the Banadad

Trail Alert- Portions of the Banadad Ski Trail remain closed due to the accumulating on alder brush and small trees caving them into the trail and making the trail impassable.  Crews of two to four people composed of Boundary Country Trekking's staff, members of the Banadad Trail Association and other Gunflint Trail residents have been out daily clearing the trail but the going is slow, wet and cold. It has been taking the crews four to five hours per mile to clear the brush. Thus far the Lace Lake and Tall Pines Trails are open and tracked. Twenty kilometers of the Banadad's thirty kilometers have been cleared. It is expected that the remainder of the Banadad should be cleared and re-opened by Februrary 10. Stay tuned folks!

Re-Opening of Banadad Moves Along

The good news is the Lace Lake and Tall Pines are once again open for skiing. However much of the Banadad is still blocked by ice covered brush. Opening of the trail is moving ahead as crews are out daily cutting the brush off the trail. The going is slow!  Crews report that it is taking about hour to five hours per mile to clear the clutter. As of yesterday, Tuesday, about one half of the Banadad has been cleared.

Lots of Snow- Re-grooming Begins

With some 12 inches of heavy wet snow dropping brush along the trail into the trail now frozen in place, the job of opening and re-tracking of the Banadad begins today. We plan to send out two snowmobiles early this morning- one to compact the snow the other to set tracks. As the pair travels along the trail the brush blocking the trail will have to been cleared. While the  crew hopes to open and the entire 30 kilometers of the Banadad, it is not certain if they will be able to complete the job today. Stay tuned folks! We will keep you posted.

SNOW DEPTH IN WOODS: 12-14”

COMPACTED BASE ON TRAIL: 8”

NEW SNOW PAST 24 HOURS:  Trace

NEW SNOW PAST 7 DAYS:  2”

GROOM/TRACKED TRAIL:  All trails- 40  km.

SNOWSHOE TRAILS: Open and in good shape

ADDITIONAL COMMENT: Good to excellent skiing

ADDITIONAL COMMENT:  Looking for more snow this coming weekend

The forty-kilometer. Banadad Trail System is managed by the Banadad Trail Association under an agreement with the Gunflint Ranger District USFS. Grooming and Maintenance is provided by Boundary Country Trekking. Minnesota Ski Pass and BWCA Day Permit required on trail. Free parking available at both the eastern and western trailheads.

Snow Report December 29, 2009

Bandad Ski Trail- Conditions good to excellent. Snow depth of fifteen inches on eastend of Banadad  and lesser amounts of snow on westend. Banadad, Lace Lake and Tall Pines Trails all tracked. Some brush still showing through the snow particularly in the westend.

Season's First Tracks set on Banadad

SNOW DEPTH IN WOODS:  9"

COMPACTED BASE ON TRAIL: 4-5"    

NEW SNOW PAST 24 HOURS:  4"
NEW SNOW PAST 7 DAYS: - trace

GROOM/TRACKED TRAIL: 8 KM.

SNOWSHOE TRAILS: awaiting more snow

ADDITIONAL COMMENT: The Banadad from the east end trailhead to Lizz lake Portage 2.5 KM - very good to excellent tracked skiing. Seppala and west side of Tall Pines Trails tracked fair skiing. Remainder of Banadad Trail System packed ski able but awaiting more snow to track.

The forty-kilometer. Banadad Trail System is managed by the Banadad Trail Association under an agreement with the Gunflint Ranger District USFS. Grooming and Maintenance is provided by Boundary Country Trekking. Minnesota Ski Pass and BWCA Day Pass required on trail. Free parking available at both the east and west trailheads.

Snow, Cold Weather - Trail Packing and Opening to Begin

December 3- The last three days have seen the temperature getting down into the lower teens. This morning it stood at ten degrees. We have some snow, about three inches and more on the western end of the trail. It is not enough snow to stop the standing water along the Banadad from freezing. Another inch or two of snow and we should be able to get onto the trail with snowmobiles to pack and clear as we go. Still shooting for a December 15th opening of the Banadad and a bit earlier for the eastern Banadad trails. Stay tuned!

It is expected that Boundary Country will begin packing and opening the trail this Saturday.

Getting the Banadad Trails Ready for Skiing

Our trail maintenance  began this year in August when a crew of five people from the Minnesota Concervation Corp sent-up camp some four miles from the west end of the Banadad. Working from this camp land and from an another camp at the Bedew Lake Yurts the crew working ten hours days widen and clearied most of the western end of the Banadad. Eight days later the crew had logged 400 hours of labor widening two miles and clearing the down trees from a storm this past suimmer along five more miles of the trail.

Aided by Pete Harris, Ted and staff moved replacement bridge beams into the Croft Yurt on Sept 12 and 12 and opened the Moose Trail to the Croft yurt with chainsaws and using hand saws cleared from the Yurt to the Bridge site. unfortunately we will have to wait now until next spring to get the beams into the bridge.

Then is September the three mile section of the eastend of the trail outside of the BWCA was opened by Ted and staff using an ATV and Chainsaws.

October 22-25,  saw five members of the Northstars Ski Touring Club with the help of staff from Boundary Country Trekking clearing the first 1 1/2 mile of the western end of the Bananad and the removal oft many large trees along a 3 mile streatch of the trails west end.that had fallened in a storm earlier this summer. The following two days the North Stars cleared the Lace Lake Trail. In all the five member North Stars crew put-in some 128 hours of hand labor on the trail.

Two weekends later five members of Adventure Vacations, a Twin Cities travel company hiked 1 1/2 miles in along the old Winchell Lake Fire Trail, west of Poplar Lake and then cleared west about 1 1/2 miles almost to the Lodgging Camp The group logged about  35 hours.

Still more work to due so stay tuned!