Lots of Snow Falls; Banadad Trail Tracked

Snow Fall with in 24 Hours -dusting

Snow Fall past 7 days- seven inches

Snow on the Ground- 29 inches

Trails Tracked- Entire 41 kilometers of the Banadad Ski System tracked.  Banadad (tracked Yesterday), Lace Lake, Tall Pines & Knapp (tracked day before yesterday)

Conditions  - Ski Conditions are Excellent; tracks have a dusting of snow from last nights.For those that want to take on the Banadad. Do it!

Six Inches of News Snow East End Trails Tracked

Snow on the Ground: 28"

New Snow Past 24 Hours: 6"

Tracked Trail: 13 Kilometers - Lace Lake, Tall Pines, Knapp and Banadad to Knapp. Tracked yesterday

Conditions: Excellent but cold today; much warmer tomorrow (Friday)

Entire Banadad Open and Tracked

Banadad tracked yesterday- a cold and windy day. Skiing should be excellent except in a few open areas along the trail where drifting snow might have drifted over the trail. Lace Lake & Tall Pines trails tracked today. Cold again today but warmer tomorrow -Saturday

Snow on the 23"

Last Tracked- Thursday and Friday

Conditions Good to Excellent

More Snow on the Way

While we were going to track the Banadad today but we postpone it due to significant amount of snow headed our way over the next three days. More snow is good but it would not be good if we tracked the trail and the fresh tracks we cover with snow right away. So look for us with the tracksetter later this week.

Skiing Excellent but cold

The east of the Banadad Trails are tracked-Lace, Tall Pines, Knapp and part of the Banadad. Skiing is excellent. We are expecting to track the entire Banadad Sunday when it warms up.

Banadad Ski Trail Opened on East End

DATE: January 1

SNOW DEPTH IN WOODS: 17"

Trail  Base: 14"

NEW SNOW PAST 24 HOURS: Trace

NEW SNOW PAST 7 DAYS: 3”

TRACKED TRAILS: 10 kilometers Lace Lake, Tall Pines, Tim Knapp and 3 kilometer east end of Banadad

 

ADDITIONAL COMMENT: the entire Banadad has been cleared and packed awaiting additional snow to track the Banadad

Trail Maintained and Groomed by the Banadad Trail Association.

for additional information contact 218-388-4487.

Banadad Trails Awaiting More Snow

Maintenance Crews  have cleared most of the Banadad Trail System with only about 1/2 mile remaining to be cleared on the east end near the site of the Ham Lake Fire. The Minnesota Conservation Corp camped four nights on the west end of the trail clearing some 14 kilometer during their stay. Meanwhile thanks to the Northstar Ski Tour Club, the Minneahaha Academy Ski Team, 

Volunteers at Weekend Trail Clearing in October

and other volunteers who thus far have contributed 351 volunteer hours of labor clearing  the trails other 26 kilometers. When a bit more snow fall we should be able to get onto the trail with out trail groomer for a final packing and clearing run before we set trails. 

 Minnehaha Academy Ski Team- the Banadad Beavers

Currently there is about four or five inches of snow. Unfortunately the ground has not frozen yet and there is lots of water on the trail. There is colder weather on the way which should freeze up the water. Then we need snow.

Volunteer Trail Crew Work to Open Banadad

Volunteer Trail Clearers - October 22, 2016

Maintenance organized by the Banadad Trail Assocation (BTA) got into high gear this past weekend. On Friday, 8 members of the Northstars Ski Touring Club spent 56 hours clearing the remaining one mile of the

North Stars Ski Touring Club

Winchell Lake Fire Trail. This trail, most of which is within the BWCA, serves as a maintenance assess trail to the Banadad. Then on Saturday twenty three volunteers including the “Northstars” contributed another one-hundred sixty one hours cleared 4.3 miles of Banadad’s west end all within the BWCA. One crew entered the Banadad’s east end  through the Winchell Lake Fire Trail, another at the Mead’s Lake Portage and the third crew through the Moose trail at the mid trail junction.  The crews removed not only the brush and down trees from this past summer but also what remaining debris from last December’s storm.

In addition to these crews another crew hiked in 1 ½ miles from the west end trailhead to cut back a beaver house blocking the trail’s west end.

Early this summer a seven person crew from Minnesota Conservation Corp, camping on the trail, spent six days clearing the entire west end of the Banadad and an another ½ mile of the eastern to the Banadad Bridge. Conservation Corp’s efforts resulted in the clearing 9 miles of trail. Another crew of 9 boy scouts from Texas spent one half of day brushing about a ¾ mile west from the eastern trail head. The 4 ½ miles of trail outside the BWCA was also cleared earlier in the summer by BTA contractor Boundary CountryTrekking.

As a result of all these efforts- of the Banadad’s 25 miles of trail 24 ¼ have now been cleared. With all the work that has now been completed we hoping that all are work is not ruined by another freak storm, like last year’s.

Annual Meeting and Potluck Dinner

The Annual Meeting of the Banadad Trail Association (BTA) was called to order by President Andy Jenks on Friday, August 21. Committee reports and Trail clearing results were discussed along action to start setting up a Capital Fund for the construction of garage for the associations grooming equipment. Following the meet the thirty-two people present feasted on a great potluck dinner.

  -----------------------------------

Last Skier on the Banadad for the Season

For the second year in a row the person to close-off the ski season on the Banadad this winter season has a cabin on Little Ollie Lake. This year's honors goes to Joanne Nichols and her dog. She skied several days getting out as far as the Lizz Lake Portage a round trip distance of eight kilometer. Her last day on the trail was April 16. According to Joanne "you can't beat 60 degrees and nice snow on the Banadad. Making my own tracks was just fine!"



Last year on April 8 Judy Ross closed off the trail. Judy also has a cabin on Little Ollie Lake. Both Joanne and Judy and their husbands hail from White Bear Lake..

All and all it was a tough winter season on the Banadad Ski Trail- A heavy wet snowfall in mid-December resulted in dropping much of the side brushed and hundreds of trees into the trail. The Banadad Trail Association made a valiant attempt to clear the brush and trees blocking the trail. Eighteen kilometers of the east end was cleared however as fast as that section of trail was cleared more snow laden trees fell into the trail and the trail became impassable again. This continue throughout the winter.

Ski Trail Report

Ski Trail Report

Great/Excellent Spring Ski

Tracked this morning- Lace Lake Trail (5 km.), Tall Pines Trail (1.6 km ), and Knapp Trail 1.5 km.) opened and tracked. Banadad east end opened and tracked  out  3 km  to the Tim Knapp turn-off

Snow on the Ground- 18"
New snow past three days ago - 10-12 inches
Snow base on trail: 14"

Ski Trail Report

Ski Trail Report

Lace Lake Trail (5 km.), Tall Pines Trail (1.6 km , and Knapp Trail 1.5 km.) opened and tracked.
Banadad east end opened and tracked  out  6.6 km  to the Meads Lake Portage

Snow on the Ground- 22"
New snow past 24 hours- 1-2"
Snow base on trail: 19"





This year due to the December ice/heavy wet snow which littered the trail with brush and trees we have not been able to get the entire Banadad cleared. We cleared the Banadad's east end (19 km.) twice and a portion of the west end  but the trees and tops of conifers kept falling into the trail. Now it is litter with more trees. Don't know when the trees which are load with heavy encrusted snow are going to stop falling.

Twenty-six inches of beautiful snow on the ground-

Tracked: Banadad's eastern end trails tracked yesterday- including the Lace Lake. Tall Pines, Knapp and Banadad to Knapp. - 9 kilometers

Skiing is excellent on the tracked section of the Banadad Trails.

Snow base: 20"


Some low hanging branches along the tracked trails. We have cleared the whole eastern end at least twice and some of the western end of the Banadad but trees and conifer tops are continuing to fall on the more remote sections of the trail system.

Making Progress on the Banadad Trails

Lace Lake, Tall Pine, Knapp and first 3 Kilometers Banadad Opened and tracked.

Snow on the Ground: 18"
Tracked Trails: 8 kilometers

Crews out removing down trees and brush from the Banadad report about 1/4 mile left of the Banadad to clear on the trail's eastern end. USFS crews planned to have been working on west end of the Banadad Thursday and Friday. No report yet on what was accomplished.

Mother Nature Creates Difficult Opening of the Banadad

When we last posted here, the Banadad Trail Association had just hosted the annual trail clearing day and membership meeting.  Several volunteers had clipped and sawed their way through miles of alder brush and fallen trees, readying the trail for the winter.  More trail-clearing folks followed in the next couple of weeks, and we all had a good feeling about the upcoming ski season.

How quickly that changed! The much-anticipated snow finally came, but not as the fluffly, fat flakes that we prefer.  Instead, it fell heavy and wet, cloaking every twig and tree in a thick coat.  Mother Nature mixed in a bit of freezing drizzle, and then added more of that same kind of snow.  Someone likened it to wet cement.  That was an apt description, for when it solidly froze, just like dried cement, it weighted those trees until they were bowing down to the ground.  For many miles, the trail was completely impassable.  As beautiful as it was, it created miles of havoc, and a boatload of new clearing to be done.

For the last several weeks, many people, both volunteer and paid, have been working hard to clear the trail so that it is usable this winter.  The good news is that at this point, the Lace Lake Trail (4K) and the Tall Pines Trail (1.7K) are both opened and groomed.  The snow depth is 18".  Snow still covers the trees, making for a uniquely beautiful trail.  Come out and ski it!

The eastern end of the Banadad is once again nearly cleared, with about another day or two of work remaining.  As soon as we get fresh snow, this section will be groomed and tracked.  The trail will extend to the mid-trail junction, near the yurt.  A loop will be possible, utilizing the Moose Trail.  While not what we would have hoped for back in October when we were working, at least we have something here to ski. The distance for this section is 15.5K.

Unfortunately, it is not expected that the western end of the Banadad will be open this season.  Much work remains on the remaining 12K.  As time and funding permit, we will chip away at it, and we welcome your help if you so desire.  To that end, a sign has been posted in the parking lot, and two saws are hanging for anyone who wants to snowshoe in on the trail and cut a few things away. 

We are so grateful to everyone who has stepped in to assist in the herculean effort to re-open the trail.  Mother Nature tossed us some lemons, but we didn't let that stop us.  Join us on the Banadad, the Lace Lake Trail and the Tall Pines Trail, and see how pretty this season has turned out to be. 

Ski Trail Report

Lace Lake Trail (4 km.) opened and tracked.
Banadad east end opened out 10 miles but not tracked.

Snow on the Ground- 16"
New snow past 24 hours- 1-2"
Snow base on trail: 10+"



We are not making much headway on the Banadad- we move ahead one step and then two days later it back one step. Two days ago two guys re-cleared the Lace Lake trail, it took 5
1/2 hours. This was after the Lace Lake was completely cleared about five days ago.Then yesterday I tracked Lace Lake and still had to cut two more trees that just fell across the trail. Today four guys will be re-cutting their way east on the Banadad. We are out about ten miles of the twelve to the mid-trail junction. 

Trail Block by down trees and brush-Crews working to get the Banadad

Tons of down brush and tree have totally blocked the trail. We have been getting more snow and it has even made it worse. Paid trails crews of three to five people have been working daily. We now have the Lace Lake, Tim Knopp and 10 of the 20 Mile of the Banadad cleared. But more tree keep falling into trail as we work. It will be at least another seven or eight days before the Banadad will be cleared. That is if we do not run out of money to pay for the trail workers before then.  Help needed!

We now have 14" of snow on the ground. But unfortunately the Banadad is littered with down brush and
trees from the heavy wet snow we had the last few days.  See above- images from start of Lace Lake
Trail. There is also a lot of trees on the trail from a storm that went through in early November after
most of our volunteer maintenance crew had worked on the trail. We are working on clearing the trail
but it going to take quite a bit of time to get the Banadad open for skiing this year.

Volunteers Work to get the Banadad Open for Skiing

Maintenance crews have been working hard to get the Banadad Ski Trails’ twenty-six miles open for skiing. This past weekend fifteen volunteers from the Minnehaha Academy Nordic Ski Team widen and cleared the center brush along the first two miles of the trail’s west end. While all the trees that had fallen on this section of the trail were cleared previously by the North Star Ski Turing Club on November 30, the ski team still had to clear several new down trees. That same day Andy Jenks, president of the Banadad Trail Association (BTA) and his wife Julie worked on the east end starting at the Meads Lake Portage the pair were able travel about one and three-quarter of mile.  They also had to remove some thirty newly fallen down trees from this section of trail. This section of the trail was completely cleared during the BTA’s Work Weekend on November 24. Both trail sections were in the BWCA. Volunteers also worked on several trail sections outside the BWCA.

The newly down trees, the volunteers found, likely had came down due to the soaking rain, wind and heavy wet snow that occure just after the earlier crews were on the trail.

Volunteers, since September, have now but in 277.5 hours clearing some sixteen mile of the twenty- six mile of the Banadad Trails. However it clear a lot of work remains before the Banadad can open for skiing. This remaining clearing will be taken-on be Boundary Country Trekking’s trail crews with some help by additional volunteers.

First Good Snow

Last night four plus inches fell. Still snowing lightly at 5:00 AM. However not sure if it is going to last.
It might be good idea to think about skiing but don't get your hopes up.