Since mid-day yesterday, Kolapore has received about 8 cm of new snow.  The south end should be very pleasant.  When I drove by late yesterday, the Kolapore parking lot on Grey Road 2 had not been plowed, and with the new snow it could be difficult to get into until it is plowed.  Get out and enjoy the skiing before it goes to 7 on Sunday!

I skied in part of County Forest, and the lower part of the Kingsway - John's Portage loop this morning.  Pleasant skiing on rock skis.  The snow gauge is at 18 cm.  North of the County Forest there are lots of areas where rocks are showing through (melting from the bottom up)      Kolapore Trail Guide

I went out for a ski in County Forest and vicinity this morning.  The snow gauge is at 20 cm, but that is very misleading.  After skiing on a trail, there is usually zero to a few cm of snow left in the track.  Because the ground isn't frozen, the snow is melting from the ground up.  So, skiing is possible but I would only suggest it for hard core Kolaporites, and using rock skis.  The only trails that are a reasonable choice in the early season are in the County Forest.  When I drove by the Kolapore Entrance N yesterday, there had obviously been walkers in.  

Kolapore Trail Guide

The trails are mostly in great shape, although some are a bit overgrown, particularly parts of Northwest Passage. If you're interested in helping brushcut, get in touch!  

We're doing our best to update the Kolapore Uplands region page on Trailforks.com as conditions change.  

Please pitch in and leave reports there, or let us know via info@kolaporetrails.org. Thanks!

Yup. If you are on this page you are an April Fool and wondering if indeed we are skiing again. The parking lot may not be well-cleared, but track is set through County Forest. Snow is heavy and this won't last long so get out there soon if you are going to.

Also, there will likely be branches and trees down. Please clear what you can and let us know of anything that requires a chainsaw. Please also consider joining our brush cut crew. The weeds will be waist high before you know it.

I just came back from a pleasant early afternoon ski around County Forest and vicinity.  The snow had warmed up enough that it was soft (slightly sluggish).  I was very glad that I had non-wax skis.  The snow gauge has dropped from 13" Friday to 12" Saturday mid-day to 9" today.  Grass and rocks were starting to show through in a few exposed locations.  Skiing is likely to be OK for a few more days, if you wait until the snow softens slightly.  It is supposed to be quite cold the next few nights, so the track will be ice in the early morning.

Kolapore Trail Guide

Kolapore received about 7 cm/3 inches of new powder snow overnight (Thursday night/Friday morning).  The total snow depth (30 cm) probably won't have changed much from my last post, because the sun was strong enough yesterday that snow was melting and settling.  There should still be good skiing.  I skied this afternoon, and even though the air temperature was -5, the sun was so strong that snow was warming and getting moist.  If you then go through colder snow, you can have problems with clumping.  Be prepared.  Skiing early, before the snow starts to warm, may avoid the problem.

Kolapore Trail Guide

The snow gauge at the south end of Kolapore is at 30 cm (12"), most of which came yesterday and overnight.  (The Kolapore Uplands is big enough that the snow cover may be different in other parts of the trail system.) There is enough snow for enjoyable skiing on the less rocky trails.  Be sure to take a scraper - I was icing up a bit (on wax skis) on the way home.

Kolapore Trail Guide

In the County Forest (which is usually one of the areas that can be skied latest in the season) there are sections of the trail where the snow has disappeared.  Unless we get a heavy dump of snow the ski season at Kolapore has finished.

Kolapore Trail Guide

I walked along the south edge of the County Forest today, and it was interesting to see the differences in conditions.  South facing slopes and areas open to the sun were becoming bare.  Further into the forest there was still moderate snow cover, although probably not enough for satisfactory skiing.  Open fields are bare.  It looks like mid-March.

Kolapore Trail Guide