In spite of all the promises of flurries or squalls, Kolapore has only received a few cm of new snow since Sunday.  The snow gauge is at 20 cm (i.e., the unpacked depth). Trail conditions are essentially unchanged - the flatter and less rocky trails are pleasant, and the steeper, rockier and wetter trails should only be skied by Kolapore skiers who don't mind dodging rocks and puddles.

Kolapore Trail Guide

Kolapore has received about 5 cm of new snow since the rain on Friday night.  I went out for a short ski in the County Forest, and conditions were better than I had expected.  Nice powder snow in firm tracks.  The snow surface out of the tracks (under the powder) is crusty but not a sheet of ice.  I would still avoid the rockier trails and steep hills, but there are places where the skiing will be pleasant.

Kolapore Trail Guide

Kolapore received a fair amount of rain last night, but there is still good snow cover.  At 8 AM the temperature has dropped to -4, so the snow is crusty/icy.  There is a trace of new snow.  I would recommend staying off the trails until we get a decent amount of new snow.  I will post as soon as there is a change in conditions.

Kolapore Trail Guide

The Kolapore snow gauge is at 20 cm (8").  We've received 10 cm+ of new snow over the past two days.  It is still early winter conditions.  County Forest is in good condition.  Some of the other trails at the south end are also pleasant skiing, although caution is required.  Even though conditions are improving, I think that many skiers would still not enjoy the rockier/wetter trails, e.g., parts of Paradise Highway.  Let's hope for more snow and cold weather.

Kolapore Trail Guide

Gorgeous in Kolapore today..   pretty good conditions too...   Scraped a few rocks here and there (skied from grey road 2 parking lot) but for the most part it was really good.  More snow has been falling since about 3:00 pm so those rocks should be covered by tomorrow!   Enjoy! 

Kolapore received about 15 cm (6") of new snow since the snow started yesterday.  This afternoon the Kolapore snow gauge was at 15cm, which says that we lost most of the base.  Skiing was OK in the County Forest (apart from a few wet spots), but outside that area we were scraping on lots of rocks.  The Kolapore parking lot was plowed today, but I wouldn't use that entry point until we have more snow.  Fortunately, the forecast suggests we could get quite a bit of snow over the next few days.

Kolapore Trail Guide

The thaw yesterday (Thursday) didn't affect the track as much as I expected.  I was out for a quick ski at 8:30 AM, and the hard wax was working well.  The tracks are fast.  With the faster conditions, I strongly recommend sticking with the flatter, smoother trails at the south end (as mentioned in my preceding post).

I expect that today may be the last decent ski day at Kolapore for a few days.  I'll post again when there are conditions worth skiing on.

Kolapore Trail Guide

At noon today the Kolapore snow gauge was up to 15cm - 5 cm of crust and 10 cm of powder.  Skiing in the County Forest was very pleasant.  An ATV had ridden around the area yesterday, but there was enough new snow to refresh the trails.  We also skied up Kingsway then back around Jackrabbit and John's Portage.  This loop is rockier, and considerable care is required on the hills.  We added some new gouges to our skis

We recommend that you not use the Kolapore Church - Paradise Highway trails until we get quite a bit more snow.  There have been a lot of walkers on these trails, and they are very rocky.

We are continuing to clear trails from the windstorm last week.  The chain saw crew has removed about 10 trees, and we know there is another one on Quite Pastures.  We have checked most of the trails.  If you encounter a tree down that you can't remove, please send an e-mail to info@kolaporetrails.org.

Kolapore Trail Guide

At noon today, the Kolapore snow gauge was at 10 cm.  About 5 cm is a crusty base, covered by about 5 cm of powder.  If we get a bit more snow, a few sections of trail - mainly old lanes without many rocks - will be marginally skiable (on rock skis!)  When skiing does start, the best choice will be parts of the County Forest. 

High winds on Monday night brought down a number of trees on the trails.  The chain saw crew was out yesterday, and we are aware of 3 more trees that need to be cut.  However, we have inspected less than half the trails since the most recent wind storm, so there are undoubtedly other trails with trees down.  If you find a tree down on the trails that you can't remove, please send an e-mail to info@kolaporetrails.org with a description of the location.

Kolapore Trail Guide 

Kolapore received about 5 cm of snow last night, although with the strong winds the depth is quite variable.  Because of the rain/freezing rain it is very crusty.  Most Kolapore trails need 20 to 30 cm of snow to make them skiable, so we need a lot more base.  I will post updates as conditions change.

Kolapore Trail Guide