The Kolapore area received freezing drizzle both Saturday and Sunday.  We recommend not using the Kolapore trails until we receive a reasonable amount of fresh snow.
Kolapore Trail Guide

Last night the Kolapore area received freezing drizzle, and there is now a layer of ice on the trails.  We do not recommend using the trails at the moment.  If you insist on going out, probably the best areas would be where the trails haven't been skied recently.  You will break through the crust into fresher snow.  If I ski today (and the weather forecast isn't promising) I'll go to an area with groomed trails.
Kolapore Trail Guide 

Conditions continue to improve.  Since my last posting Kolapore has had about another 15 cm of snow.  The snow gauge is at 35 cm.  I know that this doesn't add up, but it means that the snow is settling, giving a better base for skiing.  Today we started at Entrance E in the County Forest, skied up Kingsway, and then did a loop around Wild Mouse.  Although I did scratch a few rocks, conditions were quite good overall (very good for mid-December!).  Get out and enjoy the snow.
Kolapore Trail Guide    

 Over the past few days the snow squalls bypassed Kolapore - until last night and this morning.  We've had about 15 cm of new snow.  We have about 30 cm of snow in the bush, although there are still many thin areas, e.g., under cedars.  There are also wet spots on some trails e.g., Southern Crossing west of the 10th line.  The less rocky trails (e.g., County Forest) will be in good shape and many other trails will be skiable, although I would continue to strongly recommend rock skis.  I skied County Forest and the Kingsway - Jackrabbit - John's Portage loop today, and it was pleasant skiing as long as you accepted the inevitability of adding some new scratches to your skis.
Saturday Dec 14 update:  I drove by the Kolapore parking lot (Entrance N) this morning and it is well plowed.  
Kolapore Trail Guide  

Kolapore received about 10 cm of snow last night.  The trails now have a bit over 20 cm of snow cover, most of which is light powder that will be easily compressed.  The skiing will probably be relatively good on less rocky trails such as those in the County Forest.  I would recommend waiting a few more days before going on the rockier and/or steeper trails.  Even with the colder temperatures skiers should still be aware of the possibility of encountering wet areas.
Kolapore Trail Guide

There is about 10 cm of snow in the bush at Kolapore.  Most of this is a firm base, with a few cm of fresh snow on top.  This is NOT enough for decent skiing.  In addition, there are numerous wet puddles that need to refreeze.  The forecast for this week looks promising (cold, with a chance of flurries or squalls most days).  I'll post an update as soon as it looks like there might be enough snow for skiing.
Kolapore Trail Guide 

The Kolapore snow gauge is back up to 31 cm (12").  Ski conditions were good today.  As noted in the previous post, there are some wet areas where caution is required.
Kolapore Trail Guide  

Ski season on the Kolapore Wilderness Trails started yesterday.  There was 30 - 35 cm of snow at the south end of the trail system.  (Today the snow gauge was down to 23 cm - the snow is settling and melting from the ground up.)  I skied in the County Forest and up John's Portage, and skiing was quite pleasant.  Some caution is required.  Because of the wet summer and fall, there are numerous puddles on the trail, which are now slush under the snow.  In the County Forest the three worst wet spots in the middle of the trail are: between 6 and 11 (it's easy to ski on the north side off the trail); between 6 and 7 (there is an alternate trail marked by flagging tape); and in the usual wet area west of 4.   There are undoubtedly a number of other wet areas, but the one part of the trail system that I would strongly recommend avoiding is the cedar swamp on Quiet Pastures south of 58.  When I cleared this trail in early November, it was awash - the corduroy logs were floating in the puddles.  Please post additional updates - follow the instructions above.  If you are aware of a major problem, please also send an e-mail to info@kolaporetrails.org
Kolapore Trail Guide  

After the Kolapore Vision Meeting yesterday (watch the News page for updates) the Kolapore Trail Guides went skiing in the County Forest.  The snow gauge is up to 30 cm (12").  There is good snow coverage in the bush.  With the warmer temperatures, you need to be prepared for spring conditions.  This means that it can be either soft and mushy (when the sun warms the snow) or hard/icy, particularly in the morning if it cools down overnight.
Kolapore Trail Guide 

Since my last post on Monday, there has been about 20 cm of new snow, and today it is still powder snow.  In the next day or two I think that there will be decent skiing in the bush, as long as you don't mind spring skiing.  The sun is very strong, so the snow surface will be starting to melt even if the temperature is below freezing.  As the previous post noted, it is best to avoid open areas such as Northwest Passage, because the earlier snow base will have melted and the strong winds this week may have blown off the new snow.
Kolapore Trail Guide