Just a heads up that on Sunday we found a snowmobile had run from around 58 to almost 36 on Quiet Pastures, the track had frozen solid making it a bit of a difficult and unpleasant ski. 

I did a short ski in the County Forest this afternoon, and would describe conditions as "fair".  The tracks are fast/icy because of the thaw yesterday, and in some locations the track is quite rough.  I would strongly recommend avoiding any steeper hills - conditions on some hills, particularly if they are south facing, are likely to be poor.  Two Kolapore trail guides skied at Highlands Nordic (Duntroon) this morning, and we probably had a more pleasant (and safer) ski than if we had gone out at Kolapore. 
Kolapore Trail Guide

Trail conditions continue to be very good.  There hasn't been much new snow this week, but the cool temperatures have helped us keep good powder snow.  Hills are very manageable.  The snow gauge is still at 68 cm.   I'm hoping that the +2 temperatures predicted for Friday won't have much impact at Kolapore. 
Kolapore Trail Guide 

Conditions are very good.  There has been enough new snow to cover the crust almost everywhere, and the hills are very skiable.   In general we are back to mid-winter conditions.  The snow gauge is at 68 cm - 27", which is very good for early March.  The trail guides have been busy doing "pick up sticks" the past few days (as a result of recent windstorms), and also sawed out downed trees on Kolapore Church and Paradise Highway.  Some trails have not been skied by the trail guides after the wind storm - please help by removing any fallen branches.
Kolapore Trail Guide   

Kolapore has received about 5 cm of new snow in the past 24 hours.  Although I think that a few steep hills may still be a bit rutted from the thaw a week ago, overall the conditions should be quite good today.  As noted in the previous post, recent high winds brought down numerous branches, so be prepared to encounter obstacles on the trails.  Please help to remove them.
Kolapore Trail Guide 

Kolapore now has about 10 cm of powder snow on top of the crust, and skiing conditions are improving.  I went for a short ski this morning (Entrance E through the County Forest to 11, and then around the south end of Kingsway and John's Portage) and the skiing was quite pleasant.  I would still recommend avoiding some of the steeper hills until we get more snow.  There are lots of branches down because of recent high winds, so you should be aware of the possibility of encountering an obstruction.  If you do see branches down, please help us (and other skiers) by tossing them off the trail where possible.  If they require a saw, please send an e-mail to info@kolaporetrails.org  
FYI, the ski season could last quite a while yet - the snow gauge is back up to 63 cm, and a lot of that is a firm base.  One of the few advantages of the recent thaw is that most ski poles won't sink too far into the snow now (unless you have the very small baskets, which don't make sense at Kolapore any time.)
Kolapore Trail Guide
      

As a result of the recent thaw and the current freeze, the trails are rutted and icy.  Kolapore has received about 5 cm of snow overnight (Sunday night), but this isn't enough to provide safe and enjoyable skiing.  We strongly discourage trail use until after there is an adequate amount of new snow.  It is snowing hard as I post this (Monday 9:30 AM), and I will update the posting as soon as we get a significant amount of additional snow. 
Kolapore Trail Guide

Just want to say a HUGE thank you to the dedicated volunteers who maintain the Kolapore Wilderness trails, especially during this exceptional winter. We spent a fabulous Family Day weekend re-discovering the trail network. Saturday enjoyed the "warm-up" on the County Forest trails first, then headed west along Kingsway (11,12,61,13,14) to Jackrabbit (14, 34, 33, 58), south along Quiet Pastures and finished up with the Southern Crossing. All trails were in excellent shape with a bit of fresh snow from Friday night to Saturday. Definitely need a map so as not to get lost in the labyrinth of trails. All sign posts are in good shape and easy to navigate through the system. Sunday enjoyed the circuit from the North parking lot along Kolapore Church trail, then picked up Paradise Highway at 24. More skiers were out in the northern section than the southern section, so the trails were packed down and the two ski tracks weren't always distinguishable, but still, so lovely to ski in a more "back country" setting. More people out meant it was easier to snowplow down some of the steeper slopes. Loads of animal tracks, lots of woodpeckers were heard, gorgeous views of the springs and creeks gurgling along. Unfortunately the snowmobilers were out in force, so occasionally their whine spoiled the silence. We were pleased to meet trail guides at point 34 on Saturday and had a grand chat about the conditions. Again, thank you to you folks who maintain these wonderful trails.

Most trails are in excellent shape, so get out and enjoy them this weekend. Kolapore hasn't had a lot of new snow over the past week, although we did have about 5 cm of light powder last night and this morning.  Parts of the Kolapore Church - Paradise Highway loop are well packed, and thus are quite fast.   Some less experienced skiers might find the first section of Paradise Highway in from the Kolapore parking lot to be fast and bumpy.  A snowmobile has recently driven on the west end of Kolapore Church trail, and the east end of Northwest Passage (north from Kolapore Church trail).   The toilet has been reinstalled in the Kolapore parking lot.
Kolapore Trail Guide

Trail conditions haven't changed much since my post on Monday, because we haven't had a lot of new snow - somewhat over 5 cm.  The trails continue to be in prime mid-winter condition.  The Kolapore parking lot was plowed recently, and is in good shape.  (This wasn't the case earlier this week.  Plowing is done as a public service by Grey County, and they undoubtedly had other plowing priorities.)
Get out and ski - it will be cool this weekend, but the skiing should be great.
Kolapore Trail Guide