The phrase that sums everything up is:

Thin, but perfectly ridable.

I went out and checked the worst of our trails, which would be the RR Grade heading out of Iggy, and it is quite thin, but perfectly ridable. The base developed about perfect, and there is between 2" & 4" on top of a smooth ice base. The trails should hold some traffic well for the upcoming weekend. There are currently 10 trailers at the ice rink parking lot, and I heard at least 40 sleds go by the office yesterday.

I talked to the groomer drivers, and they are not reporting any problems with lack of snow. There is a trail hazard, about 5 miles North or Moran, or 2-3 miles North of Burma Grade, on the RR Grade where there was some water flowing across the trail for a short stretch. Not sure if this is still a problem, so just be aware when riding that between Trout Lake & Moran.

Both groomers will run today, and at the least again Saturday night. We are still really just panning thing down – there is not enough snow to make huge moguls by any means. I will not be grooming the trail inside town until we get more snow – can’t risk tearing peoples yards up. You can certainly ride it, but no grooming. Things are very thin along the ice rink lot, but it improves as soon as you get under I-75 and head out of town. As stated, there is about 2"-4" on top of the ice grade, with a few rocks that poked through here and there. I actually see more grass and twigs then rocks – this is from the big brushing project last fall. All of the other roads have between 3"-6" over the ice base, with a little less on the Carp River TT, where the loggers plowed it. Watch for ice in the corners for sure.

Forecast is for a few inches of snow over the next couple of days, and big winds for news years day. That is supposed to hit the normal belts with lake effect snow. If the winds are strong enough it will bring that stuff across the UP to us. So things should improve a little over the next couple of days, things certainly will not get worse with the very cold temps forecasted.

Getting back into the swing of things, see our website for current trail pictures. First 2 are of the RR Grade, just outside of Iggy. Second 2 are at the Grade crossing Cheeseman Road, about 2 miles out of town. The last 3 are at the Grade & Castle rock Road intersection, about 4 miles out of town.

HAZZARD: a few miles North of the Burma Grade, on the RR grade, bever damn, or plugged culvert has 8" of water over the trail. I will try to have it checked out to see if it can be drained, but be on teh lookout for now.

Stay tuned for more info… — Neil -vVP Straits Area Snowmobile Club

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First Day of Winter!! and things could be better, we still need more snow.
We have not did a full groom in about a week, as I don’t want to start bringing a lot of dirt in the trail. I did take a new driver out on a short training run Saturday, and we groomed Castle Rock road (South part of #471) Things actually looked very good through there with about 10" base, but the RR Grade was much thinner at about 4".

I was surprised to hear a trail was impassable by report of DStein over the weekend. (thank you) Further investigation reveled that it was the loggers out at the trail-stop that did a heavy plow on the Borland Road, which is the Northern 2 miles of #471. The are not supposed to do that, and the good news is that they are supposed to be done this week. And better news is that the loggers along the Carp River TT should be done very early January, so for the first time in a number of years, we should be clear of logging on our trails.

So to update, all of our trails have been initially panned down, but there is not really enough snow out there to do a major groom. The DNR wants us to wait to get some more snow before we do any heavy grooming out there. The good news is this mornings forecast showed that most of our trails are going to get hit today with a few inches, and a x-mas storm is expected too. That should make us perfectly ridable for the week between x-mas and new years. It sill will not be anywhere near perfect, but we should not have any major problems either. I will get a machine out and pull snow back into the plowed roads asap, and get them packed down. They will be good to go for the weekend. I am also going to be sending a groomer up the big loop to Trout Lake, and back to Brevort for its winter berth.

More updates as I get them, and I will promise to get some trail pics in the next few days.

Stay tuned for more info… — Neil -vVP Straits Area Snowmobile Club

For the latest St. Ignace Reports Click Here