The Thursday/Friday storm had more impact then I thought it would have. They closed the bridge and us-2 on Friday for quite a while, and US-2 was still closed through Saturday. High winds knocked out power all over teh place, including my house for 10 hours, Moran for 12-14, and some place in Epoufette on and off for 2 days.

The Groomers had a tough time of it on Friday night, with over 40 trees having to be cleared from the trail, and heavy drifting all weekend. The lower loop took 2 full passes on Friday night just to get the drifts knocked down. The upper loop as a ton of trees down making Bob’s trip long, and as a consequence he did not have time to do the Caffey. With Cut River out of power, he couldn’t plug in the groomer to keep it warm, and it would not start on Saturday afternoon. So the upper loop did not get a good groom until Sunday afternoon.

The good news is that the trails all groomed up very well with the good snow snow, which packed well. We are working on widening out some sections of the trail in anticipation spring as the trail edges will become dangerous fro the groomer when things start to soften up. The storm added more then 5′ to the base on the trail which is now easily 20′-30′ over the entire trail system. Off trail is just crazy, and our whole coverage area has snow like you have seen along the Superior shoreline in recent years. Besides the groomer breakdowns, you really can’t ask for a better year for sledding!

The forecast for the coming week has the buzz words ‘Polar Vortex’ in it again and that means more bitter cold, but not really a ton of snow (not that we need it!) Temps over the next week will only be in the single digits and then maybe the teens over the weekend.

Things should remain in great condition, as both groomers are running and there is tons of snow to groom out there.

The City of St. Ignace would like me to remind you that snowmobile are NOT ALLOWED on city sidewalks or main street. If you want to access the ice bridge to Mackinac Island, then cross Main Street at right angles, and use the access points at the Mackinac Grill or beach next to Star Line.

Base: 24 inches

Snowfall Past 24 hours: 0 inches

Last Grooming: Every other weekday, and all Weekend.

Current Trail Conditions: Good to Excellent

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Things are getting back to normal. We got a good 3-4′ last night and both of the groomers were out. That is the first time in a month that both of our machines were running at the same time. Why? If you haven’t heard, it is easier to check out crazy problems we have had.

Have I said trails are in fantastic shape? Tons of base, crazy amount of off trail snow to play in, and the ice bridge is open to Mackinac Island.

This weeks forecast is showing that Thursday will be the first time this year that we are above 30d. It will not hurt anything at all, but I would plan on riding around Thursday as they are predicting a mix of rain and snow. We are running the groomers on Thursday night and will get the soft snow squished down for the Friday freeze and will be ROCKING for the weekend. Both machines will be running and I see no reason that trails will not be fantastic.

Base: 17 inches

Snowfall Past 24 hours: 3 inches

Last Grooming: Every other weekday, and all Weekend.

Current Trail Conditions: Good to Excellent

This weekend is Jr pond hockey. That means all the hotels with pools will be tough to get into for this weekend with all the kids. Last weekend featured a record breaking tournament for the LaBatte Blue UP Pond Hockey Championship, (did I mention my team repeated as Ice Bowling Champs!?). The weekend of March 1, it the newly expanded Ice Chip Golf Scramble. Why not play a golf tournament under the shadow of the Mackinac Bridge!!

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