Grooming was completed Monday night.  Trails 1, 2, 3 and 4, the training field with a grid, and Jackrabbit Hill down to the Canoe Club, were all groomed and track set. The only trails not completed were the big hills next to the river on trails 3A and 3B.  Though not perfectly goomed everywhere, the trails are certainly in better condition than they were on Monday morning.  The plan is to groom again before the weekend since we are expecting another 5 cm before Saturday.

Refer to the Riverfront Park Nordic Ski Trails map. All trails except for Lower #3, #3A, #3b & the swamp portion of #1, have been rolled, compacted & groomed for skate skiing and single track-set for  classic skiing. There is a good base and full snow coverage on all trails.  The training field has been rolled and compacted & groomed for skate skiing and single track-set for  classic skiing. The South Loop and down Jackrabbit Hill were rolled, compacted & groomed for skate skiing.

Riverfront Park Nordic Ski Trails

Notice: The following provides a general summary of conditions at the time when the trails were last groomed and is based on the opinion of one person.  Trail conditions can change depending on weather conditions.  Trail users ski at their own risk and must assess trail conditions based on their own abilities and abilities of fellow skiers and children.  Users should be familiar with trail use guidelines posted at:  http://www.kanataxcski.ca/trails.shtml

General Comments: A good snowfall has covered most of the debris and ice on the trails.  As of this evening trails were rolled only, and will be groomed once the snow stops falling.

The Skidoo used for train grooming is fixed and was put to work for several hours on Tuesday morning!

The trails were groomed today for skate only and the conditions on the trails are surprisingly good.  The exceptions being through the swamp which is full of water (use trail #1B cutoff to avoid it)  and the portion of trail #2 that runs behind the former Vail building, which lost a lot of snow due to water runoff. Otherwise, you can go out and have a very enjoyable trip.

The Training Field is primarily ice right now with very little snow and could not be groomed.  Hopefully we get snow sometime this week so that it could be ready on Saturday.

There is a lot of small debris on certain trails because of the strong winds we have had recently.  If you go out for a ski this week any help you could give tossing branches and pine cones off the trails would be appreciated.  If we don’t get a lot of snow a leaf rake would be useful in cleaning a few isolated areas.

Several trees also came down onto the trails with the strong winds and the new club chainsaw made short work of them to re-open the affected trails.

If you have time in the next few days get out and enjoy the trails!

The club is experiencing technical difficulties with trail grooming equipment at this time.  We are working hard to solve this problem.  Currently, trails are not groomed or track-set, so only classic skiing is recommended.

Spent Friday evening under the stars rolling track on the field and trails.  Not enough snow to attack the hills yet.

A heads up to everyone on the situation at Riverfront.  We have been working on trails for the past 5 weekends getting things up to scratch. We have worked on cutting down dead trees and a few of the small trees that posed problems for the groomer last winter.  We have also moved a lot of the old brush back from trails that had been cut in previous years and trimmed back new growth as well.  This has given some trails improved space and room to increase the amount of skateable trail this winter.  Almost 90% of trail work has been completed with only a little bit of brushing  and a few remaining small trees to be trimmed.

This past weekend we had a trail clearing day on Saturday.  Unfortunately volunteer response was VERY low from our email request for help.  Thanks to Dena Schanzer and Graham Satterthwaite (a new member to the club) for their help in getting the trails ready.  The snow last week caused a significant amount of mess to many of the trails that had been cleaned.   We rented a bush cutter for the weekend and made short work of a lot of brush.

When walking the trails you should notice that the 1A section is now much improved with some sections opened up. Trail 2 going behind the former vail building has also been cleaned and widened.

All trails except the north section of 3, 3A, and 3B have been rolled and/or packed and are in good condtion and skiable. Tracksetting and renovating will be completed starting Wednesday March 12, 2008.

NCC Western Greenbelt Trails:

Due to the regular snowfall our efforts have been focused at Riverfront Park. Time and resources have not permitted recent grooming on the Western Greenbelt. Due to the snow and mechanical problems the trailer necessary to transport equipment to the Greenbelt is also not accessible at the present.

Refer to the Riverfront Trails map. All trails were groomed and trackset on Wednesday February 13th and are in good condition.