We have had an amazing early season for snow and it would appear that skiers are going to have a great holiday season. The Nordic Ski Club is working to continually improve our grooming abilities. We are awaiting delivery of new 4-cycle cleaner, quieter and more powerful snow machine to augment our stable of grooming machines. We are also adding a couple new part time groomers to fill in on holidays and during big snow events.

As always, we appreciate your questions, comments and feedback!

Grooming About Town

Under the heading "Better Late Than Never", the Nordic Club managed to get some classic style tracks groomed at the Lake Chelan Golf Course Monday night. We could have been out there several weeks ago, but City officials had safety concerns due to some on-going construction taking place around the Golf Course. We were able to work these out and our thanks go the City Parks staff and especially to the new City of Chelan Parks & Rec. Director Charles Sablan for this efforts. In addition we have been able to groom some trails behind Manson High School and at Singleton Park in Manson.

This has been one of the best years in recent memory for snow in the Lake Chelan Valley. The snowpack can be fleeting here, and grooming conditions can be difficult in borderline freezing weather. Nevertheless, from mid-December through the Martin Luther King Holiday Weekend "Winterfest" Celebration, there is good snow in the valley more often than not.

Even though we may be spoiled by our typically warm, sunny climate, we should embrace the fleeting visit Old Man Winter pays our valley each Winter. Of course, we have Echo Ridge, but the wondeful thing about Nordic skiing is that it is something almost anyone can do on the spur of the moment, almost anywhere, there is snow on the ground. Groomed tracks make the Nordic skiing experience much more dynamic and fun. And the beauty of it is, with a little forethought and planning, it can be done cheaply, on the spur of the moment when conditions permit.

If you would enjoy having more trails groomed around the Valley in the future, the Lake Chelan Nordic Club needs to hear from you. There is a lot we could do with a little cash, a few volunteers and the support of local government. Post your comments or drop us an e-mail, and don't forget to let your City, County and School District officials know that you support Winter Recreation around Chelan.

Dogs On Trails

One of the things we love about Echo Ridge is the fact that something for everyone is packed into small area. A lot of us love to ski with our Dog Friends and Echo Ridge is one of the areas to allow dogs on some of the groomed trails. The sport of "Skijoring" is growing in popularity in our area and we have had requests for events, lessons or contests. Nothing makes some people more happy than the sight of their pet running with them through a winter wonderland.

Before the most recent expansion of the trail system, "Nowhere to Hide" was considered a snowmobile trail, but we occasionally groomed it and it received only minimal motorized traffic. This was a popular alternative to the more strenuous "Zoom" trail for people with dogs. With our expansion Nowhere to Hide was turned into a skier only trail. It has become a key link in a skate skiing loop around the perimeter of the area. The new snowmobile trail "Somewhere to Ride" is a much more strenuous ski than its predecessor, and we are seeing an steady increase in snowmobile traffic on that trail.

Some have suggested opening "Nowhere to Hide" up to dogs. This would not preclude its role as a link in our skating loop. We groom this trail with our heavier machine which results in a very firm platform. However little doggie footprints have a way of marring the clean skating platform and digging up the perfect classic tracks.

As a throwback, "wooly" three-pin touring kind of guy, I say "go for it". There will stil be over 15 miles of skier only trails at Echo Ridge for the purists. But being public land, naturally the Forest Service stewards of Echo Ridge have to weigh the public opinion of all the users. So what do you think? More trails for dogs?

Echo Ridge Trail Conditions

The Lake Chelan Nordic Club is dedicated providing the best grooming at Echo Ridge with the limited resources at hand. This blog is open to your comments concerning trail conditions, road conditions and general feedback on skiing at Echo Ridge.

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You can also contact us at info@lakechelannordic.org.

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