Hardwood Hills or Highlands Nordic conditions, anybody?

You picked a good time to ask. I just got back from Highlands Nordic
at Duntroon. The snow they've had since Friday is almost unbelievable!
It's closer to 100cm than 50 at the bottom, and might well be over
100cm up at Larry's Glacier. Presumably we'll get the usual conservative
estimate once there's time to do anything other than roll it and groom
it. By Friday, everything should be perfect, as all predictions
keep the temperatures easily below freezing. I got in a good 2.5 hours
or so, mostly around the lower loop, which was packed well enough
for racing baskets, and good for skating and classic, though they
hadn't got a track in yet. I doubt that there has ever been this much
snow before at this date, since that place or Hardwood opened.

Hardwood website indicates they have pretty good snow too, but nothing
like Duntroon, and I can't be sure of any comparison. Souds like
they are grooming the flatter trails at present.

It probably dumped another 5 or 6 cm just while I was skiing, and
maybe more tonight, but the weather is supposed to stabilize, so
the groomers can catch up. I guess it's a bit like "Silver Star East",
without the mountains.

Best, Peter

Thank you, that's a very valuable information.

wrote:
You picked a good time to ask. I just got back from Highlands Nordic
at Duntroon. The snow they've had since Friday is almost unbelievable!
It's closer to 100cm than 50 at the bottom, and might well be over
100cm up at Larry's Glacier. Presumably we'll get the usual conservative
estimate once there's time to do anything other than roll it and groom
it. By Friday, everything should be perfect, as all predictions
keep the temperatures easily below freezing. I got in a good 2.5 hours
or so, mostly around the lower loop, which was packed well enough
for racing baskets, and good for skating and classic, though they
hadn't got a track in yet. I doubt that there has ever been this much
snow before at this date, since that place or Hardwood opened.

Hardwood website indicates they have pretty good snow too, but nothing
like Duntroon, and I can't be sure of any comparison. Souds like
they are grooming the flatter trails at present.

It probably dumped another 5 or 6 cm just while I was skiing, and
maybe more tonight, but the weather is supposed to stabilize, so
the groomers can catch up. I guess it's a bit like "Silver Star East",
without the mountains.

Best, Peter

Abram Schwartz wrote in message ...
Thank you, that's a very valuable information.

Can someone tell me where this place is? Are there any web sites
about it. I am a long way off in the San Francisco Bay area. I had
assumed very little snow activity was going on in the East.. Would
this be up by Algonquin Park?

Mark Eastman






wrote:
You picked a good time to ask. I just got back from Highlands Nordic
at Duntroon. The snow they've had since Friday is almost unbelievable!
It's closer to 100cm than 50 at the bottom, and might well be over
100cm up at Larry's Glacier. Presumably we'll get the usual conservative
estimate once there's time to do anything other than roll it and groom
it. By Friday, everything should be perfect, as all predictions
keep the temperatures easily below freezing. I got in a good 2.5 hours
or so, mostly around the lower loop, which was packed well enough
for racing baskets, and good for skating and classic, though they
hadn't got a track in yet. I doubt that there has ever been this much
snow before at this date, since that place or Hardwood opened.

Hardwood website indicates they have pretty good snow too, but nothing
like Duntroon, and I can't be sure of any comparison. Souds like
they are grooming the flatter trails at present.

It probably dumped another 5 or 6 cm just while I was skiing, and
maybe more tonight, but the weather is supposed to stabilize, so
the groomers can catch up. I guess it's a bit like "Silver Star East",
without the mountains.

Best, Peter

After this glowing report I looked at their website....and found only
18cm of snow listed. From the photo it looked nothing like 50 to
100cm. Is there really that much snow there?

Mark Eastman






wrote in message o.ca...
You picked a good time to ask. I just got back from Highlands Nordic
at Duntroon. The snow they've had since Friday is almost unbelievable!
It's closer to 100cm than 50 at the bottom, and might well be over
100cm up at Larry's Glacier. Presumably we'll get the usual conservative
estimate once there's time to do anything other than roll it and groom
it. By Friday, everything should be perfect, as all predictions
keep the temperatures easily below freezing. I got in a good 2.5 hours
or so, mostly around the lower loop, which was packed well enough
for racing baskets, and good for skating and classic, though they
hadn't got a track in yet. I doubt that there has ever been this much
snow before at this date, since that place or Hardwood opened.

Hardwood website indicates they have pretty good snow too, but nothing
like Duntroon, and I can't be sure of any comparison. Souds like
they are grooming the flatter trails at present.

It probably dumped another 5 or 6 cm just while I was skiing, and
maybe more tonight, but the weather is supposed to stabilize, so
the groomers can catch up. I guess it's a bit like "Silver Star East",
without the mountains.

Best, Peter

Both those places are in the snowbelt off Georgian Bay/Lake Huron.
Get out a map of Ontario, or maybe even all of Canada, and you'll
see Barrie about 80 miles due north of Toronto, and Collingwood
about 30 miles west of Barrie. Highlands is about 10 miles south
of collingwood. Hardwood is about 10 miles north of Barrie.

For USers, I express geographical stuff in old fashioned units, but
never ski traildistances!

Best, Peter

That's 18cm base, which you'd expect from about 75 cm snowfall.
Larry Sinclair has always been very honest about conditions, so
I'd bet you couldn't find a single square cm with less than 18,
and most of it is more like 25cm base. Up on top, where most
of the trails are situated, I plunged my classic 152cm pole
into the fresh snow, and it was over half covered, and certainly
hadn't bottomed out. (I did switch from rollerski tips to snow
baskets---kind of like a religious ritual twice a year, once
in each direction!)

Sorry if my wording seemed to imply a 50 to 100 cm base. I don't
think it did, but clarity in writing is a never-ending challenge.
I don't think the base at any S. Ontario XC area has ever been
over about 40cm.

Best, Peter