Posted: December 18th, 2009 | Author: Andy Dickson | Filed under: Trail Conditions | 25 Comments »
This site relies on posts from skiers to convey accurate trail conditions. Please post your comments below and post often throughout the season! Click on the “# Comment(s)” link in the sub-heading above to review skier reports or add your own. Only the most recent posts and comments are viewable here. To view a chronological list of all trail reports, visit our Trail Report Archive.
Fr 1/22/10- Gary Q, Red House Mgr
All trails are in fair condition. Base is holding but with temps nearing 40 and rain over the next few days-conditions may deteriorate. Lower trails may have wet or bare spots. Icy conditions may exist- please use caution on all trials. Grooming will continue when conditions warrant.
W 1/27/10- Gary Q, Red House Mgr
All trails are in fair to poor condition. Small amounts of snow have been received over the past few days. Trails are being monitored for enough accumulation to make grooming possible. Colder temps and some snow may allow for grooming to resume on Friday or early Saturday morning.
F 1/29/10- A. Dickson
Grooming underway per Gary Q @ 11AM. More detailed report to follow.
F 1/29/10- Gary Q, Red House Mgr
Due to heavy rainfall received earlier in week all trails have washout conditions. Skiers will experience ruts and gullies on trails. Lower trails are skiable but conditions are extremely poor. Base is extremely icy and hard packed. Please ski with caution. No grooming is anticipated until at least an additional 5″- 8″ of snowfall is received. (Gary’s report to me indicated all trails were tracked- A. Dickson)
M 2/1/10- Gary Q, Red House Mgr
New accumulation of approx. 4″ received overnight. Conditions still vary- but overall fair. Rougher conditions may be experienced on the lower trails. No grooming scheduled until mid week.
F 2/5/10- Gary Q, Red House Mgr
New accumulation of approx. 4″ received over the early part of the week. Upper trails have best conditons. Snow (light) is expected today and tomorrow Grooming is scheduled for Saturday night/early Sunday to prepare trails for Loppet.
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Posted: November 22nd, 2009 | Author: Andy Dickson | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off
The 2009 off-season has been productive for Allegany Nordic. Below is a summary of our activities and priorities as we enter the 2009-10 season:
April social function. We sponsored a well-attended social function to thank Red House operations personnel and contemplate our priorities for the future (see post below “Trail & Grooming Priorities Identified”)
Trail workdays. Three volunteer workdays addressed trail drainage problems, vegetation cut-back and trail pick-up. 17 volunteers showed up to address trail issues at our 11/7 workday.
Advocacy with park management. We continue to maintain high visibility with park management. At a spring meeting we articulated concerns about grooming and trail management and requested attention to several important priorities. Our trail workday on 11/7 included a sit-down with Gary Quattrone, Red House Manager, to receive updates on our priorities, as well as park and state budgets and the upcoming ski season.
Advocacy with elected representatives. We initiated a strategy for our members to articulate their concerns about the state budget and park closings.
Publicity. We purchased $200 of advertising in the Ellicottville weeklies and issued press releases about our activities.
Operating funds and fundraising. AN has about $1700 in our checking account, as well as several hundred dollars worth of hats and toques. The Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation stands ready to receive charitable contributions to Allegany Nordic should we undertake fund raising.
Despite all our work, much remains to be done. Below are updates on the status of our priorities:
Trail renovation & drainage. The park has taken no steps to address trail erosion and drainage problems. Only the work of Allegany Nordic members during our volunteer workdays in the last two years has kept the problems at bay. The biggest issues will require heavy equipment and park initiative.
Overlook restoration. The park has begun to reopen vistas in the park as part of a state-wide initiative. However, priority has been given to those vistas accessible by car, as they receive more visitors. Despite our advocacy for clearing the Christain Hollow overlook, its status remains uncertain at this time.
Ridge leanto. The leanto has been demolished. Again, we have advocated for its replacement but there is no clear plan to rebuild it. Volunteers to drive this priority are needed
Summit storage for grooming equipment. This remains a park priority but no funding exists. The possibility exists that a private initiative may be under way outside our group to build a storage garage. We are trying to confirm this and will update you as more information becomes available.
Grooming equipment. Again the park’s request for a new Scandic snowmobile has been declined. We have been assured the problem which side-lined the cat last year has been repaired and it is ready for the upcoming season.
Grooming quality. A number if problems were experienced last year including soft/unpacked trail shoulders, soft tracks, tracks set on top of previous tracks, washboard bumps, etc. Red House personnel have articulated a strategy to improve grooming in 2009-10. When new snow has fallen or when renovation is necessary, they will be using the cat for packing/renovation and the snowmobile will be following close behind pulling the tracksetter.
Trail signage to reduce/divert snowmobile and dog access to the Art Roscoe Trails. No progress has been made by AN. Volunteers are needed to create a signage plan and get it implemented.
Still other areas of AN activity need more participation. The website had considerable visitation last year (600 unique visitors in the month of January ‘09) but very few skiers posted trail reports. We took a big step in December ‘09 to facilitate better and more timely reporting by registering the alleganynordic.org URL and upgrading the website to allow skiers to post trail conditions directly to the site. The site will only work if skiers post trail reports.
Finally, as we look ahead, there is a great deal of uncertainty for the Art Roscoe Trials and the cross-country skiing program as our state government tries to deal with its budget crisis. We have struggled in our brief existence to restore the park’s focus to the rich history of skiing at ASP. Any reduction to the program may never be restored without additional heavy lifting by our group. If we incrementally widen our participation and volunteerism, cross-country skiing at ASP may be secure.
Posted: September 27th, 2009 | Author: Andy Dickson | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off
At the 4/24 event, attendees contemplated and ranked trail and grooming-related priorities. Each person placed a “1″ next to their highest priority project, a “2″ next to their second highest priority, “3″ and “4.” Each “1″ was assigned 4 points; each “2″ was given 3 points, etc. and points were tallied. Below is a list of projects preceded by their respective points and followed by initials of AN members willing to help on each:
3- GIS mapping, culvert marking, etc. KC, MH 
12- Trail signage prohibiting snowmobiles, dogs, snowshoing CW
40- Trail drainage- culverts, ditches WS, JT, AR, DP, KC, RV
12- Trail grading/leveling
18- Christian Hollow overlook restoration RW, AR, JT, CW, DP, TH
11- Vegetation cut-backs: Snowsnake, etc. AD, JT
0- Snowdrift plantings- Christian Hollow & Snowsnake AD
23- Rebuild Ridge Leanto TH, RW, AR, JL, CW, DP, LS, BB
0- Training ASP grooming staff- clinics, periodicals, in-services
0- Weld snow rudders on cat track setter DP
8- Roller for snowmobile packing (Fundraising!) BB, LS
20- Snowmobile renovation drag/GINSU Groomer (Fundraising!) BB, LS
8- Summit storage, fueling for equipment (Fundraising!) BB, LS
1- Incorporate
The following projects were assumed to be on-going or requiring little group effort and were included in the list above: 1) Resume skate grooming on Stone Tower and Snow Snake trails; 2) Christian Hollow overlook picnic table; 3) Trail workdays.
Are there other high priority projects? Networking? Development? Legislative?
How do you interpret the point values? Are some projects related?
