30-12-2012
Hi Friends of CHNSA,
We plan to have our new hut in place at the southend parking location atop Bert White Road some time this week. There is currently room for about 7-8 cars at this location, but construction this summer should double that capacity
We have also reached a milestone with our grooming capability. CHNSA Board member, Nils Smith, has outfitted our roller with a "combing" attachment that extends the grooming reach to 9' of width. That makes our grooming much more time and fuel-efficient. One pass with the Toolcat (in a heated cab!!) and roller will take care of most grooming situations and prepare the trails for tracksetting. That will take a lot of pressure off of yours truly, whose enthusiasm for overnight grooming in cold temperatures seems to be waning with age!!
Good skiing!
Dave Brautigam, President
CHNSA
19-12-2012
The CHNSA trail map for this season reflects significant activity on the trail network this winter. The north end of the trail network will be experiencing a logging operation this winter, so those trails will be off limits this winter. Woodchuck Ramble, a backcountry trail leading to the Honey Hollow Trail and Lion's Ridge Trail, is now well-marked for skiers looking for a direct route from the Handy Road parking to the Catamount Trail. The beginning of the trail has been re-located from its original start across the dam of the Handy pond on along the Pond Road trail to an intersection with the northern end of the Gullywhumper. Please note all the trail revisions on the CHNSA trail map (see our website's Trails link).
19-12-2012
The hut we started last February has slowly taken shape, thanks to many volunteer hours by Friends of CHNSA. The hut should be ready to greet skiers this winter at the new trailhead/road crossing of Marijke's Mainline.
19-12-2012
The die-off over time of a two acre plantation of white spruce toward the north end of Bear Scat Draw and The Snake has been transformed into a future practice tele hill. Extensive chipping of dead and dying spruce has left us a huge supply of woodchips for use on the trails.
20-02-2012
Winter isn't over yet, so don't give up hope for at least a few more days of snow and skiing. In the absence of enough of the white stuff, we have remained busy so that when it returns we'll be ready. We're making progress on our new 10' x 14' warming hut, and we've modified our roller with a combing attachment so that we can groom more quickly, with fewer passes and greater fuel-efficiency.
Dave Brautigam working reclaimed spruce timbers for the new shed up at Nils Smith's shop
The ToolCat with the new roller/comber attached
