Mar 2021 President's/Message Newsletter

Spring Skiing may be starting! Hope everyone have been able to get out and enjoy this seasons skiing and snowshoeing opportunities.

Fortunately the weather for skiing and snowshoeing at 4th of July has been favorable since the end of January. While it has been wet and soggy in the valleys, the mountains have repeatedly received new snow and the temperatures have been low enough to keep it around. As such, the grooming crew has been able to maintain the area on pretty much a weekly basis through February. I apologize if the grooming reports were not getting out regularly for a while. No fault of Geoff’s, but with him not being able to be involved as much this season it took us a bit to work out a different reporting system. Hopefully it has gotten a little better in the past few weeks.

The windfalls resulting from the windstorms have continued to keep the crew busy clearing the trails. But all the heavily used trails within and adjacent to the inner loop, and the snowshoe trails out to the Goeff’s Chalet (e.g. warming Hut) have been cleared of trees that interfered with their use. There is still work left to do on Moonrunner, and the snowshoe trails Makin Tracks and Ski & Shoe. From the reports received the down trees on most of these trails are passable. So if you are planning to travel these trails this spring be aware that you may have to go under or around a few obstacles. These will be cleared in the future, but it may be after the snow melts.

In the next few weeks you may notice flyers on windshields of cars in the parking lots. As previously mentioned Nancy and Greg Lewis developed an information flyer to help educate users of the etiquettes related to snowshoes, mountain bikes and dogs related to groomed ski trails. The club is trying to spread the word that these uses are more then welcome on Skywalker and the snowshoe trails, but can cause hazardous skiing conditions if used on the groomed inner loop trails. If you happen to get a chance to read one, it would be greatly appreciated if you could help by spreading the word to your friends and neighbors that might be planning to use 4th of July for winter recreation in the future.

Another development that has come up is the clearing of windfalls from the Jeanette’s Juant trail. While snowshoe use is welcome on this trail during the winter, it is actually managed for equestrian use in the summer. Due to its length and accessibility clearing usually occurs during the spring and summer months with the assistance of the Back Country Horseman Club. If you wish to snowshoe this trail please note that there may be obstacles along the way that will not be removed until after the winter season.

Ya-I-Du-Ski & shoe has not been forgotten this season. Hopefully you’ve all been keeping track of your accomplishments. Due COVID we won’t be able to hold a meeting to give out awards this year, but as soon as meetings can be held again awards will be made. If at all possible we will start meeting again next season and if so your Km’s will be tallied and awards will be given for the 2020/21 season. For your
accomplishment tallies Roberta Truscott asks that you keep your 2020/21 accomplishments separated from any you may acquire early in the 2021/22 season.

There are still going to be a couple of group outings coming up in March. The first one will be a skiing opportunity from Lookout Pass to the Hale Fish hatchery. It is scheduled to occur next weekend (i.e. Saturday, March 6th). If you are interested in participating I will meet you at the Cherry Hill Park at 8:30 am.

The second event will be a loop at 4th of July on March 20th. We’ll go out to Ian’s Hut, come back by way of Eagle Run and Skywalker. If you are interested in participating I will meet you at the 4th of July Parking lot at 9:00 am.

For a full description of these events take a look at the “Club Events” section on the Club WEB Site.