I skied at Minnewaska today, Sat Jan 31, and had what I'd call a mixed
experience. I skated all day, in part because I wanted to work on
technique, but also because the park staff had told me over the phone on
Friday that they would not be setting tracks. As it turned out they had a
very nice set of tracks all around the main Castle-Point loop, with double
tracks most places, so it looked like the classic skiing would have been
quite good. The mixed part was that there were quite a few short sections
with exposed rocks and stones --- some where I had to take my skis off, and
some where I SHOULD have taken my skis off (but I was going downhill too
fast to stop). I've been afraid to look, but I think I have some new
coarse base structure that might work well come spring. Except for these
rocky sections, the snow on the other 98% of the trail system was very
good. I did one loop up to Castle Point, then out to Millbrook and back,
then out on the Hamilton Point trail to the point where it starts to climb
for real (it's closed beyond there nowadays), then back out Upper Awosting
turning around at the rocky area. The Millbrook and Hamilton Point trails
were rolled out with no tracks, making the skating quite delightful,
although once again there were a few rocky sections on the Millbrook trail.

Amazingly there was more snow in Ridgefield CT than at Minnewaska today ---
but Ridgefield doesn't have ski trails like that. Overall it was a good
skiing experience, but they sure could use more snow.

========================================
Jim Grau
Schlumberger-Doll Research
36 Old Quarry Road
Ridgefield, CT 06877
Office: 203-431-5303
Fax: 203-438-3819