John Bernardin and I got up to the trails to ski at mid-day, and it was a
nice surprise to see more snow than we had expected. It was also chilly,
with temps below freezing in the shade, and just around it in the sun.
The depth of the new snow varied, of course, but generally was around 4
inches. The spots that have not really developed a thick base, or
haven't been shoveled (thanks for shoveling on Sunday, Paul Graham!), are
still thin. Other spots that have established a base are starting to
look really good. Overall, there are not too many bad spots past point
'B'.

Anyway, we were lamenting the fact that it wasn't groomed -- so much so,
that John decided he might make it up there tonight and groom. If anyone
is interested in helping him out (he could use some help), you might want
to contact him. It is good to shadow other club members who have
experience with the snomo and the grooming equipment in general. It just
takes practice and getting a little dirty to become adept at it. The
snomo, by the way needs to have a bottle of "HEET" put in to stabilize
the gas -- we've gotten a lot of condensation in there over the past few
months and it is causing the snomo to randomly die here and there.
Otherwise, it runs fine now.

If it does get groomed, it'll make things nice again for another few
days' worth of skiing. It might be nice to have a little effort (~1
evening) to get the system set for the holidays. There were quite a few
other skiers out there today -- we might have to start a club recruiting
drive to get some of them to help us out!

Otherwise, all of the things that we've done to make things at least
skiable have all paid off big time -- the aspen shoots are gone, the
fencing is doing a miraculous job in slowing the snow melt, etc. If you
haven't been up to ski, get out there.

I'll be gone to various family's houses in Ruidoso until Monday.
Hopefully, we'll have REAL snow to work with; none of this "snirt" we've
been skiing on for the past couple of years...

CM