Snow Up To My Waist at Black Mountain

Thu, Mar  4, 2004

I was on the course today (Thursday) morning placing signs. Snow will definately not be an issue as I was sinking to my waist in snow in spots as I ventured off the trail for sign placement.

Our biggest challenge is the forcasted  snow/rain on Friday with a drop below freezing on Friday night. To overcome this, We plan to start grooming at 10:00 p.m. Friday night. since grooming the entire course takes about 10 hours, the grooming should be completed about 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning. This will minimize the chances of having a very icy course.

We again changed our track setting plans. We plan to have the entire course groomed with two sets of classic tracks. All downhills and corners will be left trackless to facilitate snowplowing and cornering. We are likely going to alter the start of the race.

We planned to start on the lake below the Chateau, however, we will likely now start at an alternate area near the chateau. The start may be a little congested, however, in a hilly 30 km classic race a good start should not be an issue. 

I will send an update if plans change.
 
 - Denny