Latest Trail Conditions | March 17/21
March 17, 2021 UPDATE - Pippy Park/Three Pond Barrens
Happy St. Patrick's Day! For those of you looking to get a ride in before that mild weather hits us, here's the latest on Pippy Park/Three Pond Barrens grooming:
Grooming was completed earlier this morning. There was a lot of drifting in open areas so today's efforts are very welcomed. With the ugly forecast, hopefully you can ride today!
March 14, 2021 UPDATE - Pippy Park/Three Pond Barrens
SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:
Sunday afternoon; TPB just completed a 38 km groom. It helped to fill the 'imperfections with fresh snow. As you can see, Firdale was not done because of open water.
EARLIER UPDATE:
The following is a composite report of Saturday and an earlier report this morning. We had asked people not to ride on Sunday, however based on grooming, minus 4 last night and this morning's snow, ride away.
Grooming Report: There were three grooming runs Saturday evening. Conditions will vary. Some exposed areas had significant damage; other routes, notably double track were well packed. - Studded tires will be a necessity. - Conditions are not suitable for skinnies. Firdale is not accessible as the bogs have melted. Furthermore, the hydro line corridor has been torn up by some sort of off road vehicle. Parkers Pond Road is very rough as a result of significant off road vehicle activity. The grooming shown on the map above was done simultaneously by the bravo and the snowdog. The trails below lighter red, was groomed by a polaris with a drag.
Saturday's Grooming Report for Pippy Park:
Lots of grooming this evening and with minus temperatures tonight, we are hopeful good fatbiking conditions tomorrow. Conditions will vary. Some exposed areas had significant damage; other routes, notably double track were well packed and therefore studded tires will be a necessity. Conditions are not suitable for skinnies. Firdale is not accessible as the bogs have melted
NB Although this map shows we groomed Firdale, there is open water. Furthermore, some sort of vehicle has torn up the hydro line right of way.
March 13, 2021 UPDATE - White Hills Trail Network
Volunteer groomers were out this evening just in time before temps dropped! Thanks guys!
White Hills should not have had much traffic before it freezes so should be running well hopefully tomorrow. Fat bikes for sure. Might not be good for skinny again yet. It is highly recommended that studs are used, as there will be many very icy sections. Most everything that has been done this year was groomed tonight, except the top of Old Sam and Foxhole as the exposed areas with little snow cover before the warm weather hit are now bare rock.
March 13, 2021 UPDATE - Richmond Hill Network
Richmond Hill has been groomed and should be in very good shape with the freeze overnight. There was a lot of damage over the last few days but multiple passes took care of the vast majority. Berms are also clear and shaped on SWD thanks to Keith. There is still a lot of snow left and the temps are supposed to stay low for the next few days so get out and ride!!!
March 12, 2021 Update from the Pippy Park/Three Pond Barrens Groomers Co-Op
"The weather is dictating grooming and riding plans for the next few days. In consideration of today’s high temperatures and ~ 0 overnight, along with a tomorrow’s forecast of +4 degrees and sunny, we did not see the benefit of grooming today or tomorrow morning. The forecast for Saturday evening is 0 degrees by 9:00 pm and minus 3 overnight…not what one would call a deep freeze, however, encouraging! The plan is to proceed with two groomers starting at 7:00 Saturday evening. Sunday’s forecast is -3 in the morning, - 2 in the afternoon, with overcast skies. Objective: If we can remediate the trails over the weekend, we should have excellent trails starting next week. (much colder temperatures are forecast starting Monday).
Therefore, we request people not ride on Sunday to allow the trails to ‘set up.’ We are aware there are other users who have every right to use the trails on Sunday, however we ask you to take the lead and find something else to do on Sunday. In other words, “short term pain for long term gain!” AMBA, TPB Groomers Co-Op and Avalon Fatbikers facebook sites will be updated as soon as we are in a position to provide useful updates. Thank you."
March 9, 2021 UPDATE - Pippy Park / Three Pond Barrens
Three Pond Barrens Groomers groomed a new trail, called the Viking Line which is accessible from Snow Route in vicinity of the Viking shack. As shown on the map below, it intersects the hydro line. It will take a while to 'set up,' however you are encouraged to help the process by riding it! In addition, a 'scrape' was done of Frontier which was rough. The scrape, see photo, worked very well. We made three passes which filled in ruts and postholes. It also squared up the profile. The fine tuning will be left to the riders.
The scraper was pulled behind the snowdog. It was used on Soggy Bottom a couple of weeks ago, however this was its first significant application!
March 4, 2021 UPDATE - Richmond Hill Network
Our volunteer groomers another round of Richmond Hill today. Most of it is set up with a light layer of soft snow on top but there are still some sections that are softer and should be avoided. The DH trails are in very good shape but but be aware the route back though the meadow is super soft. Tomorrow should see 3-4 degrees in the afternoon and then cold over night. Hoping to get out while the temps are in the plus range for
March 4, 2021 UPDATE - White Hills Trail Network
Subnet had a couple of passes by the groomers earlier this evening. Subnet and OGXC are good. Most of the main area is fairly firm. Good for fat bikes only with low tire pressure. Crows and foxhole have a lot of soft spots. Particularly the climb after the bridge on Fox Hole. There was also substantial foot post holes in that section. :(
Satan’s and first part of U-190 and foundation climb are hit and miss for soft spots
March 2, 2021 UPDATE - White Hills Trail Network
Groomers managed to groom most everything that has be