Category: Club Updates

Registration is now open for: The Palouse Divide to Bald Mountain Lookout Loppet 2026

When: February 28, 2026

Start time (from trailhead): 8:30–9:30AM

Distance: 18 miles, roundtrip

Estimated skiing time: 6 hours

In Scandinavia, a loppet is a long-distance, non-competitive group ski. As in years past, the Palouse Divide Nordic Ski Club is planning our own loppet – from the Palouse Divide trailhead to the Bald Mountain Lookout Tower. This year, due to low snowpack and downed timber, there are some key differences—be sure to read this entire message!

This 18-mile loppet will be a fun and challenging outing for fit, experienced skiers. It is not a race but a tour to be completed at participants’ own pace. Participation is limited to 40 skiers.

Our amazing team of groomers will be grooming the entire route, which entails a 9-mile, 1715foot climb to the top of Bald Mountain and back. Be prepared for changing and colder weather. We estimate that skiers in good physical shape will take 6 hours to complete the entire trip.

Participation in the loppet is free, but we will gladly accept donations to help us continue to ensure home-town Nordic skiing on the Palouse. The club will have hot drinks and soup at the lookout tower for participants.

Due to the low and variable snowpack, conditions are uncertain. We will make the final decision two days before the event (Thursday evening) and will send the notification via our Groups.IO mailing list and on our website; if you haven’t received a notice by Thursday morning please contact us at palousedividenordic@gmail.com. Register in advance by completing the registration form at this link: https://form.jotform.com/260214920163144

 

     

Thanks to the grooming crew of David, Tim and Bill who were out today at the Divide. They were able to cover the 377 to Lanes Overlook, Hume Road, Big Loop, Little Loop and Meadow Loop. They only set tracks on the 377 due to thinner snow on the loops.

They didn’t have time to get anything done on the west side of the highway so if you want ungroomed powder, it’s all untouched.

There was 2-3” of new snow this morning on what the groomers packed yesterday. Today’s grooming put a nice surface over yesterday’s packing for a really nice ski surface.

Lots of difference right now between morning and afternoon snow right now. Morning snow is crisp and light. Afternoon is getting a little softer and heavier.

Be aware, there are several live springs that never froze up this year especially on Big Loop. May have to kick the skis off and hike around. Other than that, the cover is pretty decent. 

Enjoy the snow this weekend if you can. Forecast is for warmer temperatures up there next week.

Join us for a lunch and tour of the Palouse Divide Lodge or for a weekend of skiing at the Clearwater Big House!

 

Sun, Jan 25: The Palouse Divide Nordic Ski Club is heading to the Palouse Divide Lodge for a historic tour and lunch. $25 per person. Care to join us? Sign up by sending a name, phone number and # in your party to palousedividenordic@gmail.com. Availability is limited! The lodge is not normally open to the public, so this is a cool opportunity!

 

Sat-Mon, Jan 24-26: A two-night trip to the Clearwater Big House in the Umatilla National Forest for 10 people. It’s an relatively easy 7-mile XC ski in, mostly on a groomed snowmobile trail (Rose Springs Sno Park). We’ll have a snowmobile with us to carry water and supplies. Carpooling and group meals will be organized. For more info or to sign up, contact Heather at bluemountains@pdnsc.groups.io or at Hyperspud.

 

      Skiiers cross the front yard of the Blue Mountain Cabin

Unfortunately, we are canceling Free Ski Day this year. We just haven’t received enough snow to contend with this very warm January weather. What snow we had is melting fast and will result in icy trails in the morning and bare spots by the afternoon.
We have too many other events scheduled to postpone again.

We will still host Free Ski Lessons this season and are planning on having our first lessons on January 24th but this will be dependent on snow. These lessons do not provide gear or free parking. See details on Facebook, our club website, and Eventbrite. Sign up will be through Eventbrite. These lessons tend to be smaller groups of 10-20 people.

Think snow and hopefully we can get some skiing in this season!

From the club president:

We finally have some more snow! A crack grooming team is heading out this Friday to prepare the trails for us! Enjoy! It’s supposed to warm up a bit next week, but hopefully we can get enough of a pack to survive until the next dump comes! Hang in there and enjoy the fresh snow now!

Free Ski Day 2.0: As you saw, we rescheduled Free Ski Day for January 17th. There are a few spots left for free lessons and cross-country ski rentals, which you can sign up for here. If you are a club member who volunteered to help with lessons, to make soup or to help otherwise and someone from the club (me or Elise Stacy) has not been in touch with you since last week, feel free to check in with us to confirm whether you’ll make the new date. If you wanted to volunteer before, but could not, but can help with the new date, feel free to reach out too! More friendly folks helping with beginners are always welcome!

Blue Mountain Trip: We also rescheduled our trip to the Blue Mountains for January 24-26. The trip involves an easy one-way ski from the Rose Springs Sno-Park (south of Pomeroy WA) in 7 miles to an old forest service cabin – the Clearwater Big House. Adventurers will plan a feast and games at the cabin, and enjoy plenty of groomed or backcountry skiing for your appetite. Want in? Email palousedividenordic@gmail.com to reserve your spot. Heather Pettit, owner of Hyperspud Sports, will be leading the expedition! Adventurers will share costs for cabin rental and parking stickers. If we get someone to drive the snowmobile, we can also have someone haul our gear in!

Lunch and Historical Tour of the Palouse Divide Lodge. On January 25, Shirley Hathaway, owner of the Palouse Divide Lodge, will be hosting a lunch and historical tour of the lodge. Looking to get the full lodge experience? Join us before or after your ski (or both!). $25 per person. Seats are limited. Sign up by giving a name, contact email and phone number, and the number in your party to palousedividenordic@gmail.com.

Enjoy winter while we have it!

Join us for Free Ski Day on January 3rd and enjoy hot drinks, soup, and skiing fun!

Parking is free for all.  We also offer free beginner lessons with free rental gear to introduce folks to the Palouse Divide trails! This year we are implementing a new pre-registration system to smooth the gear distribution process. If you or someone you know is interested, please share, view event details, and register via the link below. Lessons will start at 9:30am, 11:30am, and 1:30pm.

Register here: Pre-registration required for the free lessons and gear rental package and children must be accompanied by an adult  

Ski instructors needed: If you would like to help teach the free ski lessons, contact Elise at Palousedividenordic@gmail.com

 

 

 

Join us at the 3rd annual Palouse Divide Nordic Ski Swap on Saturday, December 6, 3:30-4:30pm in the Lecompte Auditorium at Moscow’s 1912 Center.

The swap will be followed by the Annual Meeting at 5-6:30pm! We’ll update club members on trail conditions and our exciting array of club events for the winter season for beginners and experienced skiers alike. There will be food and bubbly water for everyone as well as beer and wine available (for a small donation).

We’ll have new stickers, microfiber trail maps and club beanies available (they make great stocking stuffers!) You can also update your club membership there, and Hyperspud will have Idaho Park ‘n Ski Passes available.

 

 

 

A team of volunteers will head up to the Divide, move the Warming Hut to its winter location and clear the trails with chainsaws, loppers, and other tools! We can use your help! If you have an ATV that you can bring, all the better! We will start Saturday, November 15th at 10am and follow up on Sunday depending on how much work remains to be done! Let us know you are coming at palousedividenordic@gmail.com.

Saturday, October 25, the Palouse Divide Nordic Ski club will have a table at the Moscow Farmers Market, in front of Hyperspud Sports. Stop by, say hi, pay your dues if you have not yet, pick up one of our new club stickers, get trail updates and pick up a trail map, and give feedback demos of our new club beanies (knitted caps) that will be available in December!

 

 

 

Teams are already starting to prepare for the Bald Mountain Loppet on Saturday, February 22. Registration is full (the maximum allowed is 40) and we have a wait list! If you are out skiing that day, cheer on the intrepid skiers who are skiing 18 miles round trip and up 1,715 to the top of Bald Mountain. We could use a couple volunteers if you want to help out! Just email palousedividenordic@gmail.com

 

Today our incredible grooming team (this time, Jon & Paul) groomed Big Loop, Meadow Creek Loop, and Little Loop. They spent some extra time out there because with all the recent snow some of the grooming had narrowed. So they did extra work widening it for us! Tomorrow, two more fantastic groomers (Jon again, this time with David) will be out grooming the rest of Hume Road and Palouse Divide Road out to Lane’s Lookout. Make sure to thank the groomers when you see them! They do awesome work for us!

 

 

 

Bald Mountain Loppet: More than half of the spots for the 18-mile Bald Mountain Loppet on February 22, 2025 have been reserved. Register now by completing the registration form at this link: https://form.jotform.com/250225717112143.  Our amazing team of groomers plan on grooming the entire route (wish us luck!), which entails a 9-mile, 1,715-foot climb to the top of Bald Mountain and back. Participation in the loppet is free, but we will gladly accept donations to help us continue to ensure reliable Nordic skiing on the Palouse. The club will have hot drinks, soups, and a fire at the lookout tower for participants.

 

Message from Jesse: I called St. Joe’s Port-a-Huts to ask them to bring in the port-a-potties from the Palouse Divide. I think we’ve had our run for this winter, and it’s time for Spring.
I’ll be in touch soon about the status of the snowmobile, plans for 2024-25, and other new developments. But before that, here’s a photo of the club trip to the Idaho City Yurt system last week! It was a great trip!!!