Author: Sheri

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!

Grooming crew reported lots of down trees today at the Divide. They were able to clear the 377 road to Hume Road. About 10” of snow that packed down to 3-4” with the equipment. We’re working on getting some more folks out next week to get more trails cleared and packed. Beautiful conditions but be prepared to work around some down falls and grooming is limited to the 377 this weekend.

 

 

 

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!

 

 

 

The ambiguities of March skiing on the Palouse are here. Is there enough snow this weekend to ski? We’ll see how it goes!

There was not enough snow to merit grooming this week, so there are no smooth tracks awaiting you at the Palouse Divide. But if the snow comes down Saturday, there could be fresh snow for skiing. Share your photos when you go to inspire others to join you (or warn them away from following you!). We’ll keep the port-a-potties there another week to see how the conditions turn out. We’re not ruling anything out yet!

The groomers did not groom this week. There is still some snow up at the Divide, but expect patchy conditions (and icy conditions in the mornings), and perhaps sections walking with your skis. Looks like snow might come next week so keep your eyes open and let me know if you see some fresh snow! Our crack team of groomers will get out there! But we’re leaving the port-a-potties out for those of you who do go out this weekend! (pics below are a couple weeks old)

 

Today, our friendly team of groomers (this time, Andy, Eric and Tim), groomed all the trails on the east side of the highway at the Palouse Divide! Amazing! Tomorrow, another team (Jon and Matt) will be up there to tidy up and make sure we’re all ready for the Loppet! Thanks to the team! We have the best grooming team I could imagine and can’t thank them enough for all the hard work and dedication our Nordic ski community. So you can help me thank them too!

 

In other news: Bald Mountain Loppet is Saturday & Women’s Ski is Sunday! Do you want to get all the update from the Palouse Divide Nordic Ski Club: Go to https://pdnsc.groups.io/g/main to sign up!