The Big Melt

It has been about 2 months since we have cleared our first greens out here and the recovery and growth has been some of the best I have seen. The added moisture and few days of sun we have had in that amount of time has been very beneficial to the grass.
Posted here is a picture of the 12th green making a recovery of on pink snow mold that was discovered when cleared last month. Oxygen, sunlight and water are all the correct ingredients for growing grass.
Some greens have some bumpy spots due to the snow blower. Once the course is clear and accessible we will aerify, topdress and fertilize to get them into playing condition.
I would say we are approximately 40% clear, with more snow in the forecast for this weekend.
Next week's weather is looking very favorable with plenty of sunshine. I was just on the 5th fairway and recorded 3 feet of snow up there. The big melt is on.

Blah

The weather is turning cold and gray again. We received 17 inches of snow over the past two days and made for some great skiing. The weather this week has put a halt to greens clearing. We are hoping for some more sun on Friday.

Meanwhile we are continuing to groom the nordic track for the last week of the season. Yesterday we began plowing some of the paths on the course so we could get to the greens easier. We will also be plowing to the 7th tee area to pick up where we left off in the fall.

Pictured here is the latest total snowfall. With all of the sun yesterday, the new snow began melting right away. When the snow melts during the early spring, the snow tends to settle quickly. 17 inches can turn into only a couple of inches fast.

The second picture is our weather monitoring station for the National Weather Service. On the left is the measuring stick for total snowfall. In the middle, between the two stakes is a plate that measures each snowfall. It is similar to a cafeteria tray that we measure each snow fall from. One we take the measurement, we wipe it clean. On the right is the measuring can. This is used to measure the moisture from each snowfall. We swap out the can each day and let the snow melt to measure the moisture. In the summer it collects rain.

These items are checked each day at 7am, 365 days a year.

Winter

Beginning today the days are getting longer! I always look forward to that. Makes for a longer ski day as well. Snow conditions haven't been better at the Nordic Center and we are off to our best start ever. Lots of early skiing and the entire track has been open for well over a month now.

Looking forward to some more storms over the holiday weeks.

To date our project are just about complete with only the gas line installation still on. After the new year we will work with XCel to continue with finishing their supplemental line through the course. I would guess they have 500 yards left to install, which would take about 2-3 weeks to install. Thawing the ground takes up most of that time.

Enjoy the holiday season, stay tuned for my "All Things Nordic" segment where I will begin to post the making of a Nordic track and snowshoe trails.