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Surprise post hijacking:
Join me in thanking Viking's leadership & staff for all they did this winter to make your day on the trails a great day. Without a doubt Mother Nature sent a great winter: Thanksgiving snow stayed, temps were pretty consistently below freezing, no humongous dumps of snow, no major thaws. But it wasn't all a smooth & controlled glide down the trail. Steve, Pam & everyone on the crew managed and adapted as the early snow cut trail repair short and limited prep work. A surprise timber harvest closed a trail, shutting down 1/2 the network until the unrepaired trail could get covered with snow (a good portion of which they did by hand). The furthest reaches of the trail system opened with a flourish of effort by the crew several days before President's Day Weekend. Careful management of when to open, close and groom kept skiable days high. And holding night events in new ways pumped excitement and introduced new folks to Viking. Instructors taught an incredibly high number of lessons. Everyone pitched in doing what was needed on the trails, in the cafe and shop and with our lodging. And when the timber harvest concluded Steve and crew turned Pines from a pile of slash and a drag route back into a ski trail, digging half buried branches out of the snow, raking and repeated grooming. And they did all this without much of a preseason to prepare but nevertheless gelled as a group and created a vibe that customers have been raving about in reviews and that built on the legacy of Dana and Malcolm McNair. Thanks so much to all the folks who make your days and nights at Viking fun! -- Peter The rain has come, along with warm temperatures. We lost a lot of snow overnight from Saturday to Sunday, and conditions are just no longer safe. Our trails are closed for now. We have enjoyed a fabulous season, and if Mother Nature sends another snow storm, we will be happy to re-open, but for now we are closed. Thanks for all of the support this season!
We will be open today from 9:00-4:00. We still have 22k of trails open and ready to go. It didn't freeze overnight, so the snow will be soft and pushable. Spring is a lovely time to be in the woods - birds are singing, water starts to run under the snow, bright green moss emerges. This might be the last day to enjoy our trails on skis, so come join us. What a fun winter it has been at Viking - we have enjoyed meeting so many regulars and visitors and sharing the joy of time spent outdoors with you.  It's going to be another beautiful day at Viking. Spring touring on our 24k of open trails is at it's best. There are some bare spots opening up, but still plenty of coverage for outdoor fun. Yesterday I had great reports from classic skiers, skate skiers and snowshoers! Our large outdoor deck is the perfect spot for a picnic - bring your own or choose something from the Cafe menu.  My report is a bit late - I stayed up last night to watch the lunar eclipse. What a treat to have clear skies to see such a beautiful event! Today is sunny and clear and Viking is in perfect shape for skiing and snowshoeing. All of our 22k of open trails have been groomed, with classic track set on the Inner trails. Let's wait a bit this morning for conditions to soften up, our hours today are 11:00am - 5:00pm. Today's photo is from Loki's Lookout.  |
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