Wednesday, January 31

Open today from 9-4:30
It is so beautiful and silent in the woods with all the snow in the trees. It's definitely a nice day for a visit.
15km groomed for both classic and skate skiing
17 open for snowshoeing (there's a very cool 2k woods snowshoe trail in addition to the ski trails)
Groomed packed powder. Malcolm is out grooming the inner trails this morning. The skiing is really great.

Now that we have that covered, we want to get to the really important part of today. We want to extend a very Happy Birthday to Malcolm. Someone asked me who Malcolm was because he's mentioned so often in our trail reports. So, for those of you who don't know; Malcolm has been at Viking since the winter of 1976 - yes that's a REALLY long time! Malcolm is the guy who arrives sometimes before the sun is up to go out grooming so you can have a good day out on the trails. He's the guy who keeps our all our grooming equipment running. He does trail work in the fall and then keeps at it all winter long - cutting trees, moving rocks, rerouting trails, filling water holes, spreading hay, and shoveling - so.much.shoveling.
He sets up race courses and puts out the lanterns on night ski nights (that's a bit of a messy job). He also spends a good chunk of his day in the ski shop where he might sell you your first pair of new skis, repair your old skis, or even take you out for a spectacular ski lesson. (His ski instructor credentials are awesome)
Malcolm likes old, strange or unusual skis, and has a very cool ski museum on the ceiling of our ski shop. He knows pretty much everything about each pair of skis up there and enjoys talking about them. He's got a punny sense of humor, loves a good Dad Joke (the punnier the better), and can sometimes laugh until he can't talk. He frequently looks over worked and loves nothing more than thawing out with a giant mug of hot cocoa. He's also my husband and partner in managing Viking. We've worked together for a few decades now, and while I know he'll be a bit weirded out by this tribute, he deserves a big Happy Birthday today from all of us.