O'Brien - trail 36 and then 50 to Healey, and a brief detour to the lake on the way back.

It was tempting to give this outing an "excellent" because I love this trail so much, and Monday's fresh snow was still influencing the general flavour of the outing. The weather was about minus 8, warming up a bit towards the end, so very easy to wax. The company was also superb (just me). In fact I met no one until just before trail 50, but more skiers were heading out as I finished. I was well rested to really enjoy the ups and downs. It was a great ski.

All that said, I couldn't give it the top rating, because the grooming really was old and stale. The flatter stretches were beautiful but about a third of the tracks had been skied out, not a big problem with last week's new snow. Most of the downhills were starting to get slightly icy in spots and were starting to develop distinctive "burms" at the turns. Not quite bobsleds yet, but heading that way.

Skiing alone, I was quite cautious on the first downhill to the lake, but it seemed to be without any of the hazards mentioned by Ron and Garry on the weekend. There is still a hazard sign near the first swamp, and the trail was quite icy there. It looks like they have routed the trail right over the top of the big rock, which could explain the unexpected drop as the trail turns.

Trail 50 was more recently groomed and in great shape, despite the ubiquitous "Demsis ridge" which might have irked skaters.

There will be some photos posted late this evening at www.musicianonskis.ca/blog