Beautiful day to kick off the new year. Skied out of P19 along 51, out 53 almost to P17 before circling back and taking the long loop of 53 back to P19. Fresh grooming on 51 and the lower half of 53.

The upper loop of 53 had one set of classic tracks from the junction with 51 to about the halfway point (where the gravel road ends). After that the trail had been packed but there were no classic tracks as yet - still needs a bit more snow. A rudimentary classic track had been skied in by fellow skiers which was workable. Skating this loop would be fine but the lumps and bumps of the ground underneath telegraph through so you'd need to be steady on your feet and watch for a few rocks and twigs poking through the snow.

Waxing was tricky. I was a bit late in the day so violet wax worked reasonably well out of the tracks but was slippery in them (when I had them). Not sure if a red wax would have worked better or been prone to icing... Still, I was in no rush today. Just happy to get onto the trails and enjoy the day.