Started from P8 and skated along the Doldrums and up the Fortune Pkwy and then west on Ridge with the intent of skiing to the Fire Tower. Found fresh grooming along the parkways and even on Ridge Road. At the intersection of 1 and 2 the groomer had turned north on 2. I continued west on Ridge Road to 24. It was skiable, but with 5cm or more of fresh powder skating was slow and I decided the Fire Tower run would be exhausting, so I turned back. When I reached 2 (roughly at 10AM) I found the groomer coming up from Western, so I headed down to the lodge. Although coverage looked complete, I added a couple of grooves to my skis on the gravel near the bottom of the hill. Watch out on this section! Returning up 2, I noticed that the groomer had headed west on Ridge. I followed, soon caught a whiff of diesel exhaust, and then caught up with the beast. Miraculously it continued west past the western intersection of 1 and 24. Along with several other skiers, I followed it to Mckinstry. The fresh grooming was soft and slow, but it was better than churning through unpacked powder. Amazingly, the groomer continued past McKinstry to the Fire Tower (see the photographic evidence!) On this section the snow was extremely soft, making skating very difficult. I met several skiers carrying heavy packs training for the CSM, and of course they were burrowing deep into the powder. I suspect the stretch from McKinstry to the tower had not been groomed in quite some time. On the return trip conditions were quite good east of McKinstry. I didn't see any rocks, but the snow is a bit thin on some downhills and in places the classic tracks break through to grass.

The bottom line is that heavy equipment has been used to groom Ridge out to the Fire Tower, and conditions in this sector should be quite good for the next few days as the snow settles. Although the grooming was done very late in the morning, in defense of Demsis the snowfall had only recently ended, so perhaps it was best not to have groomed overnight.