Grooming

The 2023-24 ski season was short, but it was great while it lasted. For the first time in at least 10 years tracks were set on some of the trails! While the tracks only lasted a few days, it allowed us to test the equipment and we can make changes over the summer in hopes of a longer season next year.

Assuming the weather cooperates we will be grooming most of the Laurel Mill Trails for the 2024-25 ski season (2023-24 was short, but sweet!). The grooming will start out with a roller to compact the snow and build a good base. Once we've got a good base we'll switch over to the tracksetter. As there are a number people who walk or snowshoe the trails, we will set ski tracks on one side of the trail and leave the other side flat. If we get a heavy snow we will switch back to the roller to pack it down, then set tracks.

On the north side we are only planning on grooming the Elk Loop. Due to the stairs on the Scout Loop and the Lewis Run Bridge (which is not strong enough for the groomer to cross) we can't groom the entire trail, but we we will groom the north west section as far as the Lewis Run Bridge. The rerouted Hemlock Loop has not been completed yet and currently has a number of issues with ruts and wet areas and at at this point we don't know if it will be groomed.

On the south side we plan to groom the Laurel Mill Trail, Perseverance Loop, and One Mile Loop. The Sparrow Nest Loop has never been groomed due to wet areas and bridges. The Forest Service may allow us to replace the bridges with culverts and widen the Sparrow Nest Loop and perhaps in the future we may be able to be groom it.

Grooming Equipment . . .

The Laurel Mill Trails present a challenge for grooming as they are narrow, hilly (in spots) and twisty. Most modern grooming equipment is designed for wide trails that cross open country and is not suited for use on narrow trails through the forest. The natural choice for narrow trails is a snowmobile, but most are not powerful enough to pull a tracksetter and the low speeds used for grooming can cause them to overheat. The Boot Jack Snow Gliders tried a number of different machines and in the end used a Bombardier Bombi. This machine had more than enough power to handle the tracksetter and the hills, but it was a tight fit on the trails.

Unfortunately the Bombi isn't around anymore, but we've located a smaller machine that should be powerful enough to do the job. It's called a Ferret Tractor and they were in production from 1961 to 1993. We believe ours is 1969 model with an 18 horsepower engine. It has rubber tracks with steel grousers for traction. A blade on the front can break up ice crusts and push snow around to fill in ruts. Best of all it is 4 feet wide and only 8 feet long, a perfect fit for our trails.