The Banadad Bulletin

Skied thru fro west to east today. It was about 30 degrees when we started and 40 when we hit Poplar Lake. The trail is in mixed condition. Parts are very icy and beginning to break down. Parts are perfect and parts are littered with balsam bits and alder leaves. These sections are hard to wax for. Waxless skis would work well. It took us about 3 and a half hours. Beautiful day bright sun and blue sky.

Others have noted the Alder thicket of weeks past. The trail is cleared and tracked and was in good condition yesterday. I skied out about 5k and returned. Plan to ski more this next week and ski thru March 4.

The ice covered alder brush and small trees clogging the Banadad Ski Trail from last months storm, and that forced the closing of the trail, has finally been removed. The Banadad is once again open.  The re-opening of the trail took nine-four hours of hard-wet-cold hand labor by trail crews.

Groomers have now finished packing the fresh snow and the re-setting of tracks begins today, February 11. It is expected that the track setting of the Banadad will be completed by tomorrow.

According to trail maintenance manager, Ted Young, “the brush that clogged the trail from this storm was by far and away the worst I have ever seen in my twenty-seven years of working on the Banadad. The crews that helped re-open the trails did a great job!  Young continued, “I wish to give a special thanks to Jim Morrison, Peter Spink, Pete Harris, John and Barbara Bottagar who volunteered their time along with paid trail workers, Jim Raml, Mike and Matt Hendrickson.  And thanks to other members of the Banadad Trail Assocation who, contributed moral support, including support from as far away as New Zealand. The re-opening of the Banadad was truly a team effort.”

Yesterday I skied a loop form Poplar Lake thru Swamp Caribou and Lizz And returned to Poplar via the Banadad. The Lakes are in great winter travel conditions. The portages on theses Lakes have seen a few groups. They can be skied or can be walked without snow shoes. The Banadad despite the lack of snow was in very good condition.

Cook County’s Volk Ski –400 on January 23

Cook County, between the Gunflint Trail’s three Ski systems, the North Shore and Pincushion Trails, has over four hundred kilometers of groomed trails. To highlight these trails, on Saturday January 23 the county is conducting the Volk Ski 400. Each of the county’s’ ski areas are being asked to have skiers ski their entire system. As part of the event contributions will be accepted to support Pancreatic Cancer Research.

We think this is a great event and it should be lots of fun. You can join in the fun by becoming part of the Banadad’s Volk Ski relay by joining- Team Banadad. Skiers on Team Banadad will each ski a portion of the Banadad’s 39 kilometers. . You choose the portion of the Banadad you wish to ski and hopefully together the team will be able to cover the entire trail system.

Lodging along the Banadad Ski Trail at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B and Cabins available at 30% off  and Boundary Country Trekking will pay the $10 registration fee for all Team Banadad participants. All participants will each receive a colorful T-shirt. While this is not a race, skiers will be asked to time their treks. Times will then be posted that day at Poplar Creek Guesthouse and on www.volksskifest.com website.

Also Donations will be accepted for Pancreatic Cancer Research at trail check-in areas and a Volks Ski 400 pin is your gift for your donation. Skiers are encouraged to dress in purple to show your support!

To Sign up for Team Banadad email us at bct@boundarycountry.com or call 218-388-4487.

It is snowing today. We are expected to get two inches. I skied out the Banadad and on the Lace Lake trail this week. It did not look like anyone had skied more than a few k past the Meads Lake portage. The trail was hard and fast. Lace Lake was also fairly fast the ups and down of the hills were fun. I saw wolf tracks on the trail west of Meads Lake.

Five of us skied from the Guesthouse today, about an hour west on the Banadad and it was absolutely perfect!  We waited until after lunch for it to warm up to -10 but then couldn’t wait any longer! The snow was a bit slow/cold but the wind was nonexistent, the snow was hanging on the trees and one of us saw an otter scurry across the trail. I ran into a few friends and enjoyed a short chat. It was definately the best ski I’ve had this year.

There is about a foot of new snow on my deck. There is still water and slush on the lake. The Banadad was good skiing tonight. Lots of Snow on the trees

Five fresh inches of snow fell two days ago allowed for the tracking of some of the trails. The Banadad from the east end trailhead to Lizz lake Portage 2.5 KM – very good to excellent tracked skiing. Seppala and west side of Tall Pines Trails tracked with fair skiing. Remainder of Banadad Trail System packed ski able but awaiting more snow to track.

December 19- All the trails in the Banadad Trail system are now cleared and packed. We are now just awaiting enough snow to track. Currently there are from four inches of snow on the trail’s eastern end to six inches west of mid trail. Some snow is predicted over the weekend.

BCT’s maintenance crew