Hi Everyone,

Crest Road Update

Jerry Carroll, a FOSM certified chain sawyer, and I attempted to drive up to the Ellis lot today to take down a hazard tree that is hung up above the Klaus Trail (roughly 0.25 miles south of the Ellis lot).  BAD IDEA.  The going was EXTREMELY SLOW, due to the fact that there are roughly 18-24 inches of snow above the Sandia Peak Ski Area base parking lot.  We were following a NM DOT grader, which was inching its way up the mountain.  After a bit more than 4 hours on the highway, we decided to dig out an area to make a K turn just above the 10K lot and head back down the mountain.  I have a hard time believing that NM DOT will have the road cleared by the morning, so my advice would be to take the tram if you live on the west side, or wait at least until mid-day tomorrow before heading up.  I should also mention that we ran into Carl Houseman, the contractor who plows the parking areas for USFS.  Carl and one of his helpers were working on the 10K south lot and his worker's truck was stuck.  He said he hoped to have the lots cleared by the morning.  I will check with Eugene, the NM DOT plow driver, first thing in the morning and send out an additional update.  Can't believe that they even had the road open today.

Grooming Plans

Jeff, Steve and I are taking the tram up first thing in the morning to start tracking and compressing the trails.  As mentioned previously, it will probably take us a few days before things start to get in order.  Until then, please know that the trails will likely look like ATV tracks without a nice corduroy, so thanks for your patience as we do our best to get things in shape.

Looking forward to seeing you out there on the trails...!

Scott