[NMCCSC] Crest conditions this afternoon

[dana_price at gmx.com]

Hello skiers,

As Amy reported yesterday, the Sandia Nordic trails are in good condition. (See grooming report below). However, the road is icy. Liam and I went up this afternoon for a short ski and snow was good, a few obstacles/rocks but pretty amazing for November. 

Be super cautious if you drive up because above Capulin the wet snow compacted into ice and parking lots have not been plowed. Above 9-mile was a sheet of ice this evening. Parking lots are also slick from the wet snow getting packed down. 

We did see the snowplow heading up around 6 this evening. The snowplow was doing a good job but I doubt he’s going to be able to get all that packed icy snow off, so folks should be super careful or take the tram. 

The details— Liam and I drove up to 10K and skied part of the Nordic trail and Challenge to Ellis, then did parts of switchback and Survey trails. Switchback has good snow as far as the Survey junction and probably is fine all the way up. Survey had nice snow but i had to remove my skis to get over the 3 rocky outcrops. We stopped about .8 mi from the 10k trail junction. Downhills were fast and with rocks often being alongside the trail I wouldn’t recommend Survey unless you’re confident in your downhill control. It’s often too narrow to snowplow. 

When we got back to the truck at 4:30 someone almost got stuck getting into the south 10k lot, it was obviously very slick. Just a couple switchbacks down the road we stopped to wait for 2 vehicles that had collided to get back on the road. While we were waiting, 2 vehicles went around us and went partway off the left / inside of the curve, then a tacoma slid into one of them. It took over an hour for all the vehicles to start moving again and it was slow going (5 mph) till we got down below Capulin, where it turned to slush. That was also about the time the plow was heading up. 

Enjoy if you get out there!
Dana


On 11/23/25 at 1:49 PM, Scott Dietrich wrote: 

From: "Scott Dietrich" <sandianordic at gmail.com>
Date: November 23, 2025
To: "Sandia Nordic Ski Club" <sandia-nordic-ski-club at googlegroups.com>
Cc: 
Subject: [Sandia Nordic Ski Club] Grooming Report Sunday, November 23rd
Hey Everyone,

Greta and I took the first tram up this morning and were happy to see that we received 3-4 inches of new, high moisture snow fell overnight.  We took the roller compactors out and were able to groom the entire trail system, including the Service Road.  The trails are definitely shaping up and are skiable, but please use caution as the base is still relatively shallow and there are rocks and small roots and stumps protruding in a few areas.  I am including a short video showing the north end of Klaus from the Ellis Lot to the lower trails junction so you can see how things are shaping up.  The trails should ski okay for the next couple of days.  We probably will not groom again until we get another storm.  

Hope to see you up there on the snow!

Scott



--
Scott Dietrich

505.350.5233