They were predicting we’d get more than six inches, perhaps a lot more. They were wrong. We got only two or three, which prettified the woods, but it wasn’t enough to turn the season around for backcountry skiers.

There is still hope: the National Weather Services predicts Saranac Lake, where the Explorer office is located, could get three to five more inches over the next few days. Again, not enough to turn the season around, but we’ll take it. And who knows? Maybe this time we’ll get more than predicted.

On my lunch hour, I skied the Jackrabbit Trail from McKenzie Pond Road to McKenzie Pond to check out the conditions. The first thirty or so yards of the trail were scratchy, owing to exposed tree roots. After that, cover was thin but adequate for the two miles to the pond.

Keep in mind, however, that this section of the Jackrabbit doesn’t require a lot of cover to be skiable. I’d be leery of skiing trails with lots of boulders. If they were problematic before yesterday’s snowfall, they probably still are.

The larger problem on my trip was the quality of the snow: it was very sticky. I was on my Karhu Pinnacles, which are waxless skis. If I had thought to bring glide wax, I might have been OK. As it was, I had to stop numerous times to scrape the snow off the bottoms of the skis. I’d go twenty feet and could feel the snow building up again. It was frustrating and not much fun.

Here’s hoping that the snow on it’s way will be fluffy.

Photo of the Jackrabbit Trail at lunchtime today courtesy Phil Brown.