Grayling Visitors Bureau

Forbush Corner: Monday, Jan 30, 6 am. 1 deg f! but heading to a high of 25 deg with 1 to 3 inches of snow possible. Open at 10 closing at dark.  However they are calling for a wintry mix tonight.  Might be good to ski early and get an early start for home.

Hanson Hills: January 30: Trails are Open today.  Groomed with set tracks.

XC Ski Headquarters: Groomer Rodney will start Ginzu grooming all the trails this morning at dawn. All trails should be ready for skiing by 10am. We will groom more later if we get the forecasted snow. Classic tracks are set and skating lanes are snowcombed. Very good to great skating conditions and very good classic conditions.

National Weather Service forecast:
Monday: Snow before 5pm, then a chance of snow and sleet. High near 26. South wind between 5 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Monday night: A chance of snow, freezing drizzle, and sleet before 7pm, then a chance of freezing drizzle. Areas of fog after 10pm. Otherwise, cloudy, with a temperature rising to around 26 by 7pm. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Tuesday: A chance of freezing drizzle before 1pm, then a chance of rain. Areas of fog before 1pm. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 42. South wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Tuesday Night: A chance of drizzle before 1am, then a chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 31. West wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Wednesday: A chance of drizzle before 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 36. West wind around 5 mph.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.

Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 30.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 19.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 31.

Forbush Corner: Friday, Jan 27, 6:30 am, 29 deg.  Will begin the grooming at daybreak.  Planning on using the light grooming rig (Bombardier) as the snow is a bit on the warm side and we do not want to compress it too much.
With the expected snow and colder temps tonight, Saturday’s grooming will be full on using the Pisten Bullys for the grooming.
Also, Saturday, the rentals will be scarce.  To be safe, you might grab rental skis at Northbound Outfitters in Grayling or Cross Country Ski Headquarters near Higgins Lake.  Sunday and Monday will not be a problem here. Open Friday thru Monday.

Hanson Hills: JANUARY 26: Trails are Open today.  Groomed for Skate skiing..  Marginal (wet) in spots. No set track due to water.

Hartwick Pines State Park: The XC Ski by Lantern Light scheduled for Saturday will go on, 6-9pm! Trails are rolled but no track is set.

XC Ski Headquarters: Ski conditions continue to improve. Many skiers came from near and far yesterday to enjoy the good conditions. Snow doctors Ryan and Scotty along with Groomer Greg spent many hours fixing the icy spots and were quite successful!
Groomer Rodney will start Ginzu grooming all the trails at dawn. All trails should be ready for skiing by 9am. Classic tracks are set and skating lanes are snowcombed. Very good to great skating conditions and good classic conditions. Classic skiers are advised to move into the skating lanes on the downhill’s.

National Weather Service forecast:
Today: Mostly cloudy early, then becoming sunny, with a high near 34. West wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Tonight: Snow after 1am. Low around 25. Southwest wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Saturday: Snow and areas of blowing snow. High near 30. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Saturday Night: Areas of blowing snow and a chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 17. West wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Sunday: Snow showers. High near 23. West wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Sunday Night: Snow showers likely, mainly before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 11. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Monday: A 40 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 26.

Monday Night: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 19.

Tuesday: A chance of rain and snow. Cloudy, with a high near 36.

Tuesday Night: A chance of rain and snow. Cloudy, with a low around 28.

Wednesday: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 32.

Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24.

Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 36.

Forbush Corner: Thursday, Jan 26, 8:30 am, 18 deg.  Very nice base that beckons to be groomed.  Will wait until morning however after tonights snowfall!  Looking exceptional for the weekend.

Hanson Hills: Trails are Open today.  Groomed for Skate skiing. Marginal (wet) in spots. No set track due to water.

XC Ski Headquarters: Ski Report Wednesday Jan 25, 2012 With the fresh snow we received yesterday we are able to mix it with the hard pack for very good results.
Groomer Bob just finished Ginzu Grooming the Skating lane on the Rolling Hills trail and reports it to tenderized and nicely snowcombed. The tracks have fresh snow in them and are mostly in good shape. There are some icy spots in the tracks but in those places classic skiers can just get out of the tracks and ski in the skating lane. Same thing with the downhills.

National Weather Service forecast:

Thursday: Cloudy, with a high near 36. South wind around 5 mph.

Thursday Night: A chance of freezing drizzle. Areas of fog. Otherwise, cloudy, with a low around 25. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.

Friday: Partly sunny, with a high near 35. West wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Friday Night: Snow showers likely after 1am. Cloudy, with a low around 25. Southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday: Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 31. West wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Saturday Night: Snow showers. Low around 17. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Sunday: Snow showers. High near 23. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Sunday Night: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 11.

Monday: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 26.

Monday Night: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 19.

Tuesday: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 33.

Tuesday Night: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 26.

Wednesday: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 34.

Forbush Corner: Should be ideal skiing this weekend. Open Friday at 10 am with a high expected of 14. Open Friday thru Monday. Will close early on Monday.

Hanson Hills: 3 inches of new snow. All Trails are being groomed this morning…new tracks will be set later this morning.

Hartwick Pines State Park: We have snow at the park! Had a very nice snowstorm yesterday and more is on the way before the weekend. Ski trails will be groomed before the weekend and it should be a great weekend for both cross country skiing and snowshoeing. There are plenty of spots open in both the 10am and the 1pm Guided Snowshoe Hikes on Saturday, January 21. Call (989) 348-2537 to reserve a spot. Also don’t forget that we offer a weekly 2 mile snowshoe hike every Thursday at 1pm on the Mertz Grade Trail.

XC Ski Headquarters: Another beautiful day of skiing yesterday. Groomer Greg is doing a fantastic job setting deep fresh tracks and snowcombing the skating lanes. As of 7:40 AM we have received another inch or 2 of fresh snow which will make for another day of perfect grooming. Greg will start grooming all over again at dawn this morning. All trails will be freshly snowcombed and and have deep set tracks this morning by 10am. Excellent conditions prevail!

National Weather Service forecast:
Thursday: Snow showers and widespread blowing snow. High near 20. Wind chill values as low as -1. West wind around 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Thursday night: Snow showers likely and widespread blowing snow before 1am. Cloudy, with a low around -1. West wind between 5 and 10 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Friday: A 40 percent chance of snow showers after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 15. Wind chill values as low as -4. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph.

Friday Night: Cloudy, with a low around 3. Calm wind.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 22. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 12.

Sunday: A 30 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30.

Sunday Night: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 25.

Monday: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a high near 35.

Monday Night: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 22.

Tuesday: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 19.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 29.

Forbush Corner: Wednesday, Jan 18, 10 am, 13 deg light snow falling. We are right back to full on winter.  Heaps of snow.  Should be able to throw all of the equipment at it to groom out a perfect trail for Friday.  Hoping to have the work finished by 10 am and available for fun!
Open Friday thru Monday.

Hanson Hills: 4 inches of new snow. All Trails are groomed with set track…Great Skiing!

Hartwick Pines State Park: We have snow at the park! Had a very nice snowstorm yesterday and more is on the way before the weekend. Ski trails will be groomed before the weekend and it should be a great weekend for both cross country skiing and snowshoeing. There are plenty of spots open in both the 10am and the 1pm Guided Snowshoe Hikes on Saturday, January 21. Call (989) 348-2537 to reserve a spot. Also don’t forget that we offer a weekly 2 mile snowshoe hike every Thursday at 1pm on the Mertz Grade Trail.

XC Ski Headquarters: What a great day of snow yesterday! Groomer Greg groomed all day long till dark and could hardly keep up with the falling snow. Over all dense system snow accumulation was 6 to 8 inches. The results of continually packing the fresh snow yesterday are firm skating lanes and firm tracks.
Groomer Greg will start grooming all over again at dawn this morning. All trails will be freshly snowcombed and and have freshly set tracks this morning by 11am.
Excellent conditions prevail!

National Weather Service forecast:
Wednesday: Occasional flurries before 4pm. Cloudy, with a high near 22. Southwest wind around 10 mph.

Wednesday Night: Snow showers and areas of blowing snow after 1am. Steady temperature around 22. South wind between 10 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Thursday: Snow showers and areas of blowing snow. Temperature falling to around 13 by 11am. Wind chill values as low as -3. West wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Thursday Night: Areas of blowing snow and a chance of snow showers before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 0. Wind chill values as low as -8. West wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Friday: A 40 percent chance of snow. Partly sunny, with a high near 16. Southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Friday Night: A 40 percent chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 10.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 23.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 14.

Sunday: A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 32.

Sunday Night: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24.

Monday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 35.

Monday Night: A chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.

Tuesday: A chance of rain and snow. Cloudy, with a high near 34.

Forbush Corner: Monday, Jan 16, 8:18 am, 14.5 deg with an expected high of just above freezing.  Should be one of the best days of skiing of the season.
More details: from Friday, Jan 13, 9 pm, 13 deg.  Sorry to be so bad at keeping you up to date.  Snow was overwhelming & the equipment quite fussy today.
Anyway, we received about 8 inches last night and another couple of inches thru the day.  The day snow was lighter in density than the snow that came last night.  Wonderful snow with which to work.  Have used the heavy plate and the Pisten Bully to Track and mold the skate area on Rollercoaster, Badlands, Lil Coaster, Flatlands, & Pancake.  (It sounds so easy as I type it here.)  Dave Austin is prepping the West Trail for tomorrow’s tracking.
We are expecting to have all trails open with by far the best track and skate area of the season.  Skate area should be firm with full corduroy.  Tracks are being set with the deep molds with the binding relief etc.

Hanson Hills: All Trails are groomed with set track.. Great Skiing!

XC Ski Headquarters: Great day of skiing yesterday. All the trails are freshly Ginzu groomed and have snow combed skating lanes and firm tracks set. Groomer Rodney has already started Ginzu grooming all the trails again this morning. He is snowcombing the skating lanes and setting fresh tracks where needed.

National Weather Service forecast:
M.L.King Day: Cloudy, with a high near 35. South wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Tonight: A chance of freezing drizzle before 10pm, then snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 24. Calm wind becoming north around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Little or no ice accumulation expected. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible.

Tuesday: Snow. Temperature rising to near 26 by noon, then falling to around 22 during the remainder of the day. North wind between 5 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Tuesday Night: Scattered snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 10. Wind chill values as low as zero. North wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 20. West wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Wednesday Night: A 50 percent chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 12.

Thursday: A 40 percent chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a high near 22.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 3.

Friday: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 20.

Friday Night: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 12.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 31.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 23.

Sunday: A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38.

Forbush Corner: Thursday, Jan 12, 1:45 pm, 32 deg.  SNOWING like crazy!

Thursday, Jan 12.  9:30 am, 29 deg.  Expecting a rain snow mix first and then all snow after 1 pm.  Heavy snow tonight and tomorrow. Still have most of the nice base snow.  Optimistic re the weekend.

Hanson Hills: Trails are still holding up. Butch has taken the Tidd Tech Groomer out on the Blue and Green Trails today. Trails are still marginal in spots.  No Track Set.

XC Ski Headquarters: As the snow starts today conditions will only get better! We will be grooming and setting fresh tracks at dawn tomorrow morning!

National Weather Service forecast:
Thursday: Snow. Areas of fog before 4pm. High near 37. North wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total daytime snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Thursday Night: Snow and areas of blowing snow. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 19. North wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Friday: Snow showers and areas of blowing snow. Temperature falling to around 18 by 10am. North wind between 10 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Friday Night: Areas of blowing snow and a chance of snow showers before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 4. Northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 16. North wind around 5 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 3.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 21.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 12.

M.L.King Day: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 31.

Monday Night: Rain and snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 27.

Tuesday: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a high near 31.

Tuesday Night: A chance of snow. Cloudy, with a low around 10.

Wednesday: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a high near 16.

Hanson Hills: JANUARY 10: Trails are skiable!! There are a few marginal areas (easy to ski around).. Due to the lack of snow we are keeping equipment off of the trails so that we do not expose thin areas. Still good skiing.. All trails are open. No set track.

Forbush Corner: Tuesday, Jan 10, 10 am, another warm one.  Still have our resistant base but some bare spots.  Expecting snow Thursday and Friday. Closed today thru Thursday but re-open on Friday thru Monday at 10 am.

XC Ski Headquarters: We had good interest in the ‘Steel Edge Discovery Day’ yesterday so we going to do it again today. We are offering free use of our steel edged skis all day today to all skiers. Find out what a huge difference steel edges make on these icy conditions!
The icy conditions will soften up this afternoon allowing fair conditions on the Rolling Hills, Trappers Cabin and Mackinac Cut Trails.
Another option for icy trails is snowshoeing. All the trails are open for snowshoeing. The snowshoe cleats make snowshoeing very safe and a great way to get outdoors into the Pure Michigan Forest. Only $5 for all day snowshoe rentals and that includes the facilities pass!

National Weather Service forecast:
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 39. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph.

Tuesday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 40. South wind around 5 mph.

Wednesday Night: A slight chance of rain and snow after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Thursday: Snow. High near 31. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Thursday Night: Snow. Low around 16. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday: Snow showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 21. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Friday Night: A chance of snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 10.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 22.

Saturday Night: A slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 12.

Sunday: A slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 26.

Sunday Night: A slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 14.

M.L.King Day: Partly sunny, with a high near 26.

Forbush Corner: Friday, Jan 6, 8:30 am.  Still holding at 38 but there are a few bare spots.  Easily skied around they should not interfere with the fun.  Tonight according to the forecast, will be a return to more winterlike conditions. Expected to warm to lower 40′s today and then cooling well below freezing for the weekend.  Lots of cold in the ground and so I do not think this warm up will affect things very much.  ALSO for the weekend is more snow predicted for both days.  Crazy winter but good skiing just the same.

Hanson Hills: Temperatures are in the 40′s, Trails will be closed today to try and preserve our existing base. (in order to host the Michigan Cup relays on Saturday)

XC Ski Headquarters: Ski Report: Friday Jan 6, 2012
Temps are warming up today so the trail doctors will be working hard. The ground is quite frozen so the snow pack is still in good shape. Looks like a little fresh snow for tomorrow!

Rolling Hills – Very good tracks and very good skating on everything except on a small part of the back side of the new extension where conditions are good but not great.

Mackinac Cut and Wild Turkey – Very good skating and good tracks set on both trails.

Trapper’s Cabin and Manitou – Good skating and good tracks set except under the dense Jack and Red pine Plantations (fair to good there).

Adventure Trail – Good skating and fair tracks set except at the north end under the big Red Pines (fair there).

Tall Pines – Fair skating and poor tracks set. The snow gets stolen by the big Red Pines.

Blizzard – Good skating fair tracks set.

Snow Depth in Woods: 4 to 6

Packed Snow Depth on Trails: 2 to 5

Ice, Glaze, Barespots: some thin spots under big pines

National Weather Service forecast:
Friday: Partly sunny, with a steady temperature around 44. West wind around 15 mph.

Friday night: A 30 percent chance of snow showers after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. West wind around 10 mph.

Saturday: A 50 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30. West wind around 10 mph.

Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 21. West wind around 5 mph.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 30. West wind around 5 mph.

Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.

Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 34.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 27.

Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 39.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 26.

Wednesday: A slight chance of rain and snow. Partly sunny, with a high near 36.

Wednesday Night: A chance of rain and snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.

Thursday: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 29.

Hanson Hills: Cross Country trails are in good condition.. Sorry no tracks have been set yet. Trails are groomed and you must have a trail pass. Please stop in and purchase a daily pass or a season membership.

Xc Ski Headquarters Report – Wednesday, Jan 4, 2012
We had a lot of skiers yesterday and all were favorably impressed. Here are the trail conditions trail by trail:

Rolling Hills – Great tracks and great skating on everything except on a small part of the back side of the new extension where conditions are good but not great.

Mackinac Cut and Wild Turkey – Very good skating and good tracks set on both trails.

Trapper’s Cabin and Manitou – Very good skating and good tracks set except under the dense Jack and Red pine Plantations (fair to good there).

Adventure Trail – Very good skating and fair tracks set except at the north end under the big Red Pines (fair there).

Tall Pines – Fair to good skating and fair tracks set. The snow gets stolen by the big Red Pines.

Blizzard – Good skating fair tracks set.

New Snow: 1
Snow Depth in Woods: 5 to 7
Packed Snow Depth on Trails: 3 to 5
Ice, Glaze, Barespots: all snow covered groomed and tracked thin some spots under big pines

Forbush Corner: Tuesday, Jan 3, 10:30 am, 11 deg.  It has groomed out beautifully!
Closed tomorrow, Wednesday,   and Thursday.  Re-open Friday at 10 am.  Open thru Monday.