A lack of snow in Bozeman, Montana, has called the second SuperTour weekend of the year into question. Racing is scheduled to start Friday, but the Bridger Ski Foundation (BSF) website now reports that conditions have deteriorated rapidly at the venue, Bohart Ranch.
With the exception of one warm day, the temperatures over the last week in West Yellowstone remained cold, and the skiing was excellent. But 90 miles north in Bozeman, successive days approaching 50F did damage to a snowpack that was not overly robust to start with.
While snow is now patchy in town, the race venue, Bohart Ranch at 6100′, has better coverage. As recently as Monday, BSF was reporting that the races would go off as planned, possibly on a modified loop. But another warm day has made the situation worse.
The site now read “A race on the FIS course is out of the question. We are still hoping for a few inches in order to hold the race on a 3km loop.”
A final decision will be made on Wednesday.
According to Weather.com, there is a 70% chance of snow tomorrow, with accumulation of between 1 and 3 inches.
Bohart is closed to training, but there is skiing outside of town at Bozeman Creek. The multiuse trails is dirty lower down, but the skating is good. The trail winds gradually up Sourdough Canyon. Several miles up the sking improves dramatically, and by the 5 mile mark, it is excellent.
Classic skiing would not be recommended due to the boiler plate lower down.
Updates can be found on the BSF webpage.
One comment
rustybearings
November 30, 2011 at 1:26 am
The snow and grooming is excellent at Sovereign Lake Nordic Center on Silver Star Mountain, BC. The racing should be fantastic and the training conditions are perfect right now. Hope the weater gets better for the Super Tour.