Winter Snow Conditions in St.Germain, Wisconsin
       
              Snowmobile trail conditions in the Northern Wisconsin

           February 4, 2012 trail report

        The St. Germain Radar Run Starts Feb 3-5, 2012. As long as it's going to be this mild, lets have a bikini run on Saturday.



Temperatures in the Mid 30's during the day, lows in the teens at night.

Most of the trail reports from my guests were still good but each rider is finding fair trails too, - each group seems to be riding 100+ miles a day. There's no doubt the afternoon trails are mushy, but the morning trails are set up pretty tight. One word of advice, trail 17 from Minocqua to Mercer is shot, down to dirt in lots of places. Overall trails are holding up well, but a few thin spots in the sun started to show small bare spots, and some main corridors and trails downtown have a lot of snirt coming through. Temps briefly topped out at 35 degrees on Wednesday, and cooled off below freezing during the night. It looks like this temperature pattern will last through the weekend. As long as the temps keep dropping below freezing at night, the trails will hold up, but yes, the snirty trails will get worse. Fortunately there are a lot of trails still holding good white snow. There is a mix of trails that are white and flat and look excellent - plus the trails that are showing heavy snirt. With more snow comes more traffic, and then more bumps. The local clubs are grooming on their regular schedules, but that doesn't mean every trail is groomed every night. I posted a video below from a Land O Lakes trail this morning which sums this all up pretty well.

Most of the town roads still have plenty of ice and are easy to ride on. I'll rank the overall area conditions as 20% very good, 70% good, 10% of the trails as fair. These fair areas are mainly downtown areas, in corridors, some insides of corners that are icy, open areas that were bare early in the week but covered now, etc. Overall, expect flat smooth conditions today, but the base will still be a little soft. Be careful of an icy feel to some of the trails in some of the areas.

Overall good - you can still ride! Once you get away from the downtown areas or off the trails that are ridden a little harder, it still is nice.

I would like to share this link for Dustin Shoemaker and his upcoming attempt to break another World Record. This time he needs to ride 1900 miles in 24 hours and he's raising awareness for a cure to his daughters liver condition. This web site says it all: www.helpinghandsforhannah.com


We're back to a normal pattern of the early morning trails are best with fresh groomer pans, but as the day goes on expect some of the trails to get scraped up. Midweek riding is the best, expect a lot of traffic on weekends. My other piece of advice is to plan your routes but be flexible as you travel. Most people haven't understood my point on this, but there are state funded corridors marked by blue symbols on your trail map. These are ridden more often. The map numbers with red circles tend to be used less for some reason. Also, there are multiple trails to a certain destination. One trail to each destination gets pounded, the others are in better shape. I'm the kind of person that gets to an intersection and takes the whitest looking trail and still ends up in the destination you hoped to find. And if I end up at a new area, a new pit stop, meeting new people, who cares. Enjoy the experience. Consider that a little more, it spreads out the traffic and you'll enjoy your trail conditions that much more.

Currently we have 10-12 inches of hard pack/fresh snow depending where you look and that hard pack ice made a nice base. The lakes are in great shape, there has been some slush in a few areas, but nothing too serious to date. Bottom line, it's time to ride again.




Last Minute Discount

My last minute getaways and Winter packages through my resort are posted at this link: href="http://www.hillerspinehaven.com/promo.htm">www.hillerspinehaven.com/promo.com


Feb 1 Video of trails around Land O Lakes.

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    Where would I ride? The good news, actually you can pick a direction and ride anywhere. For shorter trips out of St. Germain, aim towards Cross Country Cruiser trails in Arbor Vitae and the Sayner Trail system around the Star Lake area. Both of those clubs are doing a better job keeping their base in great shape.

Areas to avoid or use caution: Trail 17 between Mercer and Minocqua. I have to pick on Lake Tom Snow Fleas. Bad reports from several people who've ventured through the Lake Tomahawk trails.

 If you're renting snowmobiles for a midweek vacation this year call us about our midweek discounts.     We have nice discounts arranged with the Ski Doo dealer for Midweek snowmobile rentals.   Lodging is discounted for Sunday-Wednesday arrivals too.

    2011-2012 winter dates to set your calender for:
  Feb 1-2: Annual Groomer Show in St. Germain
Feb 3-5: St. Germain Radar Run
Feb 11-12: Cruiserfest in Minocqua
Feb 4: Holes for life fishing Tournament on Big St. Germain
Feb 18: Annual Ride with the Champs

NORTHERN HIGHLAND AMERCIAN LEGION DNR CROSS COUNTRY SKI TRAIL REPORT

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2011/2012 Season Snow Fall Total to Date: 46.2"
November snowfall: 14.3"
December snowfall: 12.2"
January snowfall: 19.7"
Snow on the Ground: 10-12"



          Things to think about from Vipergofast! Why does everyone waive at me? If you're renting sleds for the first time; they're not waiving at you, they're signaling how many sleds are behind them! Drive safe: the trees always win.  Sharp carbides: Good carbides help you stay in control, double carbides reduce darting.  Maps:  Who needs a stinking map.  Follow the best looking trail.  Use Mirrors:  Trees sneak up  fast when your looking behind you for your partner.  Night RidingYou see oncoming traffic better at night for aggressive riding.  Don't blow out the corners: A lot of work goes into rebuilding those corners every night. Corridor Trails: I swear, people travel in distinct patterns.  Figure out how to avoid those areas and you're riding will be a whole lot better.  Holy crap that's fast:  Jack Henrichs set a new record at our St. Germain Radar Run with 170.1 mph on 1000' of shaved ice. I understand he ran 189 mph Jan 30'th on another track. Perhaps: Register your snowmobile in Wisconsin It's cheaper to register your sled in WI, it lasts two years, than to buy the WI annual out of state trail pass.

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    Stay tuned and think snow! Mark Hiller
   
    For additional information on winter vacations, check out our web site at     www.hillerspinehaven.com