It looks like the big storm this week is just too late to allow the Kirkwood Relay race to be held.  The storm is getting a big build up and could drop several feet of snow at Auburn Ski Club late Thursday into Friday.  If so we are looking at great weekend skiing conditions.  Remember to sign up on Doodle (non mandatory events)  if you plan to attend.

On Snow practice this Wednesday looks like it will be on and we will get home before the main storm hits.  Conditions this Sunday were surprisingly good.  I was surprised there was anything left after all the rain, but luckily it froze on Saturday night and hardened things up a bit.  The trail system is still a mess with rivers running, deep holes and many rocks showing.  Everyone had fun negotiating the obstacles!  The stadium was in good enough shape for working on technique.  It will be warm both Monday and Tuesday, but I don’t think a lot of additional damage will be done before our practice Wednesday.  Remember to sign up on Doodle (mandatory events).

Snow conditions in the stadium at ASC will be good today.  Leave school at 9am.

We will be going to ASC leaving school at 9am as long as the snow conditions are OK.  If not we will be roller skiing at Washington Ridge.  Make sure that you sign up on Doodle in order to be notified of changes and so we can check transport.

The grooming report from Auburn Ski Club this morning was very disappointing.  The forecast colder conditions and the end of the rain did not happen.  The trail system is covered in puddles and the snow is very slushy.  They are not grooming until it drys out. Conditions should be better on Sunday after a couple of colder nights.

We will not be going to the snow today and will have a dry-land training instead, meet in B-3 at 2:40 pm.  If the rain is not too heavy we will be roller skiing.  If it is too wet we will be doing strength training.

We will not be going to Auburn Ski Club this afternoon.  While the roads are clear and ASC has managed to groom a couple of loops, the conditions look to be sufficiently miserable that we have decided to postpone till tomorrow when things should be much better.  I have changed the Doodle Poll accordingly, so please sign up again if you can make it tomorrow.

The forecast is for continual rain in the late afternoon with strong and gusty winds.  The stadium area where we would be coaching beginners is fairly exposed and I think we would have a lot of miserable athletes.  Adam and I decided that the suffering and character building could wait till a later date.

I have also added a practice for Sunday morning when conditions look quite good.  At this time of year we need to grab every opportunity to get on snow.

I will text athletes who had signed up for today, but in case I cannot reach them please spread the word.  We will have dry-land in B-3 this afternoon and get the rest of the uniforms and classic skis handed out.  Hopefully we will be finished by 4:30 pm.

The National Weather Service has called a Winter Storm Warning (above 7000 ft) from Tuesday afternoon till early Thursday morning.  There does not seem a lot of confidence in the actual snow levels with most signs pointing to almost no accumulations at 7000 feet.  We will wait and see how things develop Tuesday before making a go/no-go decision for Wednesday.  If we do not go there will be a practice in B-3 after school till 5 pm.

For those of you interested in weather – I always look at both the Sacramento and Reno Offices of the National Weather Service and it is worth reading their detailed discussions of the thinking behind the actual forecast.  For more focused snow forecasts it is worth reading Bryan Allegretto (BA) who writes a snow forecast blog.

Remember and sign up on Doodle if you plan to attend on-snow events.