Grooming
Who does the grooming?
Until January 2003 all grooming was done on a volunteer basis with about
12-16 people involved throughout the season. Starting in the fall of 2003 MBNA has
had a part time employee to handle the grooming. Money for this
position has come from donations from users and grants.
Where does the money come from and how much does grooming cost?
Grooming of the ski trails at Tie City is funded through tax deductible
donations and grants given to MBNA. Annual expenses include:
Labor-$6,800.00, Insurance-$1,600.00, Fuel-$1,200.00,
Equipment-$3,200.00. This is a total cost of $12,700.00 per year to
have consistently groomed trails at Tie City.
But I thought the parking fee covered grooming expenses.
No. The parking fee is charged by the Forest Service and pays for
things like toilets and plowing the parking lot. None of that money
goes toward grooming trails.
How often are the trails groomed?
There is no set schedule for grooming. The trails are groomed on an
as needed basis or in anticipation of high use times. More popular
trails will get groomed more frequently because they tend to be harder
packed from use and the classic tracks get torn up sooner. An
average of 20 hour per week of grooming time has been budgeted for this season.
How can I help?
-
Mail in a donation!
Make Checks Payable to:
Medicine Bow Nordic Association
P.O. Box 2251
Laramie, WY
82073
- As long as we have enough money to pay a groomer, the best thing you can
do is grab a shovel and start working on the bad spots. There are 4
shovels with backpack style shoulder straps on them up there for anyone to
use. Take one out to your "favorite" spot and go for it.
Shoveling hints: 1. Don't just cover up a bad spot. Small bumps
in the trail will get sheared off by the groomer. Fill in a large area
around the bad spot so the groomer can ride over all of it smoothly.
2. Dished out sections of trail can be fixed fairly easily by
shoveling. Throw a bunch of snow in the low parts of uneven trails and
after a few passes with the groomer they will be good for the rest of the
year. It only takes one time to fix these areas for the entire season.
What do I do when the groomer is coming?
Don't panic. The snowmobile is dragging what amounts to an
anchor in the snow, so it can stop very quickly. The snowmobile is usually pulling something wider than the
snowmobile itself. Keep an eye on where your skis and poles are.
Have a look at which side of trail the groomer is on, and pull over to the
other side. If one side of the trail has already been groomed, most of
the time it is best to move to that side. If you have a dog with you,
try to get control over it. You would hate to have your dog jump in
front of a grooming implement at the wrong time.
How much groomed trail is there at Happy Jack?
Just shy of 15 kilometers (9 miles).
Click here
for a map.
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