Juneau Snowmobile Club
Heli-sledding Blackerby Ridge and the Juneau Icefield -- April 24, 2008.
Photo by Shawn Lovell, taken near Camp 17, Lemon Glacier in the background.
The Juneau Snowmobile Club promotes safe, responsible and fun riding in Juneau and other Southeast Alaska locations like Haines and Skagway. Priorities include trail improvements and maintenance, trail grooming, and working to improve the snowmobile riding experience.
LATEST NEWS:
The Dan Moller trail gate was closed on May 14. It was another great riding season in Juneau -- see you next winter.
Trail Update January 23:
The washout on the Moller trail has been filled in and the trail is in decent shape, although we could use some fresh snow for grooming. Thanks to whoever did the work, it was a lot of shoveling.
Be careful on the last bridge, the snowpack on the bridge is pretty narrow after our warm spell.
Conditions at bowl elevation are hardpack with a couple inches of fluff. More snow would be good, forecast calls for snow on Monday.
Spaulding: At last report, the Spaulding trail was in decent shape, stay to the left around the waterhole at near the top -- this should be frozen by now. Shoveling in of this hole and and any other big dips would be appreciated so we can start grooming Spaulding.
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Earlier updates:
Dan Moller:
Three of us checked out the Moller trail washout Friday. The good
news is that the snow has firmed up and the bowl can be reached by
heading to the left in the clearing before the last bridge and heading
up the left side of the valley towards the cabin. There is one steep uphill/sidehill on this route, so less experienced riders may findthis route difficult.
The washout in the main trail at the base of the last big hill up to
the bowl is 12-14 feet wide and 8-10 feet deep, with a creek running through the bottom. It is going to take either a lot of new snow, or a lot of shoveling to fill in this gully.
Depending on the weather, we might be looking for trail crew
volunteers next weekend to shovel in the washout gully.
Spaulding:
As of Saturday, January 17, reports on the Spaulding trail are good snow coverage on the trail most of the way up, but there is one nasty spot near the top where riders were getting stuck in a 3 foot deep water filled hole and sleds were getting backed up on the trail. Best to try to go around this hole. On top, the snow is mashed potatoes.
As of Sunday morning, 9 am, it is 56 degrees on the back loop road,
and 51 degrees at 1800 feet -- it should feel like April riding today.
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Older Updates:
Moller Trail Washout:
Rob Becker reports that as of Wednesday, January 14, there is a major washout on the upper part of the Moller trail, just below the last big hill up to the bowl. Apparently the warm temps and heavy rain opened up a wide and deep creek across the trail. Rob tried to detour to the left but with the heavy wet snow was not able to get up to the bowl that way. He says to be careful if you do ride up the trail, especially at night, as it is hard to see the washout until you are right on it.
This section of trail may be impassable until temperatures drop below freezing and we can fill in the creek with snow.
Next Club Meeting Wednesday, February 4, at 7 PM, Airport fire station.
Please buy one or more raffle tickets to support the Club. Remember, if you would rather have an 800 than a 600, you can trade the 600 raffle sled in for an 800.
Trail Updates as of 1/2/08:
--Moller is in good shape, has been groomed twice this week. We plan to groom Moller on Fridays, Mondays, and possibly some Saturdays if we can get volunteers.
--Recent reports from Spaulding/Lake Creek are that there are two pretty bad spots in the trail -- the first steep hill past the second meadow, and an icy overflow area just past the right hairpin turn up in the tree section.
Unfortunately, the dry cold snow we got last week didn't stick very well. We are getting more snow now, but it is more dry cold snow -- we need a good dump of wet snow to stick to the icy and rocky spots.
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Previous updates:
Spaulding/Lake Creek trail opened 8 am Friday 12/19.
Yesterday, three of us spent about an hour shoveling snow onto the two worst spots on the trail, one icy gully and one glacier ice overflow just past the right hand hairpin turn. Thanks a lot to Rob Becker and Mike Pickens for helping out. Hopefully the snow we shoveled will stick on the
ice after setting up overnight -- please go easy on the throttle until
you get up to the meadows to keep the snow on the trail.
Thanks also to Ray Howard for getting the OK from the Forest Service to open the trail.
There are still quite a few holes and dips in the trail -- if you have
time to shovel in a few spots on your way up or down the trail, it
would be much appreciated. There is still no snow in the forecast, so we need to work with what we've got for now.
The snow up top is good -- it's windblown by the beer tree and on the wind-exposed flats, but it's soft and fairly deep in the trees and
wind-sheltered spots.
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Snowmobile Raffle: Please help the club pay our expenses by volunteering to sell raffle tickets, and by buying some yourself. Call Cory Baxter at 321-4276.
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Dan Moller Trail Open:
The Moller trail was opened on December 9. There is not enough snow to open Spaulding yet.
Please take it easy on the lower trail to keep the snow cover on the trail.
Reminder: Please stick to the 20 mph speed limit in West Juneau on the way up to the trailhead -- we have had complaints about speeding by residents of the neighborhood.
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PLEASE JOIN THE CLUB OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP AND PAY YOUR 2009 CLUB DUES -- CLICK ON "JOIN THE CLUB" LINK BELOW. WE NEED YOUR DUES TO PAY FOR TRAIL GROOMING AND CLUB PROJECTS. ASK YOUR RIDING BUDDIES TO SIGN UP TOO. THANKS!
CLUB MEETINGS WILL BE THE FIRST WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH, 7 PM AT THE AIRPORT FIRE STATION MEETING ROOM, THROUGH MARCH.
PRIOR UPDATES:
APRIL 26, 2008:
Blackerby Ridge/Juneau Icefield Trail Project Update:
During the last week, a group of JSC riders flew 4 sleds via helicopter sling load up to treeline on Blackerby Ridge to test ride the terrain on Blackerby ridge and access to the Juneau Icefield.
The good news is that we got a week of blue skies that allowed several days of riding, and the group was able to make it all the way to the Lemon Glacier and the Juneau Icefield.
The club will continue to evaluate both the riding potential, terrain hazards, and the cost of road and trail construction.
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TRAIL UPDATE 5/20/08:
We closed the gate on the Spaulding/Lake Creek trail on Monday April 21 -- the trail was melting out fast. The Moller trail was closed May 20 -- another long riding season for Juneau.
Check back during the summer for updates on club projects including the Lemon Creek/Blackerby Ridge trail project.
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JSC Trail Grooming Program
The trail grooming program begun by the Club this season proved to be very successful. While the trails were not always sidewalk flat, on average, the trails were much more comfortable to ride than in prior years.
The Dan Moller trail was usually groomed twice a week, and once a week for the Spaulding Meadows trail.
Willie Harris, Chris Peters, Justin Derr, Jack Kreinheder and the other folks who helped out deserve a hearty thank you (and maybe a cold beer or two) for putting in a lot of volunteer hours grooming the trails.
Earlier Updates:
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Forest Service rangers have been patrolling the trail parking lots checking for current registrations, so if your registration has expired or your sled has never been registered, it's time to head to the DMV office to get squared away.
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The Dan Moller Trail was opened on Saturday December 15. Opening weekend saw 5 feet plus of deep powder up in the bowl and on the ridges -- it was great powder riding, although there was plenty of "sled stuckage" too.
* DECEMBER 2007 CLUB UPDATE:
-- We got final confirmation that our State DNR grant was approved for a Skidoo Skandic work sled, for use with our Mogul Master groomer drag to groom our trails. The Skandic is en route from Skidoo headquarters in Canada right now and should be here by late December. We have access to another Skandic that we can use for grooming in the meantime.
*We had a good club meeting in mid November. More details soon.
* Ray Howard has been working with the Juneau Alpine Working Group on a project to develop a new trail from behind Costco up Blackerby Ridge that, if all goes well, would allow access to the Juneau Icefield and the unlimited riding potential there. For more information on this project and future project meetings, go to: juneaualpineworkinggroup.org
* Club Officers:
--President: Ray Howard
--Vice President: Robbie Harris
--Treasurer: Mark Wilke
--Secretary/Webmaster: Jack Kreinheder
--Trustee: Mike Laudert
--Trustee: Brandon Ridle
--Trustee: Scott Spickler
--Trustee: Tom Listberger
--Trustee: Troy Mayer
Webmaster: Jack Kreinheder