Conditions at Windblown Cross Country Ski Area

Date	Thursday, July 02, 2009
Trails	Open for hiking and brush throwing!
Base Lodge	CLOSED
News and Comments	Welcome Hikers You are welcome to hike the trails here at Windblown and to park on the side of the parking lot. Last December’s Ice Storm caused massive tree damage here. We ask you to please help us out by throwing branches and sticks off to the low side of the trails as much and as often as you are willing. We have posted a map in the Waxing Shed to show which trails need the most help. Thank you so much, The Jenks Family March comments: Thank you for skiing with us this winter even though we were only able to get half the trails open. We ended up having a good season after all, in spite of the tree damage from the historic Ice Storm, and we thoroughly enjoyed your company and appreciated your encouragement. We especially thank the volunteers who helped to clear the trails on many occasions. Windblown will definitely be open for skiing next winter. We will send out updates in the fall. You will be notified of changes and plans if you are on our email list. Sign Up Older News: Al Jenks is selling the ski area. Those of you interested in learning more about the non-profit organization that has formed to purchase Windblown and continue it as a ski area should contact James Stock or Frank Edelbut Visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/windblown.cross.country.skiing to view many photos and discussions. You do not need a facebook account to view them. If you do join facebook - which is easy and fun - you can post your own photos and join in the discussions. Be sure to sign up as a fan! Excerpts from 5 editions of this past season's Windblown Winter Weekly emails are posted at the bottom of this page.

New Snow	.
Base Depth	.
Surface Condition	.
Total Trails Open	.
Tracked	.
Skate Groomed	.
Snowshoe Trails	.
Mountain Trails	.
Weather	Go to our weather links page

Windblown Winter Weekly

Tuesday February 3, 2009

Volume 9, No. 10

The End of an Era

Dear Skiers and Snowshoers,

In the wee hours of December 12, 2008, the ice man came knocking, knocking upon our cabin door. It was not a lightning bolt he threw at our feet, but an ice laden oak branch. He said, “Through toil and tenacity you have defeated me before, but now, now I have come to even up the score; my only desire is that you shall retire”. If Irene and I were 20 years younger or our boys wanted to operate a ski area, we would put our shoulders to the wheel and give it a mighty shove, but that is not the situation. This will be our last year managing Windblown. For forty years I have lived the dream (25 with Irene) of building and running a ski area. As our time has increased behind the counter, in a snow cat, on a computer, or in the parking lot, our time on snow has decreased. That needs to change.

Our desire is to pass this property and equipment on to an individual or an organization that would continue and expand the outdoor traditions we have established. We are talking with a group of ardent skiers from the Boston area who are forming an organization that hopes to purchase and run Windblown. If you or someone you know is interested in their organization or in owning and running a ski area yourself, please email us at skiwindblown@earthlink.net or write to us at 1180 Turnpike Road, New Ipswich, NH, 03071.

Meanwhile, trail clearing is ongoing with logging during the week and volunteers on the weekends. Clearing brush from 9:30 to noon will get you a pass, a cup of hot chocolate and the appreciation of many. Call 603-878-2869 if interested. The end result is quite nice with more openness, sunshine, views and “edge” for wildlife. In three years sprouts and new growth will fill in the spaces and the remaining healthy trees will grow rapidly. It is a good feeling to add to the trail count weekly. We are planning to open the shop and trails during the week as conditions allow. Please check our conditions page.

Thank you for your words of encouragement and support; it is with great sadness that we say good-bye to the land, the lifestyle and to you - our loyal customers who appreciate what we have created and have become part of the Windblown family over many years.

Al Jenks

Windblown Winter Weekly

Thursday January 29, 2009

Volume 9, No. 9

Eleven Kilometers and counting

Dear Skiers and Snowshoers,

Sometimes progress is measured in inches, other times in feet. This weekend we are able to add four kilometers to our total trails recovered (or should we say, uncovered) since the historic ice storm. Deer Run, Stagecoach Road to the Beaver Pond, Moose Meander to the Warming Hut and down to the Beaver Pond, and the Old Logging Road . . . . . The Pond Loop has also been cut but not cleaned so it is our backcountry trail for now. Ski or snowshoe it to Porcupine Hollow and see what awesome destructive power nature can deliver. Skiing this "worked" trail will give you a picture of the finished product - quite nice in my opinion.

. . . . Weekdays here it sure is a different scene than ever before - A giant skidder roaring through the woods dragging huge bundles of trees to a chipper in the parking lot; tractor trailer trucks backing up to the chipper to have many tons of wood chips blown into their box; an excavator with a grapple feeding the bundles into the chipper. And all the while the whole tree cutter making it's way through the trails, cutting the trees and creating the bundles. Yesterday our hero, Jay, spent hours in the snowstorm cutting his way through the Pond Loop. He sure was happy to see Al show up with a bowl of hot veggie chili to keep him going!

It's a great snowy winter for skiers so far, catch it while it's here.

Al and Irene

Windblown Winter Weekly

December 22, 2008

Volume 9, No. 4

Opening Day

Dear Skiers and Snowshoers,

If you add up all the storm damage from snow, ice and wind for the thirty-eight years that I have lived here, and doubled it, you would be far short of the tree damage which occurred here on December 12, 2008. At first I was in shock, then denial, anger, pain, and sadness. Irene said it best, I had "a broken heart". Yes, I liked making our income from selling tickets and renting skis, but my first love, what got me out of bed in the morning, was to go into the woods and do timber stand improvement by thinning the forest, leaving the best and strongest to grow, especially along the trails. The forest has given us heat, building material and income from timber sales. But the trails have given more. When I am stressed or needing to have a "conversation", I ski or hike these trails by myself in silence. I always feel rejuvenated. Not any more. At 62 I have one of the biggest challenges of my life. I do not have the physical energy nor the time to tackle the clearing job myself.

Hundreds of you have volunteered to help, and slowly over time I will take you up on your offers, but the majority of the work is for professionals. As a forester and a logger I envision a whole-tree chipping operation to remove the broken, split in half, tipped over, crown removed trees to allow the middle story to take over the sunlight. Pine, Hemlock, and Spruce survived the best. Oaks, Maples, and Birch were especially hard hit. The biomass will be chipped, put into trucks and delivered to power plants, firewood will heat homes next winter, and good logs made into lumber. A lawyer friend once said that our 401K was "in the dirt". I said that it was "in the trees." A salvage operation does not make money, but I cannot leave this land the way it is. I am negotiating with a chipping company to work this land as soon as the ground freezes. It is best to log in winter to prevent soil damage. August to October is another window, when the ground is driest. The plan is to work a section of the property doing trails and forest, then move to a new location and after a snowstorm, opening the completed section for skiing. On a daily basis I will be working with the feller buncher operator. He is the decider of which trees stay and which to remove. What was here is gone. What remains is not useable as a major outdoor facility. The vision is still unclear but coming into focus.

Our power was restored last night with many thanks to the line crew from Quebec. We invited them into the Ski Shop for a warm place out of the snow storm to have their lunch. The next thing we knew the friendly French speaking brigade changed their course to repair all the lines here at Windblown! . . . . .

Irene and I wish you a meaningful time with family and friends,

Al Jenks

Windblown Winter Weekly

December 12, 2008

Volume 9, No. 3

Devastating Ice Storm

Returning to our beautiful hilltop homesite today, I felt like Ashley Wilkes in "Gone with the Wind" coming home to Tara from the war, passing burned out plantations and a devastated landscape. Nature, not human passions provided the destructive power this time. An inch and a half of ice has brought down uncountable numbers of trees, filling trails with impassible amounts of debris, downing power lines, and damaging buildings. It is difficult to assess the total amount of damage because of the danger of falling ice and tree limbs. From what I can see from our house to the Warming Hut and the Ski Shop, it is ten times the damage caused by the great ice storm of 1998. Cleaning up will be costly and time consuming. I do not know when or if we will be open this season. In twenty-four hours our trails went from being the best ever to being the worst ever.