| 2012-01-27 | Today is Friday January, 27, 2012. The day before the start of the 14th Annual MGHS Noquemanon Ski Marathon. I am happy to report to you that we were able to mitigate the slush on Deer Lake. Most of the lake crossing is very good, although there will be some icy sections. We have also managed to cut off half of the road section on North Basin Drive. There will be about 120 yards left that will be on thin snow cover (instead of 200+ yards normally). There is a 150 yard section in Granite Pointe that is going to be a little narrower than normal, due to a construction project. The rest of the trail on into the dome should be in excellent shape. We are supposed to have warm weather today, but temps starting to drop on Saturday morning throughout the day. We expect to get about an inch of new snow Saturday morning before the race with temperatures in the 20’s for most of race day. Travel safe.
Respectfully submitted,
Jon Mommaerts, Race Director |
| 2012-01-26 | January 26, 2012 10:50AM ET The trail is looking very good for Saturday’s race. We have crews out 24 hours a day for these last few days of trail preparation. We have a new challenge that came up yesterday. Due to the heavy wet snow we received on Monday, some water came up over the ice on Deer Lake and created some slushy areas. We are going to work on that section today and see if we can pack it down so that it will freeze overnight. My expectation is that we will have some icy sections on the lake, as opposed to nice snow. More updates to come. One of the founders of the race Joe Jameson comments that, “ 99.9 percent of the trail is really good. Lots of snow and a firm groom. The climb out of Deer Lake is better than usual – not much rocks, just some dirty snow here and there. The steep ups and downs after the climb out of Deer Lake are well covered – no open water or dirt. The Zulkhie hills and Hannuksala plunge are great.”
With this warm weather we are having today, we have decided to shovel snow onto the tracks in town. We want to be sure to have good track depth on race day. The trail is fine and has about 4” of packed snow over the final 3km, but rather than take a chance we will add some depth to that section. See you all this weekend, Jon Mommaerts, Race Director |
| 2012-01-25 | The Noquemanon race course has received many man hours of grooming and work. We are pleased with the fact that it will be all natural snow and in many areas it is still sticking to the trees. The finish line preparations have begun today. We have groomers going out daily in many different sections of course. We no longer have any problem areas. The 5-10 inches of snowfall we received early in the week has covered up all thin areas. We expect to have excellent skiing from start to finish. |
| 2012-01-23 | Marquette received up to 4-5 inches of snow in the higher elevations in the last couple hours. All schools are closed today. This is great new news for the lower Noque and the last 3K to the Dome. The bombi is heading up to Ishpeming, today, to groom and track to the Dead River Basin. Crews have been out on the entire course over the weekend. There are only two problem areas. One is a short straight/flat section in Granite Point that was being plowed for a construction project. That plowing ended a few days ago. Prior to today’s snowfall, that area was thin and in need of work. I anticipate that this snowfall will take care of most of that concern. This section may still need a little bit of hand work this week, but it is under control. The second problem area is always the final 2km in town to the finish line. Today’s snowfall is more than anticipated. We are getting 3-6 inches of wet heavy snow in town today. Prior to this surprise snowfall, we have planned to haul clean snow with dump trucks and spread it with front end loaders. This bonus snowfall may eliminate our need to haul snow onto this section of trail. We will groom it and ski it tonight, to see if needs more coverage. If necessary, we have our contractors set to do the work on Wednesday. I look forward to seeing you all this weekend. Regards, Jon Mommaerts, Race Director. |
| 2012-01-11 | Noquemanon Trail Report: Trail is holding strong in some of the warmer weather we have had in Marquette. We have over a foot of snow on the Upper Noque for the 50K and will plan on packing in the next week. From the 25K start to Forestville the trail is in excellent condition. We have a great group of groomers that are taking care to make sure not to over groom. Snow is in the forecast and this new snow will set the remainder of the trail from Forestville to the Dome in good condition. It is a little thin in town but all measures will be taken to provide a great surface. Submitted by Nicole Dewald |
| 2011-01-27 | Noquemanon Trail Report: The trail is in great shape. There are a few trouble spots, however. Coming off the Dead River Basin there is about a 200 yard stretch that goes along a public road that the trail crew is trying to cover with snow, especially far to the right. This has always been a problem in past years with small bits of gravel and may be the same this year. Also, the trail workers tell me that one of the big groomers pulled some debris and gravel through the thin base up into the trail from 21k to 23K. However I hear this section is better now and I believe it will be good. The finish area is now snow covered and groomed. Although 99.9% of the trail is excellent, it is possible skis could get nicked in the areas listed above. Submitted by Joseph Jameson 1/26/2011 |
| 2011-01-25 | Noquemanon Race Trail Report We received 3-6 inches of snow Saturday night. The NWS at Negaunee has recorded over 100 inches of snow this season. Basically the trail is in great shape, possibly the best it ever has been. I have personally skied from 2K to 28K (from the Dome) in the last few days. There is a great base. The Granite Pointe section is firm, smooth, and wide: the best I’ve ever seen it a week before the race. The only potential thin area is a few areas of the last 2K are windblown and will either need shoveling or dumptrucks full of snow to provide good cover. It’s possible the classic tracks will not be as deep or a little dirty in this section. Also, the section from 21K to 23K was plowed and logged up until last week so the base is a little thin and dirty in a couple of spots (this was before the snowfall over the weekend). In the next few days I will be objectively skiing the other areas of the race trail and talking to the groomers to glean any other thoughts they have on the topic.
Respectfully Submitted, Joseph Jameson 1/24/2011 |
| 2011-01-20 | NSM Trail Report. Thursday January 20th
Well, the trail has continued to get more snow. Very glad to say that there is not much more to say than the last report. We have lots of snow and it is expected to stay cold for the next week. The only thin areas we have are in the last 1km of the course, as we always have…due to the openness of those areas getting windblown. Our plan is to haul snow in to those short open stretches next week. We have lots of clean snow to work with. I anticipate some of the best snow conditions from start to finish that we have ever had. From this weekend forward, one of our Noquemanon Ski Marathon founding members, Joe Jameson, will be doing the trail report. As he always has been, he will be very detailed and honest about the entire trail. He will keep you well informed. Have a great race!
Submitted by Jon Mommaerts |
| 2011-01-17 | Our trail conditions are excellent the entire way from start to finish. We have had good snow all winter and cold temperatures. We did have a short thaw period a few weeks ago, and that helped create an icy base that we have built on. We have only have two sections of trail that require(d) some work. First, we had some logging done up at the halfway mark (510 down to the 22km mark). This was being plowed until a week ago. Fortunately, the logging company was able to smooth out the ground on that section so not much snow was needed. We did pull snow back in, with a loader, last Thursday to cover the entire trail. Fortunately, it snowed the next two days and we received about 9 more inches of snow on top of that. We have more snow today. I anticipate excellent conditions on this section. The last section of question is always in town. We have plenty of snow in town, but there are a couple of sections that are a bit wind blown. We plan to pack those sections again today and then regularly until race day. We will also be hauling in clean snow on those short sections. Given the more snow we have predicted this week and the cold temperatures, I would envision excellent skiing from start to finish this year!
Submitted by Jon Mommaerts |
| 2010-12-14 | The Marquette, Ishpeming, and Negaunee areas have received significant snowfall over the last week. The trail is being packed and rolled everyday. The crew has rolled all the way to the Dome up to the 20k mark. In the higher elevation areas we are still waiting for the soft snow to harden to decrease the chance for equipment becoming stuck.
Skiers should be able to ski from the 25k mark to Tourist Park in the next week or so.
Stay tuned for more details on the course, the new events, and updates that will make this year the biggest Noque ever.
If your not planning to ski this year, think about donating your time and talent to the race and be one of our 400 volunteers.
Happy Holidays from the Race Committee |
| 2010-11-09 | The race committee has completed three new significant trail improvements already this fall. The first one is a new route from the bottom of the first hill out of Al Quaal, heading northeast. This section is now wider, and straighter than the previous route, and adds a spectacular view of Teal Lake. It also avoids the 90 degree off-camber left turn about 1.5km into the race. It appears that it will only add about 200 meters additional distance. The re-routed section will be a major improvement to the first 2km of the marathon course, making it much more “novice” friendly. You will be very happy with this improvement. Thanks to the City of Ishpeming and Craig Stien for heading up this major project!
The second re-route is a modification of the main NTN year-round trail near Forestville. The goal was to avoid the big drop into the ditch and onto the road after you pass the NTN pole barn at Forestville, again making the trail significantly easier to negotiate. We will no longer be using the road or accessing it via the steep downhill through the ditch (just after the pole barn). We now have a more gentle straight downhill section. This will add an additional road crossing, but this will be a very minor inconvenience compared to the significant improvement in the skiability of this section.
Lastly, we have been able to work with the landowners up at the 510 start area. We are in the process of widening the bottle neck that occurs 100m after the start of the half marathon. We have a long ways yet to go to get this to the width we would like, but this year will create a noticeable increase in the width for that initial stretch of trail. Overall, I think you all will be happy with the improvements we have made. There are a few more sections we hope to tackle in the coming years, but we want you to know that we are committed to continued investment in our race trail!
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| 2010-01-30 | Friday Morning January 29th Trail Report
The Al Quall Pisten Bulley is continuing to till and groom from the start of the marathon to Deer Lake, this section should be in excellent shape. Deer Lake is likely to be a bit icy but skiable. The section out of Deer Lake to the Dead River Basin was groomed by our PB 180 last night and it went extremely well. The low areas where shoveled by a team of helpers and the PB 180 tilled and groomed this entire section and says it looks great. The tracks set very well most of the way. Some stretches it is thinner than others. Expect mostly tilled corn snow when you plan your waxing for this stretch.
Today, we will be Tidd Tech grooming Deer Lake and the Dead River Basin crossing. We should anticipate that these short sections will not be perfect, but skiable.
Once you get off the Dead River Basin, there will be the 200m section along the campers road that will likely be narrow and icy. We will do the best we can with this section, but plan on this being less than ideal.
After you get through that 200m section of campers road, you will be heading into Granite Pointe for the final 32km of skiing…conditions look great the entire way in to the dome. We are grooming from Forestville to Granite Pointe this afternoon, then again from Granite Pointe to the Dome starting at midnight tonight and ending at the dome around 7AM on race day. I am very pleased with the way the course is coming together. You should expect a real good ski tomorrow. If you have any questions, track me down at the dome this evening. Regards Jon Mommaerts
Wax Tips for the MGHS Noquemanon and mBank Half Noque can be found at www.tokous.com. Print off the wax tip that Toko has set for the Noque. It is pretty detailed. If your in town, visit the gang at Downwind Sports.
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| 2010-01-29 | 5:30PM ET Thursday 01/28/10 Trail Report:
Ok, I am much more encouraged than I was in the early afternoon. We ran the PB 180 from the dome to Forestville this afternoon. I just got out on my skis (3:30PM- 5:00PM) to ski the questionable areas and found nothing but great skiing. The course is firm, yet has a nice mixture of icy snow with new fresh snow. The course has slowed down quite a bit and is very skiable for all levels of skiing. The track is set almost the entire way, with only a few very short sections where it is not full depth. At this point I can say that after the final groom early Saturday morning, that the final 32km of our race course will be excellent skiing for everyone (note that 510 to Forestville has not been groomed with a tiller today due to mechanical issues, so this section will improve greatly on Saturday). I had no trouble getting an edge as I skated. Slower skiers will be able to snowplow the downhills to control speed, and the snowplowing should not do any damage to the trail. I am very happy with the work the trail team has done thus far.
Now, I am not ignoring the first 18km of the race course in this report. My plan is to get more information tomorrow morning, after the PB 180 gets through grooming it tonight. We also have shovelers filling in some of the thin areas off of Deer Lake. Based on what I saw today, I expect conditions to be relatively good through out that first 18km section, but will give you more information tomorrow. Regards, Jon Mommaerts
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| 2010-01-28 | While I was writing yesterdays trail report, our Bombardier 160 tiller broke down and will take several days to repair. So, unfortunately we are now down to one machine for the final 44km of the race course. We plan to run our newer 180 all day today until Midnight, then all day tomorrow and all night until race time. We do have the Al Quall Pisten Bulley for the first 6km as well. Because of that, here is what I can report.
Al Quaal to Deer Lake will be very firm, we plan to move the classic tracks in a little more than they were on Wednesday, so that we can accommodate two tracks and a skating lane for the first 5-6km’s. The hills in this section will be very fast and klister should be the requirement of the day. Deer Lake is firm, yet icy. We did receive an inch or two of snow today, which has helped. However, on the lakes, the wind is so strong that it blows right off the course. We have a crew going out this afternoon to shovel the hill coming off of Deer Lake. This section (which included about 2km of trail) is icy and thin. It may be difficult to set track in much of this section. From this point on (Aidstation #1 on), the trail is in good shape, with the exception of a couple of downhills. As of this writing, these two hills are very fast and icy. We are bringing our 180 out there now, and will work these area’s a bit more. I will let you know more tomorrow. Heading down onto the Dead River Basin Crossing (1km after Aidstation #2), you can expect chunky ice/snow mix for the 200m on the south side of the crossing (due to width constraints, we must groom this section and the Basin crossing with a Tidd Tech). The Basin Crossing will also be icy due to the windy conditions this week.
As you get back on land heading into Granite Point, you will have that 200m section along the campers Road in which we have a narrow path coned off to keep vehicles off. The challenge we found out here, is that there is minimal snow to pull to build up this section. As of this writing, I am not sure what that 200m section will be like, other than that it has good coverage over the road, but tracks may be thin and icy.
Next, heading into Granite Point, this section should be fine, but a bit narrower than past years as we do not have as much snow to pull from the edges to build up the trail to extend width. Otherwise, this section should be fine and fast. From this point on, you are at the half way point and should experience good fast and firm conditions all the way to the 8km to go point. Our Pond bypass downhill will be thin and a bit icy, but skiable. Once you get off the bypass back onto the standard Noque trail, conditions are good, but a bit thin and icy. Skiing should be pretty good, but tracks may be thin. We just completed hauling of snow on parts of the final 2km of the trail. We had a nice icy base, but we hauled in enough snow to set quality tracks the majority of the way in. This last 2km section should be good to the finish.
In summary, expect varying conditions on race day. We will continue to work the trail to improve skiing conditions. The vast majority of the trail will be great fun and fast skiing, however expect some icy sections where caution may be necessary, especially in the first half of the marathon course. We did receive an inch or two of fresh snow this morning, so I am hoping tomorrow’s report will be much improved. Regards, Jon Mommaerts
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| 2010-01-28 | 5:30PM ET Thursday Trail Report:
Ok, I am much more encouraged than I was in the early afternoon. We ran the PB 180 from the dome to Forestville this afternoon. I just got out on my skis (3:30PM- 5:00PM) to ski the questionable areas and found nothing but great skiing. The course is firm, yet has a nice mixture of icy snow with new fresh snow. The course has slowed down quite a bit and is very skiable for all levels of skiing. The track is set almost the entire way, with only a few very short sections where it is not full depth. At this point I can say that after the final groom early Saturday morning, that the final 32km of our race course will be excellent skiing for everyone (note that 510 to Forestville has not been groomed with a tiller today due to mechanical issues, so this section will improve greatly on Saturday). I had no trouble getting an edge as I skated. Slower skiers will be able to snowplow the downhills to control speed, and the snowplowing should not do any damage to the trail. I am very happy with the work the trail team has done thus far.
Now, I am not ignoring the first 18km of the race course in this report. My plan is to get more information tomorrow morning, after the PB 180 gets through grooming it tonight. We also have shovelers filling in some of the thin areas off of Deer Lake. Based on what I saw today, I expect conditions to be relatively good through out that first 18km section, but will give you more information tomorrow. Regards, Jon Mommaerts
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| 2010-01-28 | 5:30PM ET Thursday Trail Report:
Ok, I am much more encouraged than I was in the early afternoon. We ran the PB 180 from the dome to Forestville this afternoon. I just got out on my skis (3:30PM- 5:00PM) to ski the questionable areas and found nothing but great skiing. The course is firm, yet has a nice mixture of icy snow with new fresh snow. The course has slowed down quite a bit and is very skiable for all levels of skiing. The track is set almost the entire way, with only a few very short sections where it is not full depth. At this point I can say that after the final groom early Saturday morning, that the final 32km of our race course will be excellent skiing for everyone (note that 510 to Forestville has not been groomed with a tiller today due to mechanical issues, so this section will improve greatly on Saturday). I had no trouble getting an edge as I skated. Slower skiers will be able to snowplow the downhills to control speed, and the snowplowing should not do any damage to the trail. I am very happy with the work the trail team has done thus far.
Now, I am not ignoring the first 18km of the race course in this report. My plan is to get more information tomorrow morning, after the PB 180 gets through grooming it tonight. We also have shovelers filling in some of the thin areas off of Deer Lake. Based on what I saw today, I expect conditions to be relatively good through out that first 18km section, but will give you more information tomorrow. Regards, Jon Mommaerts
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| 2010-01-27 | We are currently running our second groom from Deer Lake to the Dead River Basin. Overall that stretch looks fine, we had a couple of small wet areas that we shoveled snow on, but this stretch should be fine and it is predominately icy snow mixed in with an inch or two of fresh snow. The Deer Lake and Dead River Basin crossings are very firm, now that we had this cold weather. The good news is that the crossings have plenty of ice for safe crossing, the bad news is that the crossings have lots of ice and snow is
not sticking to it well, now. We plan to keep scraping those crossings with our Ginsu groomers with the hope that some snow will accumulate in there. Fortunately, these crossings are relatively short. Once you come off the
Basin, we will again enter through Anderson's camp and onto North Basin Drive for a 200 meter stretch. This stretch is an active road for the local residents and it has been hit hard by the warmer weather. The good news is that we are flagging off a 4 foot wide path on the north edge of that road for that 200 meter stretch. It should be in very good shape for classic
skiers but a bit narrow for skaters. But again, only a 200m section. The snow depth should be good over that 200m. Heading into Granite Pointe from there on (32km to go mark), the snow depth is very good and the conditions are excellent all the way to the 5km to go section in town. From 5km to 3km, the trail is covered but slightly hard and icy. We do plan on scraping that with the groomers a bit more so we expect this 2km flat section to be good. The final 3 km to the dome have a solid icy base. We have a front
end loader and two hauling trucks scheduled for 7:30AM on Thursday to haul good clean snow (from the Dome roof...tons of great snow!!!) to those icy areas in the final 2km's. We do have another inch or two of snow in the forecast, if that comes, we will be in excellent shape the entire way. If it doesn't come, the trail will still be in very good condition from start to finish. More updates to come as we have them... |
| 2010-01-26 | The Noquemanon trail is in the final preparations for the races this Saturday. The water crossings have been packed and holding well after the freeze we have had within the last 24 hours. The entire system has been groomed with the final eight hour groom set for Friday night. On Wednesday morning we will be machine grooming the final 5km into the dome. When that is complete we will know if we need to haul in any snow. Regardless, we will be finishing at the dome. More updates as we gather information. |
| 2010-01-25 | The weather in Marquette this past weekend was “Michigan Weather.” Saturday the trail was wicked fast. Then Sunday it was warm and rainy. We still have good snow coverage throughout the trail despite the rainfall we had near the lake. Some snowfall was accumulated in the higher ground during the middle of the day on Sunday. We will update you on Tuesday, once we get another full assessment of the trail. |
| 2010-01-21 | For our MGHS marathon skiers, the course has been pre-packed from Al Quaal to 510 and looking great. PLEASE BE ADVISED that this portion of the trail is privately owned and not open to the public until race day. Absolutely NO Pre-skiing.
The Noquemanon trail snow depths are holding steady at 6 inches in the city of Marquette, to 18 inches in Granite Point and 12 inches in Ishpeming. Regular grooming has been in process on the lower Noque from 510 to Forestville since December 1st. Grooming to Tourist Park has been steady and the ponds are frozen and holding nicely. This week if we receive 6 inches of snow, we will be breaking trail from Tourist Park to the NMU Dome.
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| 2010-01-20 | The Noquemanon trail snow depths are holding steady at 6 inches in the city of Marquette, to 18 inches in Granite Point and 12 inches in Ishpeming. Regular grooming has been in process on the lower Noque from 510 to Forestville since December 1st. Grooming to Tourist Park has been steady and the ponds are frozen and holding nicely. This week if we receive 6 inches of snow, we will be breaking trail from Tourist Park to the NMU Dome.
For our MGHS marathon skiers, the course has been pre-packed from Al Quaal to 510 and looking great.
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| 2010-01-08 | The Noquemanon trail will be opened up from the Forestville trail head to 510 for a great Saturday ski. The trail from Forestville to Tourist Park will be groomed as well, please be safe as you cross the ponds, some standing water on top of the snow is present.
This year we are working on growing this event, mainly by providing increased racer services and benefits. Some of the additions for 2010 will be a new Marquette Sports Medicine Institute 12k, a 15 mile/10k snowshoe, a pasta feed on Friday night, (inside the dome) and additional busing to and from our events from select hotels.
If you’re not skiing and would like to be a part of the festivities please email info@noquemanon.com to volunteer with a great group of people!
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| 2010-01-05 | All trails groomed by volunteers last night. Groomed and tracked from Forestville to Tourist Park, then from Forestville up to the 14k mark. As well as all the interior loops. Groomers are going out this morning to freshen up tracks as another couple of inches have fallen through out the night.
Ponds are still a bit soft but we have been utilizing the bypass.
Sending out snowmobiles to pack above 510 to Al Quaal very soon. |
| 2009-12-11 | The Noquemanon has been rolled groomed and tracks set from Forestville to the 19K.
It is in great condition for the official first groom of the season, no need for rock skis. Plans to groom again tonight are being set. Winter is officially here!
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| 2009-09-28 | The 12th annual Marquette General Health System Noquemanon Ski Marathon and mBank Half Noque is set for Saturday, January 30, 2010. The $58.00 September 30th first cut off date is fast approaching. Then $68.00 until November 30th.
Visit noquemanon.com. |
