SNOWKRAFT Skiing of Door County,
Wisconsin is a relatively small area known for it's
fastidious grooming and ability to ski in minimal snow conditions. We focus primarily on skate skiingand are a great area
for beginners with our wide, gentle, impeccably groomed
base loop. Beginning classic
skiers will also appreciate our ultra-level tracked trail.
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SNOWKRAFT,
Door County cross country skiing area, Sturgeon
Bay, is groomed with the latest grooming equipment. A Can-AM Outlander 800 ATV and Ski-Doo Skandic SWT 500 and 800 snowmobiles are used to pull 84 and 108 inch Ginzugroomers with tracksetters,
and rollers. Grooming is typically done at night to ensure firm track conditions.
Presently Snowkraft has
no changing areas or other amenities.
ADMISSION
COST 2010-2011: For the 2010/11 season there IS an admission cost. (See why and MORE
INFO here.) Daily adult passes are $10. Senior (60+) $5; Youth and college 19-21 $5; 18 and under
ski free, however a $5 donation would be appreciated for 18 and under. Season Passes are $100 adult,
$50 youth/college and senior. All
high school and collegiate ski athletes and families ski free. Checks can be made payable to Snowkraft Nordic.
PARKING:
5736 Walker RD, 2 Miles North of Sturgeon Bay
E-MAIL ALERT: Sign up for e-mail notifications for items such as recommended weekend DC ski area picks,
grooming updates, ski news and more.
Mike Smith, friend and mechanic.
Click for more info on Mike
OFFSEASON STUFF
NOW ON FACEBOOK Join Snowkraft Nordic's FACEBOOK page. (If you have not joined Facebook, you really should. I am guilty of being one who thought it was, err, a slight
waste of time and sure, I don't spend much time with social networking, HOWEVER you make a lot of links and MISS a lot of info not being on it.) There is more content here on the site, (say what!) but still, just
do it!! Snowkraft has a goal of 100,000 fans by Jan 1, 2011. Oh, wait- that is 100 fans.
A WEALTH OF CHANGES coming at SNOWKRAFT NORDIC for 2010-2011!! Click hereto see details.
WANT A HARD TRAIL RUNNING WORKOUT?? WANT TO VIEW NEW TRAILS??
Park at the orchard entrance and run the trails. Best not to come after a hard rain, as will be muddy.
OFFSEASON
REPORT
Wed, Sep 8: Pardon Me: It is encouraging to see the number of religious leaders condemning
the scheduled Quran burning. The burning would, indeed, instigate more violence in the Islamic world, not to mention offend
many. This church most of all seems to teach intolerance, (such as labeling homosexuality sin) which is, of course, detrimental
to the human condition. An ability to bend and an open mind are two human qualities which greatly benefit society. I suppose
the narrow minded have a hard time realizing this!!! Now that all the loads of dirt
are situated in the orchard, I will be leveling, leveling, leveling. It takes about 30 min. to level a dump truck load, or
about 17 cubic yards. After I have the orchard leveled, I will take a lap with my helmet cam and post footage of the new trail
configuration. Look for this Friday or Saturday. I use Nikon SLR cameras, so it was a formidale task to order a Canon point
and shoot after not being able to find a good Nikon P & S over the years. Fortunately, the Canon s90 camera is impressively good. You can get an underwater case for it waterproof to 40M.
Mon, Sep 6:
Hauled 21 loads of dirt with Rafael, which is a hell of a lot in one day. 11 hours today. I am proud
to say that finishes the dirt required for the orchard, more or less. Now to leveling.
Tues, Aug 31: Will be a race 2day to finish loads to orchard b4 rain. Probably will
be a few short to finish. About 15-20 loads left.
Tues, Aug 17: Try this link for new trail pics. Pics
Mon, Aug 16: 4
loads hauled yestreday. Ground has hardened a bit with no rain for a while- starting to be OK for hauling
dirt once again. About 25 more loads left to haul to orchard with dump truck clutch deteriorating.
Mon, Aug 9: Ran the orchard with my brother, Craig, cousin Julie, daughter Amelia, and Cassie Cibik-Moeller
and son Max. Paul Anschutz was mowing at the time. Wow- he does a good job. Max Moeller commented that he and his dad Dave
have had quite enough of warm weather and are ready to ski.
Thousands of yellow butterflies parade near my house, the most I have ever seen.
Mon, Aug 9: Measured 1.3 inches of rain yesterday. NOAA was .85. Interesting how totals can vary so much over
short distances. Many trees are starting to lose leaves. I talked to a friend who said maples may have a disease, as came
from the Peninsular Research Station. However, other trees, notably ash, I have seen with almost entirely brown leaves. My
crabapple tree is shedding leaves. Even with the adequate plus rain we have had it appears the drought conditions from the
past few years may be taking a toll. It was a rather dry early spring as well.
Phil Anschutz is at ski camp for 10 days in northern Wisconsin. Phil and 2 friends have been helping
water the trees planted last fall. Paul Anschutz is cutting grass on the trails as I write this. He took my truck and drove
away with it. Where is my truck, Paul??
Wed, Aug 4: Ran the orchard with Cassie Cibik-Moeller and my daughter Amelia. Cassie
scorched us both, myself moreso than my daughter. Cassie is a phenomenal athlete and the phy ed teacher at Sevastopol school.
Aug 2: 14 loads
hauled the last 2 days, with help of P Anschutz. Skidsteer windshield broke a by a large stone. Check these sites out: feel good
Saw my 3 deer friends.
Fri, July 30: 4 loads hauled. Check out workout data from a Garmin 310XT
July 29, 7:03 AM: Finally able
to haul reasonable amounts of dirt. 2 days ago (10) 16 yard loads, yesterday 7. Have you ever driven a dump truck offroad??
No- good, don't. As if my skidsteer doesn't pummel my back well enough by itself!! The orchard is starting to take shape,
literally. One downhill might have to be scrubbed, as it is just too almighty steep with trees at the bottom. We'll see. I
may end up hauling copious quantities of dirt to create a speed bump. (Decelerator.) Saw a young mother deer and 2 fawns,
and yesterday saw 2 bucks in velvet. Deer have become accustomed to the dump truck just as they are to farm machinery. I can
get fairly close. Have not seen many turkeys recently. With all the rain, wildflowers such as Queen Anne's Lace have made
a magnificent showing on the property. Some blackberries are starting to ripen waaay ahead of schedule. There are many more
than what is typical. Phil Anschutz does his own grooming. He and a friend cut grass on the ski trail with push lawnmowers
for CAT skiing. I see a couple people from the Cherry Hills condos from time to time walking their dogs on the trails. Glad
that the trails get some use in the summer.
July 24: The copious quantities of rain,
skidsteer and dump truck derailments, and allergy and eye issues have combined to make it next to impossible to transport
dirt to trails. Hopefully rain will subside, equipment will work, and body will function!! There have been about 20 loads
of soil moved and leveled to date. With minimal acreage that I have, corners at times have to be sharper than I would like them
to be. To mitigate velocity into a corner, I have constructed small rollers b4 the corner, and banked the corner. I
am in the process of building a large mound at the top of one of the descents to enable more speed to be carried up the climb
on the end. This is the first downhill in the orchard.
July 15, 2010: Have been hauling loads of dirt to the advanced area of the orchard.
I have made some trails that would not have been possible or very difficult to ski without making small hills with hauled
dirt to "scrub" speed before corners. We will see how these ski. As far as I'm aware, no other ski area does this.
July 9, 2010: SNOWSTRUCK
Nordic name changes to SNOWKRAFT. This will be permanent!!!
June 20, 2010: Cherry Hills Nordic Center name changes to SNOWSTRUCK.
June 7, 2010, 12:28PM: NAME CHANGE: Cherry Hills Nordic will have
a new name shortly. Phil Anschutz has been cat skiing on the trails. A super-hard workout, he tells me. I now have the orchard section to 2.47 miles and have given up on my quest
for 2.5 miles!! Close enough, says me. Am waiting on a new bed for my dump truck, then will start hauling dirt to the new
trails in the orchard. Am guessing about 30-50 loads. I may ask Cherry Hills to use one section of golf course for variety
for this year. It will be a short section, no longer than .5 mile.
May 18, 2010, 7:21AM: I was biking
yesterday on the ski trail in the orchard and came w/in one inch of riding over a snake. Close. My goal is to pack 2.5 miles
into the orchard. The best way to do this is simply to ride or walk it repeatedly. Every time I travel the trail I'll find
some small modification I can make. I'm up to around 2.41 miles, so close to target. It is interesting to note that a few
hills in the orchard are steep enough that I'd guess most people could not ride up them on bike. Speaking of that, the new
course rides very well on a bike, and can't wait for snow to fly to ski and have others enjoy the trails.
Apr 16, 2010, 8:30AM: Headed
out to finish covering trees with mulch and then will water with my 1550 gallon tank. Have 100 Thuja Green Giant to plant. They supposedly grow 3 feet per year. We'll see!!
KAYAK SALES, RENTAL AND INSTRUCTION
AND OUTDOOR GEAR Check out Path and Paddle, Sturgeon Bay. They have a good selection of kayaks and outdoor
clothing. The owner, Michelle, is a meticulous, outdoor oriented individual.
GROUP BIKE RIDES Sturgeon Bay
offers a Tuesday and Wednesday night group bike ride. Rides start at 5:30 at Market Square parking lot, which is just SE of
the Michigan and Third intersection. Tues. nite is faster, around a 22MPH average; Wednesday is conducted at a more leisurely
pace, with a no drop rule. Ride averages 17-18MPH. (see the Wed nite ride facebook page) Expect to find between 8 and 15 riders.
Aug 17 Tuesday Night Ride
What is the BEST WAY to promote and maintain
access to cross country skiing and your other favorite sports such as biking, sailing, kayaking and hiking?? JOINDoor County Silent Sports Alliance.
HEEELP!!!!
Looking for CHEAP pine, cedar or spruce trees from 2 inches diameter to 10 inches diameter, or about 5-25
feet, within 10 miles of SNOWKRAFT location. I am going to need 200-300 depending on size. I could thin out a pine plantation
row. I can dig with my tree spades and will fill in tree spade holes and return to normal. Anybody with info please call me:
920-743-0272.
HELP WHITEFISH DUNES-DONATE $$
Whitefish Dunes Park is a breathtaking destination, with mix of open dune savannah and rolling wooded areas. It is
my favorite area to ski at for classic skiing perhaps because of the variety of natural environment. The park staff and groomers
work well together, and there are some dedicated groomers such as Rich Dirks and Tony Knipfer who WORK HARD and spend hundreds
of hours per season to ensure your skiing enjoyment. Unfortunately, they are working with older equipment and are in need
of new equipment. They have designated a fund for the purchase of a new grooming implement/tracksetter. The cost of this is
approx. 5500, with around 1000 raised as of Mar 17, 2010. Whitefish Dunes needs your help
to raise the balance of $4500. Checks for contributions can be made out to the Friends of Whitefish Dunes with SkiTrail Grooming Fund in the memo, and sent to:
Whitefish Dunes State Park, 3273 Clarks Lake Rd. Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235. If you have questions you can call the park at 920-823-2400
or Richard Dirks at 920-868-1477.
SNOWKRAFT
Cross Country Skiing: 5736 Walker RD, Door County, Sturgeon Bay WI, 54235 Phone: 920-743-0272 Cel 920-495-8484 E-Mail: snowkraftnordic@gmail.com
