{"id":115421,"date":"2015-01-07T18:18:22","date_gmt":"2015-01-08T01:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ski-lizard-head\/"},"modified":"2015-01-07T18:18:22","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T01:18:22","slug":"ski-lizard-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ski-lizard-head\/","title":{"rendered":"Ski Lizard Head"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Cross-country
Cross-country skiers get ready on one of the many groomed trails maintained by the Telluride Nordic Association.<\/span>Courtesy photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The perfectly groomed trails laid down by the Telluride Nordic Association are ready for cross-country skiers at Lizard Head Pass, Trout Lake, and Priest Lake.<\/p>\n

TNA maintains a daily corduroy surface for skate skiers and a traditional track for classic skiers. Dolores County crews and Andy Hutchinson, of Dolores, regularly groom the tracks, located on public lands.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe conditions right now are perfect,\u201d said Lance Warring, TNA director. \u201cSkate skiing and classic skiing are a great alternative to resort skiing.\u201d<\/p>\n

TNA is working with the Uncompahgre National Forest on a plan to expand the Nordic trail system in the Trout Lake area, said board president Izar Eidsmo.<\/p>\n

A couple miles of test track are expected to go in this year in a meadow between Trout Lake and Lizardhead Pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the final review process. They are studying whether there will be an impact on the lynx that travels through this area,\u201d Eidsmo said.<\/p>\n

Two new trails have already been approved for grooming at Priest Lake.<\/p>\n

Grooming operations, fuel, and equipment cost TNC $45,000 per year. The organization encourages the public to donate towards the trail maintenance. But because the trails are on public lands, donations are voluntary.<\/p>\n

Yearly memberships are available, or users can donate what they can afford in boxes at the trailheads.<\/p>\n

TNA is launching a capital campaign to replace their 1993 Pisten Bully 150 grooming cat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe depend on grants and donations to keep the operations going and pay our groomers,\u201d Eidsmo said. \u201cUpgraded grooming equipment will be essential to successful grooming of expanded trails.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skate skiing has gained in popularity in recent years. The style is a very aerobic, all-body exercise. Skilled skate skiers can cover a lot of ground quickly using a timed, skating technique requiring specialized skis.<\/p>\n

Traditional cross-country skiers have a special track, and the skis are more suitable for breaking new trail and exploring the surrounding meadows and woods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe traditional skiers with experience can kick glide in the track with a lot of speed as well,\u201d Eidsmo said. \u201cThe trails are ideal for the \u2018shufflers\u2019 also, those who are there to relax, take it slow, and enjoy nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

TNA offers cross-country skiing lessons in skate and classic. They also offer ski and snowshoe tours.<\/p>\n

Their annual Butch Cassidy Ski Chase takes place Saturday Feb. 14, 2015. It\u2019s a fun event for all ages and abilities with options of 5k, 15k and 30k. The event will wrap up with a BBQ and prizes.<\/p>\n

For more information on Nordic services, trail maps, and membership information, visit the website at http:\/\/www.telluridetrails.org\/index.html<\/p>\n

jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dolores County crews groom trails located on public lands<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":115422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6362],"tags":[188,3965],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-115421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ds-sports","tag-dolores-star","tag-nordic-skiing-group"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115421"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=115421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}