Grooming for success on the Seeley Creek Nordic Trails

SEELEY LAKE – Seasoned skiers of the area are calling the skiing in Seeley Lake "the best starts in recent memory." Since early December, the trails have received regular, moderate amounts of snow that the dedicated group of volunteers has been able to keep packed and groomed. The Nordic Club has also added a PistenBully 100 to the trail grooming management thanks to owner/operator Doug Edgerton who has more than four decades of grooming experience.

The Nordic Club currently has three ginzus, two rollers and a couple of drags for keeping the 18-kilometer (10.8 miles) of skate and classic track in prime condition. This is a huge upgrade from the bedspring they used to use to groom the trails 30 years ago.

Volunteers groom every day the conditions allow resulting in what Club President Mike McGrew calls "rave reviews and a donation box stuffed with $20 bills that go a long way towards paying the overhead."

While there have been a few members of the Club that would have loved to have a PistenBully, Club Vice President Lynn Carey said the initial expense and upkeep has always put it out of reach. Not only is a PistenBully a diesel, something not many of the groomers are familiar with, it also needs to be torn down and gone through every summer. There is also the issue of learning how to operate it properly.

However, last winter the Club learned that Edgerton, longtime grooming contractor at West Yellowstone and owner of Yellowstone Track Systems, Inc., was moving to Seeley Lake.

Edgerton started grooming snowmobile trails for the West Yellowstone Snowmobile Club in 1975 and started grooming for the US Ski Team in 1977 at West Yellowstone. That gradually morphed into a larger and larger program as more and more skiers arrived.

He purchased his first PistenBully in the mid-1980s.

"One person with 40 kilometers [to groom] just can't keep up with a sled," Edgerton said. "It is actually almost cheaper to do it with a machine if you know what you are doing with it."

To subsidize his grooming, Edgerton started Yellowstone Track Systems, Inc. in 1984 and sold grooming implements. Seeley Lake Nordic Club purchased their grooming equipment from Yellowstone Track Systems, Inc. Carey got to know Edgerton on his trips over to pick up the new grooming implements.

Edgerton decided to leave West Yellowstone and move somewhere where he could still ski. He and his wife purchased property in Seeley Lake and are currently building a new home.

"West Yellowstone and Gallatin County have gone nuts, to say the least," Edgerton said. "It is just insane."

Edgerton sold his two PistenBully 400s that he used in West Yellowstone. After skiing here, he knew the 19-foot tiller was too wide for the ski trails so they would not have been very useful. However, he kept his PistenBully 100 with a 3-meter track, 3.1 meter tiller and 3-4 meters across the flaps.

He agreed to plug in with the Nordic Club because "I like to ski."

"He volunteered both the Bully and the wisdom to the Nordic Club and we humbly and gratefully accepted," McGrew said.

This summer, Edgerton picked rocks and widened a few sections of the Seeley Creek trails to help the groomer. Carey limbed several of the trees that overhang the trail. The Club also hauled in a lot of gravel in the Bull Pine loop to level the trail. This summer they hope to gravel the entire 3K loop.

"It gives you a lot more level surface right from the get-go," McGrew said. "We can also start grooming earlier and theoretically groom later. As winter is getting shorter, it helps us expand our season."

While the Nordic Club still primarily uses snowmobiles and volunteers to do the bulk of the grooming, the PistenBully is out about once a week "to make everything perfect," McGrew said.

This last week when more than a foot of snow fell, the PistenBully was the first groomer out.

"In conditions like that, [groomers] spend I don't know how many hours going around and around and around just trying to stay on top of it," McGrew said adding that because the snow does not have much moisture it is very difficult to pack and single digits are very cold on a snowmobile.

Carey said if they get more than eight inches of snow they need to pack the trails with the snowmobiles before they can pull the roller. Edgerton said the PistenBully can go through a lot more snow and do a little more work. Regardless of conditions, he can do the majority of the trails in an hour and 45 minutes. If he has to use the tiller, it has taken as long as two and a half hours.

"It is basically like a big snowmobile. If you get too much snow, it is going to leave a really hollow pack so it is a day or two before it comes back," Edgerton said.

McGrew said for the OSCR ski race Jan. 29, the PistenBully will groom the big 50K loop. Historically the Driftriders Snowmobile Club has helped with the grooming on the snowmobile trails for the big races. However, their groomer is not always available.

"Doug knows what we are looking for as far as optimum ski conditions and so we know it will be groomed," McGrew said.

McGrew added in the past they have also had the request for a classic track for the OSCR. If there was enough demand in the future, the PistenBully has a track setter so Edgerton could set the track while grooming.

"It is a option that would be really easy for us to offer in the future," McGrew said.

"If you like the new grooming, let us know," McGrew said. "And if you REALLY like it, remember, nothing says 'thank you' like money."

The Seeley Creek Nordic Trails are located one mile east of Highway 83 on Morrell Creek Road. For more information about the Seeley Lake Nordic Club and their upcoming events visit https://www.seeleylakenordic.org.