Makin' Tracks: Our New Groomer for Classic Skiers

by up.bike

Winter isn’t going anywhere. With at least another month of good snow to look forward to, we’ve been putting the final touches on our new groomer. Instead of waiting to unveil it next season, check out the Classic Ski Track Groomer before spring spoils the fun!

When we dropped the Yeti’s Revenge groomer earlier this winter, we got a ton of emails. And we mean a ton of emails. Many of those were specifically focused on the Yeti, and with the level of detail and insight you’d expect from the sort of person who’d be looking to order one. From the type of steel, height and width, different mounts, and myriad of other intricacies, we didn’t just have a lot of information to dole out. It was also a chance to get feedback of what the world needs for winter grooming.

A good chunk of those emails asked whether the Yeti good be adapted in some way to lay classic tracks, too. It doesn’t, but with so much interest in a classic-specific groomer, we set to work. Admittedly, we didn’t need to reinvent the wheel but we did take a couple of weeks to really evaluate the traditional designs and materials and adapt the best features into our own version. Our experience as skiers and what we’ve learned creating the Yeti’s Revenge taught us that weight makes a world of difference, and we invested a lot of time testing different load points and how that affected how the tracks were expressed in the snow.

Initially, we wanted to use all of the month of February to put our new prototype to the test. One part of the delay was the decided lack of snow. Since mid-January, we’ve only had a few days of powder, and a handful of warm-ups meant that what we did have was either mashed potatoes or rock-hard pack ice. Finally, we got three different snowfalls that really let us put the new groomer through the paces. After just one or two tweaks, we were happy with its performance. Why wait?

You can order our new Classic Ski Track groomer right now and get in some incredible days in the tracks before the northern hemisphere thaws out. Here in northern Michigan, we’ve seen an exceedingly unpredictable winter, but if the past two years are any indication, we won’t be surprised if we are skiing deep into March, and maybe even early April!

Check out the new groomer, and make sure you hit us with any questions about this product or anything we’ve cooked up for skis, bikes, tools, or storage. Until then, we’ll see you in the woods!