The Past President of Sandilands Ski Club says they could use more snow. But Laurie Silversides says trails are now groomed.

Silversides says they last groomed Sandilands on December 27th, though not all trails are yet open. The Purple, Green, Black and Grey trails were then in good shape. She adds it requires a large amount of snow in order to do a proper grooming in Sandilands, because of the sandy terrain. Silversides notes there were some twigs coming through the snow but not enough to damage skis. Silversides says a section of the Green and Black trails have had some snowmobile traffic.

Over at Quarry Oaks Golf Course, trails were last groomed on December 28th. And, at Steinbach Fly-In Golf Course, they were groomed on December 30th.

Silversides says they normally do their grooming on Fridays in time for the weekend. But because of the lack of snow, she says they probably will not be grooming today.

"We're receiving more snow they say in the forecast on Sunday and I'm hoping that that snow will allow us to be able to groom properly again and sort of makeup for the warm temperatures that we've had," she says.

Silversides says when she was last out, the trails were in good shape. She says their groomer is always hoping for limousine trails, which means trails in excellent condition.

"With the lack of snowfall, we haven't got to those excellent, excellent trails," she says. "But I was out there skiing and the trails were good, they were good to very good."

Silversides notes two days of melting conditions probably won't be beneficial.

"In the forest, the plus temperatures are not going to be as detrimental because of the canopy of trees as would be in the open," she explains. "But I'm thinking that the snow will be getting a little bit crusty because of the temperatures."

She urges skiers to be cautious with hills as they can become challenging if they get icy.

According to Silversides, last year was a phenomenal year for skiing, while some years there isn't much opportunity to get out and ski before Christmas.

Meanwhile, Silversides says they are hoping to soon start their Jackrabbits program, which is designed to help kids aged 4 to 14 learn to ski. On February 24th is the club's Sandilands Ski Day.