Marshall Nordic Ski Team Athletes

Grooming ski trails and setting up race courses is one of my favorite activities. I am always on the lookout for ways to improve the job that I can do or for equipment that will make the job easier. When I first saw a picture of the ASV Scout SC-50 I was intrigued. From the picture it looked to be just the perfect vehicle to fill the gap between a snowmobile and a large Pisten Bully type of vehicle. I made some inquires with the ASV folks and was put in touch with Hannah Tanata at ASV. She invited me to tour the factory and share with her my thoughts about the Scout as a grooming vehicle. Hannah also offered the use of a Scout to support Marshall hosting a Super Tour Sprint Race.

ASV delivered the Scout SC-50 early in January 2008 and we had use of it on the Marshall Campus until the middle of March. The model that ASV delivered had an enclosed cab, dump box and plow.

What did we use the Scout for and how did it perform?

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The Marshall Nordic Ski Trails are maintained and groomed by several different pieces of grooming equipment. For packing down fresh snow we use a roller constructed of an 8 foot X 30 inch diameter plastic culvert. For grooming the snow and setting classic tracks we are the proud owners of a 2007 Yellowstone Track Systems Ginzu Groomer.

This season (2007) has been a very low snow year. The team and parents have spent hours shoveling snow and hauling it out on the trail to create a small practice loop. Some of the snow that we gathered was very icy and chunky. The YTS Ginzu Groomer was able to quickly turn it into an excellent skiing surface. We also have in our grooming quiver a 8 foot wide Cragin groomer. Read the rest of this entry »