I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
Dec. 5, 1999
By Devlyn Brooks
For the third straight year, area snowmobiling and cross-country skiing enthusiasts have been disappointed by winter's paltry beginnings.
November -- which was the warmest Minnesota November on record -- produced only one slight snow shower in the Bemidji region and left ski and snowmobile trails bare.
Trail officials said this is the third year trail users will be forced to wait late into December, but it isn't as disappointing as last year when early November snow storms were ruined by an early December warming spell.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources -- which oversees more than 18,000 miles of snowmobiling trails -- was to open its trails Wednesday, but being the trails are useless without snow, the opening has been delayed.
"This was kind of disappointing for a lot of people," DNR Regional Information Officer Jim Reil said, "but the DNR doesn't control the snow."
Reil said, in fact, the last three years have contrasted the winters of 1995-96 and 1996-97, which were wonderful winters for snowmobilers and skiers.
"Snowmobiling made kind of a comeback those years," he said. "Those years were good for snowmobiling. I can't remember another winter in 25 years where ewe haven't' had some snow in November."
Much the same situation exists on the area's cross-country ski trails and the trails at Itasca State Park.
Bob Montebello of the Bemidji Area Ski Club said the group has been doing clean-up and signing work on the trails. So they should be ready when the snow eventually falls. Now, he said, the skiers are just patiently awaiting the snow.
At Itasca State Park, Information Specialist Connie Smith Cox said even though there's no snow, people are still using the trails. They're just wearing boots and hiking on them.
"Lake Itasca finally froze over today. As of today there is ice across the entire lake," Smith Cox said. "That's the only exciting winter news we have to tell. Other than that, I didn't even see any frost this morning."
The DNR's Reil said unfortunately that the lack of snow doesn't hurt trail use on ski trails as much as it does on the snowmobile trails. Whereas hikers can use ski trails without snow, most snowmobile trains run across private property and have less defined alternative uses.
How much is enough?
All three trail officials said at least 12 inches of snow is needed before the trails will be of any use. Both snowmobile trails and ski trails need at least that much so that a trail base can be compacted, they said. And then even more snow ill be needed to groom a trail atop the base.
They added that even after the snow arrives, temperatures have to cooperate and stay under the freezing point so that the snow will stay.
Snow forecast
Although National Weather Service officials say their forecasts decrease in accuracy after three days, senior meteorologist Greg Gust said Tuesday there are chances for snow Friday and Monday. He added, however, that he didn't think they would be significant snow falls, something which he didn't predict until at least late next week.
All is not lost
Unusual as the beginning of December without snow may be, all three trail officials said they expect the trails should be doing just fine in a couple of weeks.
Montebello says last year is a good example. First there was a couple of large snow storms early in November. then the temperatures increased in early December, and finally, good snow didn't start falling until January.
"It's not an unusual year yet," he said. "We've had some really good skiing opportunities in November, but not that many."
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