What are groomed tracks?
Groomed or Track skiing is where the snow has been packed down and smoothed flat by a grooming machine. Tracks can be groomed for skating, with just fine corduroy grooves left by the tiller of the machine, or for classic with two parallel tracks set into the snow for the skis to glide in. Ski resorts with groomed tracks normally list the total kilometres tracks available to ski on as well as the distance of tracks currently groomed.
Learn to ski on groomed tracks
In Australia all the ski resorts have groomed tracks; some of them have trail fees to help pay for the grooming. Learning to ski on groomed tracks is highly recommended, as it is much easier than on unpacked snow. Skate skiing is mostly done on groomed tracks, except in “spring conditions” where the snow sets up firm off track and you can skate everywhere. Check out Get Started section on resorts to find out about the groomed ski tracks at a resort near you!