Article Index

Marshall School Trail Expansion
August 26, 2004
A full report from Dave Johnson on the summer trail expansion at Marshall School in Duluth.

Groomer's Report: After Hours Ski Trail
March 24, 2004
Dave Johnson travels across the border (Wisconsin, that is) to check out the grooming efforts at After Hours Ski Trail.

Friends of Valhalla Fundraiser
March 3, 2004
Friends of Valhalla, a new group formed to help further develop Mount Valhalla Recreation Area as a top cross-country ski destination, will hold a presentation and fundraiser this Friday, March 5th.

ABR Grooming Clinic Report
February 26, 2004
Randy Lorenzen, one of the groomers from William O'Brien State Park, shares his experiences and opinions from the 2004 ABR Grooming Clinic, held in mid-January. The Ride and Glide Ski Club has been actively involved with the groomers at a number of east metro trail systems.

Section of Birkie Trail Closed
January 7, 2004
The portion of the famed Birkie trail between the Telemark start and McNaught Rd (start of the powerlines) is now closed until race day.

Hidden Valley Ski Trails Undermined?
December 3, 2003
The Hidden Valley ski trails in Ely could be threatened if possible plans for gravel mining materialize. The Ely Nordic Ski Club is asking for skiers to voice their opinions on this topic.

Greywalls Ski Trail Opening this Winter
November 26, 2003
Greywalls, a new golf course being constructed in Marquette, will also feature an 8K ski trail which thanks to the Noquemanon Trails Network (NTN) will open this winter, well in advance of the golf course opening. The article also outlines other NTN expansion plans this winter.
Related:
Greywalls Golf Course construction

Noqueuemanon Trail Network Armbands
November 20, 2003
The Noquemanon Trail Network (NTN) will support the grooming of 85km of trails in Marquette County through the sale of skier armsbands this winter.

Theodore Wirth Winter Recreation Area Plans
November 19, 2003
John Munger from the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation outlines recent progress towards developing snowmaking and lighted trails at Theodore Wirth and makes a request to voice your opinions to the Mpls City Council this week.

MNSA Highlights Winter Trail Study
October 30, 2003
The Minnesota Nordic Ski Association is highlighting a recent study in Cook County that examines the local impacts by and perceptions of snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. You may find a number of the results to be very surprising.
Related:
Full Survey Results paper

Sand Dunes State Forest
October 28, 2003
Backcountry Trail Patrol's Hans Erdman highlights Sand Dunes State Forest, a quiet little trail system tucked away in the woods not far from Lake Maria State Park. The trail system has undergone a number of updates in preparation for this ski season.

Sugarbush Renovated
October 17, 2003
The Sugarbush trail system on the Northshore is undergoing some updates including new on-course trail maps and brushing clearing later this month.

Big Changes at Three Rivers
October 16, 2003
Three Rivers Park District issued two press releases on changes and updates for the upcoming cross-country ski season:
Three Rivers New Cross-Country Ski Pass - This season the park district will require a new Three Rivers Park District cross-country ski pass for skiing at any of the parks within their system. The pass will also cover nordic skiing at Hyland Hills. In addition, Three Rivers has announced that Crow-Hassan Park will now be closed for cross-country skiing in order to focus their resources elsewhere.
Elm Creek Winter Recreation Area Update - The Elm Creek Winter Recreation is nearing the completion of Phase I which includes a 2.5K lighted snowmaking XC skiing loop and is expected to open in late November or early December.

Hyland Detours
October 12, 2003
Finding your way to Hyland Park or Hyland Hills downhill area may require some extra planning as Hwy 100 at the I-494 interchange is closed until Summer 2004.

New St. Cloud Biathlon Range
October 6, 2003
The Graystone Trails in St. Cloud now sports a brand-new 20 position biathlon range.

New Marshall Trails
October 4, 2003
Dave Johnson takes us through a tour, complete with photos and map, of the new ski trail practice loop behind Marshall school in Duluth.

Gateway Rollerski Hill Workout
October 3, 2003
Gateway Trail is a typical rails-to-trails conversion -- a flat-as-a-pancake trail cutting through beautiful countryside. Steve Thatcher highlights a few detours that can add some decent hillwork to this favorite metro rollerski location.

Privatized Porkies
September 30, 2003
The Michigan DNR is wrapping up the sale of the Porcupine Mountains downhill area to a private firm. One of the biggest impacts of this change is the cancellation this season of the Porcupine Mountain Ski Marathon. Organizers hope to revive the event in 2005.

North Hennepin Trail Reconstruction
September 2, 2003
The 6-mile Regional Trail Corridor between Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park and Elm Creek Park Reserve is scheduled to close for reconstruction beginning September 2nd. Work should be completed by early November.

Elm Creek Update
August 18, 2003
Three Rivers has posted an update on the trail improvements at Elm Creek, including the resurfacing status, and news on major updates and additions to their asphalt trail system, roadways and parking lots.

Troll Hollow Version 2.0
August 14, 2003
Not resting on their laurels, Trollhaugen is busy this summer redesigning their cross-country trail system. When completed this fall, it will offer more distance with additional flat and wooded sections that will greatly expanded on their already top-notch facility.

Three Rivers Seal Coating
July 22, 2003
Three Rivers Park District will be seal coating a number of their asphalt trail systems over the next three weeks, including the popular Hyland Lake and Elm Creek (north end) trails.
Update:
A number of skiers have voiced concerns over the seal coating project. We've received more details on the project from Three Rivers: Seal Coating Follow Up
If you have additional concerns or questions, you can contact Three Rivers at 763-559-9000 or feedback@threeriversparkdistrict.org

Three Rivers Updates
June 25, 2003
News on Elm Creek and Southwest LRT asphalt trails, along with an update on Elm Creek snowmaking.

Possible Park Cutbacks
February 11, 2003
With possible deep budget cuts looming, one of the metro area's favorite skiing venues, Murphy-Hanrehan, could be closed down.

MNSA: North Shore OHV Damage
January 13, 2003
The Minnesota Nordic Ski Association (MNSA) is reporting OHV damage on the popular North Shore ski trail, including much of the system planned for use with the new North Shore Mountain Challenge XC ski race.

Wolverine Wonder
January 3, 2003
Andrew Gardner shares his experiences with the Wolverine Ski Trail system and highlights the improvements done by the local ski club in recent years.

December Snow
January 2, 2003
It was a pretty bleak December for skiing. Mark Lahtinen breaks down December snowfalls and attempts to draw some correlations to past seasons.

Crossroads Improvements
December 31, 2002
The Crossroads Nordik Challenge, scheduled for Jan 5th, was cancelled this year. The race organizers and volunteers had spent hundreds of hours this past off-season making a number of improvements to this eastern Wisconsin trail system.

Banadad Ski Trail Shuttle Available
December 30, 2002
Another perk of skiing on the Gunflint: They've recently added car shuttle service for the Banadad Ski Trail system. Skiers can be dropped off at one location and ski back to a trailhead where their car will be waiting.

Midwest Grooming Clinic
November 23, 2002
The ABR/CCSAA Midwest Grooming clinic is a combination clinic, seminar, workshop, trade show and show and tell session. All levels of groomers are invited. The event is scheduled for Jan 15-16 (midweek) -- register now!

MNSA Trail Survey Results
November 23, 2002
The Minnesota Nordic Ski Association (MNSA) has recently completed a ski trail survey in cooperation with the Minnesota DNR.

Rainbow Improvements
November 23, 2002
Wider trails, a new return trail, and a couple of new long routes, are just a sampling of the improvements made to the Rainbow Resort trail system over the summer.

Maplelag Trail Updates
November 16, 2002
Maplelag has been busy this fall working on some new additions to their ski trail network. Jay Richards presents the details on the new updates, a recap of last season's new skating trail addition, and a number of photos.

UP Trail Updates
November 5, 2002
Two more trail updates, this time featuring some trails in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan: Al Quaal Recreation area adds 7.5K of new trail and Mich Tech wraps up over $200K of big league trail improvements!

Telemark Trail Expansion
November 3, 2002
Telemark Resort has added a new 2K trail called 'Fever', which is specifically designed for early season/low-snow conditions. The trail runs close to a number of snow-making locations, making it possible for them to push snow onto the trail segments.

ABR's Summer Projects
October 19, 2002
Eric Anderson, of ABR ski trails, has sent in an update on summer and fall trail work at ABR. They've added a couple of new trail segments, including a challenging classic route, as well as the usual off-season fine-tuning to the existing trails.

Elm Creek Renovation
October 16, 2002
The Elm Creek asphalt trails on the southern end are finally starting a much needed overhaul. The project has been split into four phases, with the first two scheduled to be completed by summer 2003.

Troll Hollow
October 13, 2002
Trollhaugen has been busy this summer making preparations for cross-country skiing. The biggest story is the development of Troll Hollow, a full-time, groomed and tracked nordic trail with, of course, guaranteed snow.

Afterhours Expansion
October 10, 2002
Steve Petersen, Superintendent Brule River State Forest, which manages the Afterhours Ski Trails has provided a short write up on the trail expansion they have been working on this summer. The trail system should be over 22K in length this winter. Also: The Brule River State Forest Master Plan is still open for comment.

Trail Expansion in Marquette
April 17, 2002
The Mining Journal (Marquette newspaper) had an article last week on plans to develop 120-mile trail system encompassing 15 trailheads with connectors and public facilities. Part of the proposal includes a new lodge with locker rooms and a ski stadium for spectators.
Related Info:
Mining Journal: More details

Quarry Park Development
March 28, 2002
Pete Theismann of the Stearns County Park has sent an update on trail development at Quarry Park in St. Cloud, MN. The Quarry Park ski trail system has had serious problem with walkers, but new plans for a separate walking trail are now in the works.

Theodore Wirth Development
March 26, 2002
The city of Minneapolis held an informal meeting at Theodore Wirth on Monday night, March 25th, to discuss the future of cross-country skiing and mountain biking in the Minneapolis Park system. The meeting was well attended, and extremely positive.

At Soldier Hollow
January 22, 2002
Every wonder what it might be like to ski on the already famed Olympic course at Soldier Hollow, Utah? Skinnyskier Lacy Belden has contributed a nice piece recalling her experience at the venue last December.

ABR Improvements
December 11, 2001
ABR spent much of the summer and fall upgrading their trail system, and adding a second rustic cabin. Eric Anderson sent us a photo montage with commentary.

Mt. Itasca Venue Development
December 7, 2001
Piotr Bednarski has supplied a great background article on the development of a new biathlon/nordic venue at Mt. Itasca, in Coleraine, MN.

Groom Time
December 3, 2001
Comments from Lee Borowski on proper timing when grooming, and one of his favorite groomed trails in NE Wisconsin.

Improvements at Battle Creek
October 12, 2001
Battle Creek - Winthrop site, in St. Paul, MN, has once again undergone some major improvements. Besides cleaning up a few of the hairy corners on last year's addition, they carved out a new 4.5K section of trail on the "ravine" side of Battle Creek. All this is in preparation for the huge Ski Games at Battle Creek event that kicks off this January.

Snowflake Flurry
October 2001
George Hovland has been hard at work in the "off-season" improving the facilities at Snowflake. There are a number of new additions, including a biathlon range, soccer field, and speedskating track. Article by Dave Johnson.

Elm Creek Expansion
May 2001
Hennepin Parks has big plans for Elm Creek, including new tubing hill, a limited downhill facility, and a new trailhead complex. But one of the biggest gems for nordic skiing is the plan for snowmaking capabilities.

Baker Park Rollerskiing
May 2001
In mid-May, the Baker Park Reserve asphalt trails reopened after the repaving project that was started last fall. The new trail features a number of minor changes to the layout that improve on some tricky intersections. Also note that poling is banned on the new Baker trails when temperatures rise above 80F.

Elm Creek Expansion Plans
May 2001

Baker Rollerskiing Feature
May 2001

Under the Lights
December 2000
A review of some of the lighted ski trails in the area.

Hyland Rollerskiing Feature
September 2000

Elm Creek Rollerskiing Feature
August 2000

New Addition to Battle Creek Trails
July 2000
Ramsey County has been working this summer to add an exciting new loop to the already challenging Battle Creek, Winthrop Site trail system.