Rock hard skating this morning. Many stretches of actually decent, hard snow separated by 20-meter-long gray ice patches. Old Fischers with side cut made it manageable. As a wise skier told me, "If you aren't taking off your skis, it's not Spring skiing." Well, I didn't need to take mine off.

Photos:

(Mark Blaskey)

The skating deck on most of the trails was groomed this morning, resulting in a fine sugar snow over the hard snow beneath. Fairly good edge control and nice speed...until the temp hit 40. The tracks were not reset but are mostly in decent shape but with a scattering of oak leaves. One short south-facing hill is brown, but the rest is still all snow-covered. Maybe another few days??

(Mark Blaskey)

Excellent conditions for both classic and skating. The new Ginzu was used for the first time Thursday and it left a beautiful skating deck and classic tracks that are well-formed and smooth.

(Mark Blaskey)

Conditions: Good, fresh grooming.
Fresh grooming took place today. The groomer had done all the main level trails while I was skiing, but hadn't got to the lower loop yet. He did set track as well. I skied the outer loops and it was awesome. I saw no thin spots and just a little debris had fallen do to the high winds. Tower had truly great conditions. I hope everyone gets out there this week while we still have snow.

(Justin Johnson)

Conditions: Fair to good. If I had a pair of B skis I'd be using them :) Trails have not been groomed recently for lack of snow. Some areas groomer is churning up dirt. Nothing a few inches of fresh snow wouldn't cure. Classic tracks looked surprisingly well defined though with expected debris given the recent winds and lack of snow.
Skate deck is getting a little icy and rutted in areas with some thin spots starting to show up. Quite a lot of debris. Still very skiable.

(Robert Zich)

Conditions: Good for skating. Fair for striding.
Very cold weather with a recently groomed skate lane made for hard and fast skating. Still able to get a good edge despite shallow snow depth. There are small patches of gravel showing on some of the hills so ski carefully to avoid. Could use more snow! Striding tracks look fair, but again are shallow, and there are patches with many leaves.

(Dick Johnston)

The trails have not been groomed since the dusting of snow on Thursday. The skating deck is in good condition, but hard packed, skated-in and slow at these temps. The classic tracks, however, are excellent and might the best of the season. Firm with good glide. Oak leaves are in the tracks, but the east-west segments have fewer leaves than the north-south segments, due to the west winds, I presume. Now that the County groomers set continuous tracks through intersections and the oak leaves are too cold to stick to Swix Polar hard wax, classic skiing was quite enjoyable.

(Mark Blaskey)

Conditions: Very good to excellent. About an inch of fresh snow on a firm deck.
Didn't encounter any bare spots. Was skating, but noted there was enough fresh snow to coat debris on classic tracks. Nearly had the place to ourselves due to Birkie event this weekend :).

(Robert Zich)

Conditions: Best of the year.
These light snow falls add up to excellent conditions thanks to the groomers that lay down fresh corduroy. Classic track looked to be in good condition too. The whole system seemed to have been groomed.

(Tim Shepardson)

The skating deck is hard, well used, and has not been groomed in several days. The classic tracks, however, are in the best condition of the year. Last night's dusting covered the oak leaves and so far this morning the wind has not kicked new leaves into the tracks. Very good classic conditions and I am happy to report the groomers now set tracks through intersections.

(Mark Blaskey)