Snow was fairly icy this morning at Hwy OO trailhead with some shallow ski ruts but skiing got much easier as the snow softened a bit around 9:30 or 10. By 11 though it was getting sticky and slow. Classic and skate trail between OO and boedecker was the most nicely groomed and had consistent (but not fast) classic track. Be careful of bare spots on hills just north of OO and on big hill just south of OO. Most everywhere else is complete coverage in that section.

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(Sam Severson)

I skied Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I was amazed at the difference in the conditions based on where I skied. Wednesday, I started at Hatchery and went to Mosquito Brook. The trail was perfectly groomed with a classic track set the entire way. It was the best snow that I have seen all winter. Thursday I skied north from Mosquito Brook. It didn't look like the same groomer had gone through. There was no classic track, there were large sink holes frequently on the trail. We were sinking in about 2 inches with every glide. Today, I went south from Mosquito Brook to Hatchery. Again, the grooming was excellent. The trail was wider, there was still an excellent classic track. Unfortunately, I didn't start until after noon so the snow got slower as I went, but was in excellent condition.

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(Barbara Krzak)

I skied the Birkie trail this morning from Boedecker to picnic table hill south of OO. The skiing is very enjoyable, but will be a little challenging in the mornings until it softens unless the ABSF regrooms in the overnight hours. The skate and classic trail are groomed from Boedecker to the bottom of picnic table hill, the OO loops are also groomed. There are nice classic tracks on both sides of the trail.

(Matthew Ryan)

Made a trip up to Hayward to ski, started at Hwy OO trailhead and went south. Recently groomed with about 1" fresh snow on top about 6" base. a few spots where ice was below. Tracks were good. Perfect conditions! 20 f sunny and tons of real groomed snow, like mid winter conditions. Should be around for awhile. Slower than the fake snow we all skied on all winter but well worth the trip. Used B skis but could have used my good skis.

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(Dan Dudley)

I skated the loops south of Hwy OO. All of the loops had been groomed (last night I think) and there was about an inch of new, dry snow on top of that. The skate deck was excellent and the classic tracks looked good, too. After a season of no snow, this was a treat.

(Don Quick)

Skied after the state meet. Plenty of icy and puddle spots and areas with leaves but was pleasantly surprised at conditions, especially the section of the loop out toward power lines.

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(Ben Fuller)

Went up to Cable and skied a couple laps on the 10km Birkie loops. Trail in the woods the first 5km were perfectly groomed with still about a foot of base in most areas. Once you got into the golf course area the trail became a bit icy with about a half inch of real snow on top making it controllable. Well worth the trip. It was closed down at 10am to prep for high school tournaments coming up. Conditions of the trail in the woods were still like perfect mid winter conditions. Hopefully will survive another warmup.

(Dan Dudley)

I couldn't believe the Birkie groomers had enough energy left after their historic week of ski racing on this now famous 10 km loop to regroom the trail today. The winds are starting to blow as El Nino is trying to reclaim control over our lost winter which created quite a bit of leaf debris on the wooded section of the trail however the meadow section of the trail was pristine. I even had a chance to ski the Elevator Shaft section of the trail today. This was my 36th Birkie and I thought I had seen every possible combination and permutation of course changes to accommodate challenging weather conditions but this 50th Birkie will probably go down as the miracle Birkie. We even had our Olympic and World Cup champions Jessie Diggins and Gus Schumacher on hand to win the mens and womens elite race. How perfect is that? I can't thank Ben Popp and the entire Birkie crew enough for making this 50th Birkie happen!

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(Gene Karwoski)

Report from the Thursday morning 30k Birkie Open Track skate. At 9am it was 28 degrees, blazingly fast, and clean. By my third 10k lap, notable softening especially in full-sun areas, some tan snow on the 6k of golf course trail, and a few slow-soft patches. Korte skiers who started at 11am reported that the softening continued. The many full-shade segments in the woods remained good. In sum: mixed under heat. Temp 53 when I left around 1pm!

(David Moore)

Awesome day skiing, what they have done on this no-snow winter is amazing. Skate deck was great with only an occasional twig. The golf course trail looks good. Fingers crossed that the weather holds.

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(Bob Maki)