Last ski of the year. We have said that many times this season, but today must have been it. We (Josie, David, Karl, Kajsa, Per, Margie, George and Ingrid Nelson) came out to celebrate my daughter Kajsa's 6th birthday by skiing on April 29th. I broke a ski, but I have broken the same one many times before so it must have been a bad repair job. We skied on bare grass and leaves to get to the stretch of snow shaded on the north facing hill south of OO. We all enjoyed skiing down the hill and then across a large puddle. There was less than 30% of the trail that was snow covered, but we all thoroughly enjoyed the celebration on skis!

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(David Nelson)

Put in at Camp 38 crossing on the Classic Trail. Skied (south) up and over High Pt. to the overlook/plateau. Then back tracked and picked up the Skate Trail. Some very good skiing, a "10". And some bad skiing, a "0" or hiking. About a 80/20 split snow vs. dirt. Maybe one more day? Thanks ABSF crew for a great season!

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(Jeff Tumbleson)

Still skiing on the loops at OO. Wet corn snow. Might have to run on skis a bit, and cross some puddles and streams. 6-12 inches of snow in places. First time on rock skis since November.

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(Thomas Meyer)

Classic skied from OO north to Fire Tower Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Very wet, transformed snow, with about 4-6 bare spots total that require a 10 ft walk each. Caution needed! Classic tracks heavily melted but skiable and 1 foot base remains on much of the trail, owing to the consistent grooming this spring (Thanks groomers!). Fish-scale skis performed excellent. Shorts and t-shirt skiing with the scenes of mid winter and the sun and air of high spring - immaculate!

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(Paul Cigan)

Thanks to the groomers for one last fabulous weekend. I skied from OO to start and back and also hit the N end trails and the OO loops on both Friday and Saturday. Friday was slow since I started at 10:15 but Saturday I started at 6:30am in 21F degrees and enjoyed the thrilling rides. Was great to ski the Birkie in shorts and tank top.
Check out the photos of the new planned terrain park at the Birkie start. Rumor has it they will make it span the entire width of start next year (just kidding). Also neat to see they are getting ready to crack ground at OO for new chalet.

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(Kevin Ousdigian)

Skated Boedecker to the start area and back, early morning. Fantastic grooming, conditions same as noted previously. Fun to see big smiles on the trail. One downer: two snowmobiles got on the trail several K north of Boedecker, ran south and turned up the classic trail at Boedecker. If it freezes tonight, you'll want to be careful in the early morning, though there is room to ski around the trashing. Thanks ABSF and groomers for great conditions all year and gifting us with great end of season grooming!

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(Kevin Smith)

Great skiing early. Crust was spectacular, groomer came through early too. Got slow after 10am. We skied crust on WC trails and then Birkie skate trail from start to OO.

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(Matt Liebsch, Pioneer Midwest Ski Shop)

Just finished up grooming and tracking on the Birkie Skate trail from OO to the American Birkebeiner TH. This was likely our last grooming activity of this season so we wanted to get our equipment to the American Birkebeiner TH for when we start making snow 7 months from now. Enjoy the last few days of great skiing....it's been a great season! Enjoy!

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(Kurt Proctor, American Birkebeiner)

Skied north from Boedekker to Firetower. We went North on the Classic and South on the skate trail. Conditions were fast on the Classic with good corduroy. Going south on the Skate trail it was rutted up pretty deep from a couple of skiers who were on the trail when it was freshly groomed and still soft. The downhills were dicey as you had to watch out for the ski cuts. There is plenty of snow but the trail is vulnerable to being skied on when it is too warm, things get cut up and then when it freezes at night the trail could get pretty nasty from the track scars. [ Note: As with any Spring skiing, when the trails are icy skiers should wait for fresh grooming or plan their skiing to coincide with warmer temperatures that will help reduce icy conditions -- Ed. ]

(Dan Murphy)

Today we groomed and tracked from OO to Fire Tower on both the Birkie Skate and Classic trails. Enjoy!

(Kurt Proctor, American Birkebeiner)