Skied the CCC trail and a few side trails. Trails are at the end of the season and icy in some spots but overall in decent shape. I would do it again today. Only CCC trail is open due to fallen trees, etc., from earlier storms. Really enjoyed this end of season ski.

(Bruce Tracey)

By late morning, the CCC was quite glazed, and the blue kick wax I had used successfully earlier at another more recently groomed location was not gripping enough to get me up the initial gradual hill without substantial use of my poles. Level and downhill portions were mostly glazed, and there was plenty of glide. Debris was an issue, especially on the river return, and at least one person had left deep boot prints from the beginning to the intersection with the Forbay snowmobile trail.

(Joel Rosen)

We skied the campground loop at Jay Cooke today. The tracks were 99.99% debris free, somewhat shallow, and pretty firm. Pole plants were firm except in a few areas but still pretty good. The trail was groomed yesterday and had about an inch of skied in snow today. I apologize, but one of the people in our group took a fall midway down one of the longer gradual hills and took out both sets of tracks so head's up if you like to fly down them. Saw the groomer and he said they have been able to groom more frequently this year because there is less to groom. He also said they will keep grooming until it's warm. He said they only groom between 8 am and 11 am so it is weather dependent. On another note... there were "attack" chickadees in the parking lot... they kept dive bombing us and even landing on us.

Photos:

(Eve Graves)

Late morning/mid-day ski on the CCC/Thompson loop. Tracks were very clean and well-defined but still just a bit soft in places. Plenty of grip with special blue covering blue but surprisingly, glide was only fair, especially the first time around. As usual, the only debris was encountered on the CCC return along the river.

(Joel Rosen)

Park staff did a very nice job of grooming and setting a double track this morning on the CCC/Thompson loop. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get there until afternoon, at which time conditions were less than ideal. Tracks were still clean when I arrived at about 2pm, but snow had softened considerably, and the glide had a "rubbery" feeling. With the temperature in the 37-38F range, special violet in the kick zone did not provide enough (or even any) grip. Violet extra in the kick zone improved grip considerably. Red or special red might have been even better.

(Joel Rosen)

Excellent conditions on the CCC/Thompson loop. As of late morning, tracks were still nearly pristine north of MN210, with just a few deer crossing tracks and a crossing snowshoe trail track. No glazed tracks yet. First half of the river return had some deer tracks following the grooming, but nothing that detracted from skiing. With temperature in the 26 to 28F range, special violet kicker worked well, and blue extra would probably have been good also.

(Joel Rosen)

CCC and Thomson loop freshly groomed and great for striding as of Thursday this week. Great conditions.

(Chris Gustafson)

Excellent conditions on the open trails, possibly the best skiing day of the winter. The CCC/Thompson loop is just about as clean as it was after grooming on Friday, with somewhat better glide, and the track is still fairly deep with no washed out areas. Still no glazing or significant debris on the return loop along the river, which is usually the trouble spot. The Oak trail has similar conditions, except for a few scattered oak leaves that settled in the tracks on the outgoing downhill portion-these are easily avoided without slowing down by lifting a ski. Special blue provided very good kick. Possibly glide would have been better with green, as temperatures did not warm up as fast as predicted (from -10F at sunrise to 14F at my start time, and 17F by the time I finished up shortly after noon. ) Thanks to the snowshoers, who have become much more numerous than skiers this year, for showing consideration in staying well to the side of the left track on the Oak Trail. It didn't look pristine, but still skied quite well.

(Joel Rosen)

The CCC and Thompson were virtually pristine late this afternoon. Tracks were deep and clean, and even the return along the river was not yet marred by debris or glazing. Track was set earlier in the afternoon, so the cold, fresh snow was squeaky, and glide was modest. I used green kicker, but I don't think special green would have made much difference. Should be great tomorrow morning unless it snows an inch or more overnight.

(Joel Rosen)

Only trail that is open is not groomed since the rain on Tuesday. Since that time a hard freeze has made the trail extremely icy. If you were to fall it would be a hard impact since the surrounding snow is frozen hard.

(Michael Pappas)