All trails have been groomed with the exception of the bridge 300 meters in. Soft and slow with plenty of deep pole plants as to be expected but it looks and feels more like Jan 13, not March 13 out there. Minimal foot traffic once you get in the woods.

(Joe Rosenthal)

Just groomed this morning.... after the rain and resulting icy hard conditions yesterday, and it's great! Good new classic track that's hard, but not icy, and skate deck surface has had shallow surface corduroy over hard base. It's very good. I classic skied with skin skis on Upper Chester- worked well. Scholastica team out training as I left. Thanks to the City groomer for reconditioning the trail after the rain-freeze!

(Dave Arvold)

Skied late morning, it appeared to be freshly groomed today? Unfortunately someone(s) used the ski trail as a walking trail. Most footprints were in the skate lane, sometimes they walked on the tracks.

(Anne Flueckiger)

Fun and challenging trail, as usual! Pack was firm and the snow crunched under my skis. Only minimal footprints on the trail.

(Sarah Nelson)

Fresh ankle deep dry powder on the hills of Chester relegating that nasty ice layer to the dustbin of history. Bit of drifting at the top near the ski lift causing me to topple over on the first pass, but at least the landing was nice and soft. Groomer had not been out when I finished shortly before 6 pm Thursday.

(Joe Rosenthal)

With some fresh snow on the trails, Chester was actually in really great shape Wednesday night, with a very firm frozen base underneath. No new grooming but it appeared that the lack of ski traffic on the trail during the warm up made for nearly pristine conditions for myself and several others last night. Nice deep firm tracks are set throughout, but they switch sides somewhat frequently. There are a couple sparse areas of deep post holing from foot traffic on the loop around the ski hill where if you placed a pole in one of the holes you might be liable to break it. However they are few and far between and easily seen ahead of time. A couple areas of the skate deck that are under thicker pine tree cover have a little soft debris and were icier than the rest of the system.

(Ketzel Levens)

Trails were recently groomed and amazing! Classic track is set and looks crisp. Get out and enjoy the heart pounding climbs and eye watering plummets! My favorite Duluth trail!

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(Chandra Shoberg)

Climbed up to the trail off Denny Drive and it was my good fortune to have the groomer come by to groom yesterday's 8-9 inches of fresh snow just as I was putting on my skis. He set a beautiful classic track and the skate deck is pristine courduroy. It was magical. Many thanks to the City Groomer for grooming so soon after this new snow!

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(Dave Arvold)

Chester has been groomed in last 24 hours! Good skate deck and groomed for classic with good track. I skied Upper Chester only. Temp was 0F, no wind...finally. Lots of small twigs in the trail.

Photos:

(Dave Arvold)

Trails looked to have been initially groomed on Monday with the day's snow dusting the top. I didn't ski the whole loop but the backside between Skyline and the top of the ski area had only a few punchy pole plants but overall the trail was firm with minimal foot and hoof damage. A beautiful start to the day!

(Fred Sproat)