Groomed the skate deck on the big outer loop and the wooded trails this morning. It skied really really well. Classic tracks might be usable. To avoid glare ice while skiing, In two places I stepped off the trail onto the field crust: along Hwy 19 and at the intersection below caution hill. Some sticks in a few places from wind and recent forestry work. Mostly clear and fast.

(Ben Doherty)

Amazing skate skiing in the upper arb. Was groomed after last significant snowfall, for both classic and skate. Smooth lovely skiing, snow geese and a 7:30 pm sunset. What a gift.

(Ben Doherty)

Upper Arb: I classic skied, wife skated. Skate deck great. Classic tracks new — soft in places and already dog prints, but overall great.

(Will Schroeer)

Packed down the new snow all around the upper arb. The snow was too wet to scratch out the existing tracks, but it smoothed out pretty well enough that skating should be nice Saturday morning. I didn't set any classic tracks today, but there are good tracks on most trails. Grooming plans: Groomers plan to groom after any new snow.

(Ben Doherty)

This morning groomed in the upper arb. Widened a small race course for today's club race, by the Rec center and in the fields, and then did some scratching on the big outer loop (woods and prairie). I reset the classic track (now a little less icy) and made a narrow skate deck all the way around. Did not do much on inner trails. Should be usable the next couple days, though likely soft in the afternoon, to give us all something to do til the next snowfall :).

Photos:

(Ben Doherty)

Had a gorgeous ski in the upper arb this morning. The tracks are mostly great. In a few places they're too deep (boot scraping) and too soft (sinking some), but that's very limited areas. I skied back through the worst spots and it was better the second or third time, so hopefully with more skier traffic it will be even better.
All the skate lanes had been groomed a couple times and looked super. One skater was heading out and said it was great, though it looked a little soft to me (and slow cuz of the cold but that should change Saturday). So glad for this snow and the many hours of work from the grooming team to pack it down!

Photos:

(Marie Fure)

Skated the Upper Arb late afternoon today. Coverage is nearly 100%. Used my best skis. They entire track is kinda icy with a few spots of glare ice beneath trees or southern slope exposure but the glare ice is avoidable. The groomers created enough corduroy and loose stuff to make edging possible throughout. It's fast folks. Should be good Saturday until the warmth makes parts slushy. Classic tracks are shallow but amazingly intact. Kudos to the grooming team.

(Mark Orlowski)

Broke up the ice (and smoothed out ruts and footprints) on all Upper Arb trails - it looks like snow again! Hopefully great skate skiing; it's at least a big improvement. The classic tracks are still there , but shrinking. They're icy in the open areas but in the woods they caught a little more snow and might be more fun.

(Marie Fure)

Overall, the conditions were good. In the woods, there were some leaves, sticks and bare spots, but it was easy to maneuver around them. There were also some slick spots. Morning and evening can be a little icy, but this afternoon it was sort of slushy, but not to much to slow you down.

(Marie Fure)

Great conditions! Most all of the trails were perfect, with the exception of a few sticks and leaves in the woods. The classic tracks looked good too.

(Marie Fure)