Phalen is holding up surprisingly well given the warm conditions. Trails have been heavily used over the last 24 hours. Thaw and freeze conditions have made the skate deck thin and icy in spots while churned up in others. The classic track also has mixed snow conditions. Expect the course to degrade further as the weather warms but, as of writing, it is able to be skied.

(Greg Loper)

Phalen was groomed today and classic tracks reset. The course has been shortened by the groomers. I believe that this was done to avoid areas that will likely melt with the warming weather. Some grass was visible at the tops of hills and in parts of the classic tracks. Snow has started to melt but with the exception of some trouble spots, both the skate deck and classic tracks were in good shape.

(Greg Loper)

The classic tracks at Phalen have had snow blow into them in places but are still in good shape for the vast majority of the course. The skate deck is icy in spots but overall looks to be in good shape. Be careful for bare spots in both (but they are easily avoided for the most part.) While the course is not quite as nice as it was yesterday, it is still better than it has been most of the year.

(Greg Loper)

Phalen is in the best shape it has been in all year. The trails are newly groomed and classic tracks set. There are still a few icy spots on the skate deck (very few). There are also places in the classic track that get down to grass but they are easily seen and avoided. A huge thank you to our groomers who have done an amazing job in a low snow year.

(Greg Loper)

From a quick look out the car window this morning, it appears that the trails at Phalen have been groomed and classic tracks set.

(Greg Loper)

The recent snow has really helped the trails at Phalen. No grooming had taken palace as of the time I skied and no formal classic tracks were set. The skate deck was discernible and covered with new snow and homemade classic tracks were available on at least part of the course. I am confident that, as soon as it is groomed, we will see the best conditions we have seen so far this year at Phalen.

Photos:

(Greg Loper)

Trails are groomed for skating but no classic tracks set. The course was in good shape but did have some substantial icy spots. The groomers did a nice job of shortening the course to eliminate some of the more troubled spots. All in all, not bad.

(Greg Loper)

Trail was rolled today and is in decent shape. There are areas of bare ice and thin spots that can be avoided if you pay attention. The rest of the trail is pretty soft, but it beats driving out of town and paying to go in circles with everyone else. No tracks set.

(Tyler McKean, St. Paul Parks and Recreation)

The trails look to be holding up in the warm weather. The portions of the trails that I observed today appeared to be no different than yesterday (snow covered and well packed.) I assume the same bare spots that were present before are still present.

(Greg Loper)

The skate deck has a few bare spots but is in good shape in spite of the warm weather. The classic tracks are shallow and appear to be improvised for good parts of the course. It also appears that the course has been shorted to eliminate areas where coverage was deteriorating on the south end. The groomers have done a great job with what they have to work with. I would expect the warm weather in the next few days to make skiing more challenging but, today, it is pretty good.

(Greg Loper)