We brought equipment over to Phalen today to attempt a groom. Unfortunately much of the trail is windblown and down to bare ground. Until we get another significant snowfall, we won't be able to put in a trail at Phalen.

(Tyler McKean, St. Paul Parks and Recreation)

Popped over to Phalen today to see if the trails had been groomed. No such luck today. I skied around the golf course, basically following the grooming route. The fluffy snow over hard frozen ground made it difficult to get good pole purchse, but it was lovely to be out on natural snow.

(Jonathan Poppele)

Well, I knew that it was probably not going to look pretty and I was right. The little bit of snow we received wasn't enough to cover the course. There is still quite a bit of bare ground. Hopefully we will get more snow but until then, Phalen isn't an option.

(Greg Loper)

Soft snow, people tracked but can ski nearly anywhere. Knolls show grass but 3-4 inches and even more in the "bowls". Had the place to myself, beautiful. Lots of small trees newly planted, some in what was the groomed trail in recent years. Likely changes for the route this season?

(Carrie Kostroski)

Phalen has plenty of snow. Skated this afternoon and found the snow to be about 3" deep. Ground is frozen under the snow, this allowed for some nice easy skating. There are thin wind blow spots and golf cart paths to watch out for. There are skied in tracks but seems like you can make your own just as easy.

(Bill Stuber)

Skiable but slow with very thin coverage. Grass blade tops showing through in most places. Classic only - not enough snow to skate. Based on combo of slightly slushy base grass showing, probably only mech (fishscale or skins) would be skiable (I used the former). I enjoyed it more than yet another pole hike session, and a good striding workout due to slow snow - but not a real lot of fun. Still, this early snow made for the shortest off-season in memory; less than 7 months!

(Pete Thurmes)