Someone a couple days ago wrote on the whiteboard in the warming hut that they recommended B skis for skate--I'd assume it's improved since then, as I have some pretty nice skate skis and I had no anxieties while skiing 12k or so. Freshly groomed today--the base is thin but it's firm and coverage is good. Numerous scattered areas of dirt/debris, but never anything where I couldn't just ski around it without slowing down. My wife and daughters skied classic and they reported good conditions as well.

(Erik Riker-Coleman)

A couple inches of new snow fell on Sunday. The groomers were out today, they groomed all the trails and set track. The track is broken up a bit in places, but the trails are in good to very good condition. There is a base of about 3 inches, and we have about 10 inches of snow in the woods.

(Diane Gobin)

With another 2-3 inches of snow overnight, groomers are out on the trails today grooming trails and setting track. We have about 10 inches of snow in the woods, and a base of 2-3 inches on the ski trails. Conditions are good!

(Diane Gobin)

More snow on the ground at Brule than in Duluth, and the woods at After Hours Trails were beautiful. Skating was a bit soft (expected with new snow and temps in the low teens), but excellent coverage and grooming. Classic was very good, with a number of thin spots. Tracks were best on the trails with skating also, but Sally's classic-only trail (new name this year) was groomed and great fun. It did have more thin spots and some twigs, but really very good condition. The logging operation really only affected one or two short spots, aside from some noise down near where White Pine comes close to the river. The Brule is running bank-full, and was just gorgeous. The little side trip at Little Joe Rapids is well worth the effort for the view, although you need to negotiate a down tree. Fast wax teal paste gave great glide and plain old Swix green yielded excellent kick.

Photos:

(Tim Holst)

We received an additional 2 inches of dry fluffy snow overnight. Conditions are good - all the open trails have been groomed and tracks set. There may some loose fluffy snow on the tracks that were set yesterday afternoon. We have about 9 inches of snow on the ground in the woods, and the trees are snow-covered and beautiful!
Some trails remain closed due to logging activity. They will be opened when logging activity is complete.

(Diane Gobin)

Update: Track is being set this afternoon.
We got just a dusting of snow today, snow is still in the air - it's a beautiful day to ski!

(Diane Gobin)

The trails are being groomed. Conditions are fair to good. We have about a 2 inch base but there is still some grass sticking through the snow in some spots. Track has not been set yet - it may be possible to set track tomorrow.
Some sections of trails are closed where logging or hauling are occurring. As soon as the loggers or haulers move out of the area and conditions allow grooming of those sections, the trails will be re-opened.

(Diane Gobin)

The After Hours trails are skiable, but not in great condition yet. Skating is recommended as there isn't enough snow depth for a track. With low snow volume the trail is still pretty uneven. The coverage is mostly good with some dirt patches, and there are some sections that are pretty good. Thanks to the grooming crew at After Hours for making the most out of the snow!

Photos:

(Pasha Kahn)

The trails were rolled Wednesday, conditions are poor with about 1 inch of base and 5 inches in the woods. The wet spots are still freezing up and the rough spots need more snow to cover the bumps. Some trail sections are closed where logging or hauling are occurring. As soon as the loggers or haulers move out of the area and conditions allow grooming of those sections, we will re-open them.

Photos:

(Diane Gobin)