Conditions: Good for skating. Fair for striding.
Very cold weather with a recently groomed skate lane made for hard and fast skating. Still able to get a good edge despite shallow snow depth. There are small patches of gravel showing on some of the hills so ski carefully to avoid. Could use more snow! Striding tracks look fair, but again are shallow, and there are patches with many leaves.

(Dick Johnston)

The trails have not been groomed since the dusting of snow on Thursday. The skating deck is in good condition, but hard packed, skated-in and slow at these temps. The classic tracks, however, are excellent and might the best of the season. Firm with good glide. Oak leaves are in the tracks, but the east-west segments have fewer leaves than the north-south segments, due to the west winds, I presume. Now that the County groomers set continuous tracks through intersections and the oak leaves are too cold to stick to Swix Polar hard wax, classic skiing was quite enjoyable.

(Mark Blaskey)

Conditions: Very good to excellent. About an inch of fresh snow on a firm deck.
Didn't encounter any bare spots. Was skating, but noted there was enough fresh snow to coat debris on classic tracks. Nearly had the place to ourselves due to Birkie event this weekend :).

(Robert Zich)

Conditions: Best of the year.
These light snow falls add up to excellent conditions thanks to the groomers that lay down fresh corduroy. Classic track looked to be in good condition too. The whole system seemed to have been groomed.

(Tim Shepardson)

The skating deck is hard, well used, and has not been groomed in several days. The classic tracks, however, are in the best condition of the year. Last night's dusting covered the oak leaves and so far this morning the wind has not kicked new leaves into the tracks. Very good classic conditions and I am happy to report the groomers now set tracks through intersections.

(Mark Blaskey)

Conditions: Great, but strong winds blew a lot of tree debris onto the trail. A little sticky skating due to a warmer wagon my skis.
Best ski of the season this morning despite 2 degrees with a 20-mph wind. Bundle up, cover your face, and have fun! Definitely worth the $6 day use fee to use a restroom and have space to change out of sweaty clothes.

(Bill Barthen)

Conditions: Fair skate deck, marginal classic tracks. What snow there is has set up very firmly, although not too icy.
Some bare spots appearing on hills, nothing the full trail width though. Classic tracks are glazed but are getting pretty thin in some areas and even some areas of dirt poking through.

(Alex Popp)

Conditions: Freshly groomed trails this morning! All are open. Excellent conditions for skating and marginal for classic due to presence of oak leaves in the tracks. Some grooming on classics tracks has been done and some areas are free of oak leaves, but overall, highly recommend skating.
Stillwater and Minneapolis area skiers, come on over! Sunny and brilliant today. Non-skiers, bring your snowshoes and enjoy the snowshoeing trails in and around Tower Ridge while your friends or spouse skis! Wine and a picnic indoors or out at the picnic tables, to cap off your day!

(Emily Blaskey)

Very good conditions for skating. Freshly groomed fast powder over a very firm deck. Very occasional spots of dirt poking up and short stretches with forest litter. Classic tracks were mostly reset but the wind put lots of oak leaves in them. The County continues their inexplicable method of not setting tracks on hills or through intersections.

(Mark Blaskey)

Conditions: Superb!
Our recent snowfall followed up by perfect grooming, makes Tower Ridge the destination ski area at the moment. Full coverage for downhills; thinning areas are no longer a problem. Classic tracks are excellent as well, without the usual oak leaves. All trails are open.

(Emily Blaskey)