We skied the Birkie Ridge trail this morning. At 36 degrees, the skiing was surprisingly good. Some soft spots and a few icy, but overall good for skate and classic all the way to the Birkie Trail. The Birkie skate trail that I could see from the junction looked like it had survived the warm weekend and rain pretty well and I could see no ski tracks in it so it appears skiers have stayed off of it. The south loop of the Birkie Ridge trail was pretty soft, I would call it skiable but fair conditions, though the tracks looked a little better than the north loop tracks. We may have survived the thaw!

(Tom Detzner)

Got up really early this morning, anticipating that the best conditions at Birkie Ridge would be early. That proved correct. On snow by 6:45 a.m. at Birkie Ridge with a headlamp. Huge thanks to Chris and the grooming crew for providing us with a place to go, even while the main trails are closed. Grooming at BR was excellent. The snow is very dense and heavy with moisture. Skate deck was firm and quick, even as it drizzled rain. Pole plants were solid, except for the south loop, which was softer. With the extremely dense snow, there is some risk of snapping a pole during roll-through on the south loop, where it is softer. North loop was better. By my second lap, the snow was getting a bit sucky on the downhills but still not bad. Then I tried some classic skiing with my Skintecs. They worked great, with plenty of kick. The grooves were a bit soft, though, with the sound of compressing snow happening pretty much continuously. This made the gliding slower but not terrible. Probably after a few more people go through they will get more firm. Still, the classic skiing was pretty fun too. I was off by about 9:00. It was definitely worth the trip. The round trip from parking lot to the rope at Birkie Trail, using the south loop out and the north loop back is about 6.5K.

(Del Bakkum)

Skied the Birkie Ridge segment early this morning (only portion of trail that is open). Better than expected. Recently groomed skate deck along with a well formed classic track. I used a ski with an aggressive grind and plenty of flouro's and had decent glide. It's about a 6 km loop from bottom to top with a return via the South loop. Track got soft at the end but it was worth coming out in a light rain.

(Andy Schwartz)

Birkie officials have announced the Birkie trail will close Thursday night, at midnight, to preserve the conditions and prevent damage during forecast rain this weekend. They are hoping to reopen the trail early next week, but please wait for an official notice. Birkie Ridge, a 6K offshoot near Seeley, will remain open for skiing.

(Bruce Adelsman)

We skied south from OO to the Gravel pit. The trail was not re-groomed from the Seeley classic. It was slick until you skied past Pic-nic table hill. The skate lane in between the tracks was sort of narrow so it made for exciting passing when there was oncoming skiers. BUT, Every hill was a game of "Let's make a deal" You had four lanes to choose from and those tracks were like clipping into a railroad track: let it all go and just bust it down the grade. Really fun skiing.

(Dan Murphy)

I skied the Birkie Tour today. Besides slow glide that got better as it warmed up, the trails were essentially in perfect condition. Great job groomers!

(Louis Muench, CASTA)

Looked great. Skied somewhat less so. Good classic track everywhere we skied. Skate deck firmness varied tremendously depending upon what part of the trail you were. We skied north on the skate trail from the North End trail head. Skate deck was very soft until you got to Timber Trail. More firm from there to the Fire Tower water stop. Tried to ski back on the Classic trail which was crazy soft. Soft enough that we took the first opportunity to cross back over to the skate trail rather than try and slog further North on the classic trail. There's plenty of snow now so this isn't anything that couldn't be fixed with more grooming.

(Andy Schwartz)

Skate deck groomed with Pisten Bully on OO loops, but just skiied in tracks from yesterday remain. Looked like there might be tracks set south beyond "picnic table hill". North of OO we skied a ways on the Birkie trail which has fresh PB corduroy and fresh firm tracks set. Also skied the Easy Strider loops with fresh tracks! Lots of beautiful new snow! Thank you groomers! Photos from north side of OO.

Photos:

(Carolyn Senty)

Skied Double OO to Boedecker on Classic and returned on Skate side. Conditions were soft: sinking in 3 inches. Hopefully we get enough snow today that groomers can use piston bully to firm up skate deck.

(John Hansen)

3-4 inches of new snow were groomed and tracked on the loops at OO. Groomers said they are waiting for the next snow before grooming the rest of the trail. Skate deck was somewhat soft and tracks somewhat shallow, but easy quiet skiing was enjoyed by many! No icy spots and most of the debris has been covered. More snow in the forecast, stay tuned!

(Carolyn Senty)