Once again, the Birkie trail crew has made the best out of 6" of snow! The OO loops are solid and there is very little debris. I really didn't see any bare grass, stumps, or rocks. If we all stop to toss the few remaining sticks off the trail, there is no reason you shouldn't get out and ski the trails, they are are in good condition, for a 1" groomed base. After the loops, however, I skied a couple KM north of the road and back, it was magical! The snow clinging to the trees a beautiful and the corduroy was fresh, a bit soft, and great. Of course the trail is little lumpy, as there isn't enough snow to smooth out the contours of the earth and in the heavily wooded parts have some sticks, cones, leaves, etc. to navigate around, but hey, who can't use some more agility training?

Photos:

(Brian Kantar)

The loops on the south side of 'OO' were great yesterday and today. I noticed one significant rock (and 'marked' by poking some sticks in the snow on the uphill side of it) but othewise good coverage. I'd encourage every person skiing to pick up 20 sticks/twigs on their ski. Consider yourself an auxiliary trail crew member. 20 x many skiers = lots of trail cleanup!

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(Gary TerBeest)

Skied 3.5 hrs on the Birkie today with 3,000 ft elevation climb. Beautiful winter wonderland. We skied from picnic table (south of OO where grooming starts) to shelter by high point and then back to picnics table and then went to high point and back again. They finished grooming the full skate trail width while we were out. Lots twigs/sticks and a few 4 inch rocks scattered that I cleared. Thin in spots and good coverage in others. Much firmer south of OO. A couple inches of fresh fluffy snow falling tonight. Looking forward to the morning ski. Thanks for all the work by the Birkie crew to get so much trail open!

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(Kevin Ousdigian)

Skied the loops at the OO trailhead this evening. Pretty good coverage. Recommend B skis. I did not have any rock issues during my 1 hour ski. Things got a little crowded when a bus load of Jr. high kids from the Loppet Foundation showed up. Looking forward to a long ski north of OO tomorrow.

(Rich Hoban)

Skied the North End trails and the Birkie about 15k south. Steve's report earlier today for the North End trails is spot on. I used b-skis and had no problems. Groomer was out on the Birkie trail and had made two passes. Over all very good, maybe a bit better skating than the North End trail but no tracks. Snow was slow but well worth the trip. As I was leaving a big front was moving in with whiteout conditions and rapidly accumulating snow.

(John Jereczek)

Currently, the Birkie Skate and Classic trail from OO to the Birkie Start are being groomed and will be ready by Saturday morning. That is a long stretch of trail that takes awhile. When it is complete, expect the conditions to be similar to the loops around OO, which are currently open. The base will be about 1", with some tree debris from tree clearing in places, and no classic track. B or rock skis are recommended but if you are careful, you could probably avoid anything that could damage your skis. If you are considering a trip to the Northwoods this weekend, you can expect pretty good skiing on the Birkie Trail. Enjoy!

(Kurt Proctor, American Birkebeiner)

Skied from OO going south. They groomed out to the picnic table and the side loops. Main trail was really good, clean and smooth. The side trails have intermittent thin spots that are easily avoided, but really pretty good too.

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(Joel Woodward)

Yesterday, the loops on the south side of OO were groomed, leaving about a 1" base. That said, there are still some rocks and sticks poking through so rock skis are recommended. Unfortunately, the 1" base is not enough to set a classic track. The lights on these trails will be on every day from sundown til 10:00pm. Enjoy!

(Kurt Proctor, American Birkebeiner)

I skied from the North End Trail cabin on the Birke trail - went South for about 10 k then turned around. They have at least 10" of snow, and it looked like the grooming crew had packed and rolled with a snowmobile and also made a pass with the PB - but did not use the tiller. The areas where I could ski on the packed / rolled part were great! But some of the PB tracks had pulled up a few leaves or dirt. There were no tracks set or skating deck, but I had a great time just skiing in my own classic track. The trees were fully loaded with snow and it was a beautiful winter wonderland experience! Hopefully the Birke trail crew will continue grooming over the next few days!

(Rhett Bonner)

A little test grooming and ski. We received about 6-8" of really dense snow. Only a small section at OO was groomed. I expect most everything to ready by the weekend (there's a fair amount of clean-up to be done), but my bet is the skiing will be good.

Photos:

(Jeff Tumbleson)