Just finished up grooming and tracking the Birkie Skate trail from OO to the American Birkebeiner TH and the loops at OO. With the cold overnight temps, the conditions tomorrow should be excellent. Enjoy!

Photos:

(Kurt Proctor, American Birkebeiner)

10" of new snow overnight and still going! We are out grooming with a plan of grooming and tracking north from OO on the Birkie Skate trail. Today will be soft, of course, but tomorrow the trail that is groomed today should firm up nicely. We'll send out another report when we are done.

(Kurt Proctor, American Birkebeiner)

I skied from the North End trail head to about Timber Trail and back on the Birkie trail. It seemed a little dicey right now in my opinion. Here's why. First off, this little segment of the trail hasn't seen a groomer in awhile. So the base is getting a little rutted up. Further, they got 4" of fluff on top of a base that didn't seem to be frozen real hard. So you'd be gliding along when a ski would contact the warmer underlying base and want to come to a stop. That said, things could change tremendously over the weekend.

(Andy Schwartz)

Winter and the ski season aren't over yet! Snow is forecast today/tonight.
Grooming plans: We will be grooming overnight tonight; specific time of grooming activity will depend on the timing of the snow. By tomorrow morning, expect the loops at OO and the Birkie Skate and Classic trail from OO to Firetower to be groomed and tracked. We are not planning to groom Birkie Ridge. We will post another report once grooming is complete.

(Kurt Proctor, American Birkebeiner)

Silly good! Skied from Boedecker TH to High Pt. and back on both trails. Nature's grooming has been doing some fine work on the Birkie Trails recently. A couple of inches of new snow on Monday night has leveled nicely, near perfection, super fast.

Photos:

(Jeff Tumbleson)

Skate skied Double O south for 8k and back from 2:30 to 3:30, two down hill spots had one track through the bare ground. A little soft but its packed nicely, so it holds up great with good coverage! Skate skied the Classic trail from Double O to the fire tower and back from 4:00 to 6:00PM. Firm, flat and fast, plenty of coverage on 99% of the trail, only one south face with pine needles showing. Excellent conditions for any time of the year. Nice job of packing it flat, ABSF groomers!

(Kevin Smith)

I skied Hatchery Creek to Gravel Pit on Saturday. Started around 9am and temp was 24 degrees. Overall, very good, fun, fast skate skiing. The deck was fast and a bit icy and because they didn't groom, there were some iced-in tracks for previous skiers when the snow was soft, but very easy to navigate, so not a problem. I recommend B skis due to area of pine cones and a few spots that are a bit dirty. I did not see any exposed rock, gravel, or grass that wasn't easy avoidable. The only exposed areas were on a few up hills and a few low areas where water naturally runs. But, there as always at least 50 percent snow, so no problem to ski past. The classic tracks were very icy and fast. They were broken down in many places, but definitely workable. Overall, very fun and I highly recommend you get out there!

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(Brian Kantar)

We will not be doing any grooming today or tonight. At this point, the window to groom is very short and the conditions have been staying very good without any grooming at all. We skied this morning from Hatchery to Mosquito Brook and the conditions were fantastic. You can choose your conditions by time of day. The morning will likely be icy and fast, late morning quick but more controlled, and the afternoon soft and slow. Pick the conditions you want and plan a great ski! Enjoy!

(Sam Hughes, American Birkebeiner)

We followed the grooming north on the Classic trail from Double O all the way to the Fire Tower. It was the type of skiing that makes you want to live forever. Downhills were fast with good control step turns held a strong edge and the climbing was fast. Tracks were a bit mushed but otherwise wow!

(Dan Murphy)

I started my ski from the OO trailhead today. As of noon, it had not been groomed south of there or north on the skate trail. The classic trail however was freshly groomed and tracked. I skied from OO to past Boedecker and back, grinning like a fool. I rate it good for classical and excellent for skate (on the classic trail). A friend reported the classic tracks as shallow but good skiing with skins, and said klister or fish scales would probably work too. The skate trail was ungroomed and icy but was very good for skate and probably fair for classical. Still no bare spots except road crossings. Thanks groomers!

Photos:

(Tom Detzner)