This afternoon I skied South from the start area. Both the skate and classic trails are freshly groomed. There is a full depth double classic track on the skate trail as far south as Timber Trail and a similar single classic track on the classic trail. The snow is still super cold and there was no melting visible when I left even though the temps were in the upper 30's.

(Andy Schwartz)

The lighted loops south of OO were groomed last night for skate and classic and conditions were excellent this morning, you bet. I didn't ski the Birkie trails, so I'm not sure of conditions, but the groomers' report says the northbound classic trail was groomed yesterday.

(Donald Quick)

A small group took advantage of the fantastic grooming done for the Fat Bike Birkie by getting out before the race. Skied mostly untouched corduroy on the Classic trail to the Firetower water stop where we watched the lead bikers come through. As they continued south, we headed back north on the skate trail, again on untouched corduroy. Even at a leisurely pace we got almost back to the Start Area before the lead bikers came through. Spent the whole morning on perfect conditions and saw some fine fat bike racing. The bikers softened the trail up somewhat and some of the uphills are mashed potatoes where later bikers had to dismount and hike up the hill. But generally, the trail is still in outstanding condition.

(Andy Schwartz)

As good as it gets. Today is course preview day for the Fat Bike Birkie on the north half of the course so I skied south from OO instead. There is a dusting of fresh snow covering up plenty of corduroy. Also a full depth classic track on both sides of the trail all the way to Gravel Pit, which is as far south as I went. The trail started to soften up as the afternoon got warmer but still really great skiing.

(Andy Schwartz)

Skied North End, Birkie Trail, Tony Weise, and World Cup this afternoon. Best I have ever seen. Maybe I don't get out much?! Tracks for the most part were groomed out for the fat bike race this weekend. Skate deck was smooth and firm every where. No rollers or chatter bumps, just smooth soft corduroy. When we were leaving looks like North End groomer was setting some very nice classic tracks.

(Bill Stuber)

The trails this morning were as good as they have been all season long. Endless corduroy on both the skate and classic trails. A firm, full depth classic track on the classic trail. In addition, it looks like they ran a Pisten Bully over some of the old Telemark trails that don't normally see grooming. The old Korte trail inbound to Telmark was groomed for sure as was the old Roller Coaster section. It started to snow hard about half way through our ski so by early afternoon, the corduroy was invisible and the classic tracks were starting to fill up.

Photos:

(Andy Schwartz)

Skied from double OO north on the birkie classic trail this afternoon. The trail was just groomed and in fantastic shape. I skied to the 42k mark and from the 37k to 42k there was not a skate mark on it. Perfect snow. Thanks birkie groomers.

(Greg Franzen)

As of 2pm, Birkie Classic trail was groomed and tracked north from OO. Skate trail was not groomed. Ned had just finished tracking the Easy Strider loops, which we skied. By 3pm the OO loops and Korte start area were groomed and tracked to the top of picnic table hill but not beyond.

(Carolyn Senty)

As part of this afternoons sojourn, I ran across fresh grooming on the Classic trail of the Birkie Trail. The skate trail is untouched but on Wednesday afternoon, the classic trail was freshly groomed and beautiful. There was no classic track that I could see extending North on the Power Lines but there is a solid, full depth classic track extending from where the Power Lines enter the woods on the North past Timber Trail which is as far as I skied to the South. The trail is still soft and quite slow with all the fresh cold snow but great skiing regardless.

(Andy Schwartz)

Mainly, this trail report is an excuse to give a huge thank you to all the folks in the Cable and Hayward area who turned out to make yesterday's Birkebeiner such an extraordinary experience. Even with the snow fall at the beginning of the race, the trails were immaculate. The groomers did great work with the heavy snows of the past week. The inside classic track (the one closest to the skate deck in the second half of the race) was incredibly bumpy (confession: I started in Wave 6, so many, many skiers had been on those tracks before I got to them!). That made for some wild downhills! Great race, beautiful trail system, and wonderful conditions. A shoutout to the northwestern Wisconsin crew for making it happen.

(Michael Kuhne)