I pioneered the trail skate style today. Sad that it was February to finally break the seal for me in the Hickory ski trail with the weird weather. Grooming is great but yes can certainly confirm it's soft. No surprise with no moisture in the beautiful powder. Pretty good coverage though after the big hill on Highland/Lowland when the trail goes skinny coverage is thin. I used good skis but would recommend B skis. Track is set for classic in most spots on the North and South loop including Tram too. One more note, snow is a bit wavy in a fair amount of placed just cause it's really the first big snow up there. Makes one focus on balance especially when it's softer.

(Brady Zwiefelhofer)

All of the trails have been groomed for skating and look great. The base appears to be approx. 4" but not ideally hardened yet. Felt a little soft under foot but should still ski good. A track has been set on the South Loop, North Loop, Tram Lake Loop, and up to and including the Dog-Island Lake Loop. The warming house at the Dog Island Lake Loop is open. The parking lot at the warming house was not fully plowed but I had no problem driving to the warming house in 2WD.

Photos:

(Mike Dahlby)

Skied all of the trails. Most of the system has several inches of snow and 95% coverage. A few of the south facing slopes have thin spots - mostly on the Dog-Island Loope. The South Loop was rolled last night. The rest of the system was crust skiing today and it was pretty great. Great skiing given the weather conditions we've had. Could probably get away with B skis. If it gets sunny it might be best to head out fairly early before the sun gets too high.

(Mike Dahlby)