Conditions: Not terrible, not good.
I suppose when compared to other trails in the area, Snowflake was OK. They have pretty good snow cover. But, it had been heavily used prior to my arrival in the afternoon, making for a very rutted skate deck and a poor wiggly washed out track. It was impossible to ski relaxed. Every moment was spent rigidly controlling my skis from following some renegade rut. So, it beats skiing on a lake, and far outshines skiing on dirt, but the conditions couldn't be classified as "good.".

(Shane Parks)

Conditions: Wonderful groomed trails.
Skate skied the 5k after dark and the snow was fabulous, firm but plenty of snow for good control, reasonably fast. Thanks, George. Bring a headlamp if after dark.

(Mark Knutson)

The trail was not freshly groomed but still slick. Skied Georges 10k twice and worked on flat Ski. Today was a great day for skiing with the 25 degree day and 10 mph wind. Keep the prayers for more snow.

(Scott Cummings)

Conditions: Great coverage, new snow.
Skated all the trails this morning and everything is in really good condition. Used my good skis and had no problems whatsoever. The deck is evening out with each little snow we get. Classic track looked good. A tad shallow on parts of the 5K and better on the 10K when I jumped in on the downhills. No new grooming but it didn't affect the ski with a good edge and an inch of lake effect fluff accumulating as I was skiing. It was amazingly fast with Fastwax teal. The 5K is firmer and more skied-in and 10K in better condition (as usual). After a grooming it should be fabulous. I talked with George after and thanked him for the trail and his commitment to keeping Snowflake going after the sale. Duluth skiing would not be nearly as good as it is now without Snowflake.

(Tom Heinitz)

On the day its announced that Snowflake is quite likely sold, I had probably the best skate of the year at Snowflake Thursday around noon. Temp close to freezing, an inch of new snow, Fast Wax red paste gave great glide, Beth and I both agreed. The new snow was fast, and was sufficient to give all the edge you would need, even this old guy let it all out down the big hills like the one that ends in "Wiggles", Geno's Jump", and "Hovland's Hill". According to my records, this is my 20th year as a Member at Snowflake, and the 15 km of trails there have given me over 16,000 km of winter fun. Thanks George and Jane! Yes, that is a shadow on a couple of the pictures, a gorgeous day to boot.

Photos:

(Tim Holst)

Conditions: Amazingly good and tracked throughout!
Classic skied the 5 and 10km loop and couldn't believe how much snow the trails had. Just a spot here and there with weeds sticking thru. Almost no dirt or ice, and really nice over all. Track in pretty good shape throughout.

(Carol Koos)

Conditions: Good, considering recent conditions.
I classic skied the 5 K this afternoon. Reasonably good classic track with only a few icy patches, and some debris in the track....no rock/ gravel. I used good skis. Skate deck level and hard packed with enough thin snow topping to make it not icy/hard. Thanks to Dave Johnson/groomers for a good job!

(Dave Arvold)

Conditions: 1/2 new snow really made a difference!
Yesterday I groomed the skate lane on the 5K and then John Gould did the 10k. That really helped but what made the conditions really turn around was the 1/2 of new snow. Before the snow the classic tracks were getting very icy...today they were just a pleasure to ski on and only a few spots where the ice or dirt was showing through. Over the last few weeks I have been thinking about a design for a piece of grooming equipment that would scrape just a dusting of new snow from the skate lane into the classic tracks. Anyone out there know of such a device?

Photos:

(Dave Johnson)

Conditions: Half inch of powder on top of hard packed snow.
Thanks for the great work in optimizing the skiing on minimal snow! Both the 5km and 10km are in as good of shape as possible considering the recent weather. Coverage is good and I used good skate skis. Watch out for a few icy spots where the powder is pushed away on uphills. The downhills are smooth and the skate lane is nice and level.

(Bruce Bauer)

Conditions: Decent coverage with fast icy classic tracks.
Our first time at snowflake. Love the chalet, George was very friendly. Much better conditions and grooming than at Spirit, which we also tried today.

(Jared Frandson)