Our 5K and the northern section of the 10K offered decent skiing through the weekend, however warm temps and lots of sunlight are taking a toll on the base. The forecast is for no sub-freezing temps until Monday night, then we expect 3 -4 days of good cold. With that in mind, Snowflake will be closed Monday. We will re-groom early on Tuesday, and be open at 8:00 a.m. Morning skiing will be the best, but we will remain open all day for those who can't ski before work. The map in the chalet will be updated to show the "safe and groomed" trails. This is likely the final week of skiing here, until next season, so we will give you the best trails that we can.

Photos:

(John Graham)

Wow, 4"-5" of heavy Spring snow! 5 K, including Special K, compressed with 8 passes and groomed for Skating; still soft, but very nice. New Classic track set on 5K/SpK; deep and well-formed, and will be very nice if it sets overnight. Northern segments of the 10K compressed and groomed for Skating; enter at Fisketti Junction or off the 10K Return trail. At this point we are no longer in the "Preservation Mode": Lets ski the heck out of what we have and enjoy it while we have it! Open 8 - 8 this weekend.

(John Graham)

A Perfect Duluth St Paddy's Day, thanks to the snow leprechauns and groomer John. Due to a meteorological anomaly, we had 4-5 inches of fresh snow, none of the predicted rain, and it fell on an icy trail. So for the weekend, looks like we have the equivalent of a groomed 5K refrigerated World Cup ski trail, like snow on a ice cube. The 5k is groomed for skating, no tracks. Enjoy!

Photos:

(Jim Allen, Duluth XC Ski Club)

2-3 inches of dense, saturated new snow. Ungroomed as of 11:30 AM. Beautiful surround... winterwonderland. Broke trail with backcountry classic skis on the 5 K loop. 2 other skaters out earlier.... quite a workout for them. Great to have everything covered again, extending our season....

Photos:

(Dave Arvold)

The entire 5K trail and the northern half of the 10K trail were groomed this afternoon, for Skating only. The 5K is in good condition, thin corduroy over a rather thin base; the only exposed ground is at the top of the hill leading into Bee Hollow,. Special K section is very nice. The 10K section is even nicer, as the base is thicker and it is holding more snow. Skiers who enter the Ungroomed portions of the 10K, do so at your own risk: Hovland Hill is dangerous, and Geno's Jump has tree debris embedded in the base. Skiers are advised to come into the chalet before skiing, and look at the trail map: the groomed and officially "Open" trails are marked in Red. These are likely our waning days for this season. Enjoy, and we'll see you next season! Snowflake members are welcome to use our new wax bench and irons to clean and put on the summer storage wax. Ask John or John.

Photos:

(John Graham)

Same conditions and recommendations as yesterday! If we get a groom-able amount of snow tomorrow night, the base remains adequate and we will groom a decent network of trails. For now and tomorrow, hearty and competent skiers will find decent Skating on the trails highlighted on the map in the chalet.

(John Graham)

Same conditions from the 9 March post apply. The 5k is very icy, some areas are borderline treacherous. The south 10k trails are unsafe/unaccessable due to exposed ground. The trails on the north side of Snowflake are fair-to-good, especially the 10k sections around spaghetti/fisketti junction. I recommend that skiers look at the map inside the chalet, and ski the trails that I've highlighted in red. The best access is by skiing out and in from the trailhead on the 10k return trail. The skiing is not suitable for beginners, children, or folks who are uncomfortable on ice. Use rock skis if you are going on Special K. Look for orange paint marking hazards. We are open 8 - 8 on Saturday.

(John Graham)

Mother Nature is winning this battle for the trail. But we're not giving up yet! The 5K/SpecialK are groomed today, Skate only. Thin corduroy of shaved ice over a hard ice base, that gets thinner with each grooming. Melt water has surfaced in several low spots and frozen. There is some exposed ground and we have marked it with Orange paint. The best skiing is on the Northern half of the 10K trail, where we have about 4K of "Good" skiing. The South portion of the 10K trail is either not ski-able, or blocked by open ground. I recommend that skiers come into the chalet and look at the big Trail Map: I have high-lighted, in Red, the best, safest sections of trail, a composite of the 5K and 10K, where you can get 4 -6 km of skiing. For Out-of-Towners needing one last ski: I welcome you, but honestly do not think it is worth the trip North, right now. We're open 8 - 8 tomorrow.

(John Graham)

Surprisingly good! John did a fantastic job grooming the 5 K loop. It's hard and icy, but just enough thin cut corduroy on surface to get some purchase. Trail is 99 % covered, no rocks, and only one bare spot on top of south facing hill at 1 KM that you can ski around. Amazingly, there was no debris on the trail..... John did quite a job clearing branches/twigs. A few ice flows across trail, easy to get across. I used good skis.

(Dave Arvold)

The 5k/Special K have been cleared and groomed for skating only...There's not enough snow to set a classic track. We have a thin corduroy over a very hard base. There are a couple of patches of open ground, and they are marked with orange paint and can be skied around. Use caution in the low areas, because there is ice from the thaw. Debris continues to be blown-down, so exercise caution. The 10k is closed at this time, until we can determine a skiable route (Shovel Hill, Hovland Hill, Tim's Turn Geno's Jump are unsafe/unskiable) through the good sections, then groom and clean the route. Most of it will be in the spaghetti junction area. Temps look very good for the next week. We are open (5k) now, and will be open tomorrow from 8 - 8. B skis or rock skis recommended.

(John Graham)