Nicely groomed natural snow to ski on, good glide, blue sky and comfortable temps! Glad we climbed the hill from our visit to Canal Park to ski at Snowflake! The 10k loop had just been groomed and was slightly better than the 5k loop. There were a couple of slightly thin spots with some ice underneath...but not a problem at all.

(Mike Flynn)

A fine day of skiing, as 100 "kidski" participants swarmed the trails in pursuit of perfect technique. All trails are open, groomed for both classic and skate. Today we set a new classic track on the 10k. As this required ripping up the solid base, and given the cold temps, the new track is soft and has not been through a freeze/thaw cycle to firm-up. Because it is fragile, we are prohibiting members from taking dogs onto the 10k until further notice. Once the track gets solid, we will remove the "no dog" signage and announce that restrictions are lifted. With the birkie events less than 4 weeks away, it is important that we keep all trails in good shape so our many birkie and kortie skiers can train. Dogs are permitted on the 5k and oval trails. The skate lanes were groomed again today, and the 5k classic track remains rock solid and fast. B-skis recommended due to some thin areas with ice/dirt mix.

Photos:

(John Graham)

Lots of positive feedback from skate skiers today, who found the 5 and 10k trails firm and fast, and groomed enough to get an edge. Classic skiers found the 5k track solid and rocket fast, and some suggested taking the downhills out-of-the-track. Blue extra worked today; waxless/fish-scales had trouble getting kick on the hard track. My r-skins worked well. We re-groomed the skate lanes on the 5k (including special k), the 10k, and the oval this afternoon. The warmed snow has frozen deep now, so we are trying to give depth to the loose surface. Tomorrow we will set a new classic track on the 10k, and I will update when it is in. Kidski happens from 1:30-4:00 Sunday, but the trails are open to members and day-passers. B-skis recommended due to some mixed ice/dirt in a few areas, but these spots are visible and can be skied around.

(John Graham)

Great grooming work! The trail was chopped up and the surface is pretty smooth, giving some good skating conditions today. A few of the south facing hills still feel icy and require slowing down to be careful but everything else is quite nice skiing. It far exceeds what you might expect after the big thaw Friday. Thanks so much for the skiing today!

(Bruce Bauer)

A great day of high school racing yesterday, as over 300 Northland skiers raced in the Duluth East Invite. We love hosting these athletes and teams. As you might guess, the volume of skiing combined with 44 degree temps put some stress on the trails. Last night we raced the decending temps to smooth-out the trails before they froze, then to groom them. The 5K is now groomed for both Skate and Classic, and is quite nice. The Skate lane is hard and even, and will ski fast today. The 5K Classic track is well formed and firm. The 10K trail was groomed for "Best Line" classic skiing during the race, meaning that the classic track weaved all over the trail. We have ripped that out and groomed the entire Skate lane on the 10K, and it is a beautiful Slate surface. Unfortunately, as we began to set a classic track, our grooming machine had a break-down. As a result I could not set a new classic track, however there are still about 4K of the old classic track, still in good shape, so a classic skier on the 10K will have to bushwack from from groomed track to groomed track. Skiers familiar with our Perimeter Loop will find the classic track about 90% intact on the 10K section. I hope to have the Track Setter repaired today, and will post as soon as the 10K has a new classic track. Temperatures bode well for some great skiing over the next week.

(John Graham)

A reminder that Snowflakes trails will be closed at 5 p.m. today, Thursday, so that we may lay out and groom the race courses for tomorrow's Duluth East Invitational HS race. The trails will be closed on Friday, 1/26, until the completion of the race, expected about 4 p.m.
Once the racing is done, the trails will be open to Snowflake members. Temperatures permitting, we will re-groom all trails on Friday night and be open for regular operations on Saturday morning. We will update Skinnyski and our phone message by midnight on Friday.

(John Graham)

Today we groomed the new snow into the Skate lanes on both the 5K and 10K Trails. Beautiful. We also tore-up and reset the much-worn Classic track on the 5K. The resulting track, while not yet hardened, is deep and well-shaped, and should improve as it is skied-in. The Classic track on the 10K was less worn, and we left it as-is, primarily because much of the 10 K will be re-groomed on Thursday for the Friday's Duluth East Invitational high school meet.
To prepare for Friday's meet, our trails will be closed at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday and will remain closed until the final race concludes on Friday, at about 4:30 p.m. We will re-open to members as soon as the race ends, and Classic skiers may enjoy skiing the Classic race course, which will be tracked for optimal fall-line.
We will re-groom the trails on Friday night and be open as usual on Saturday and Sunday.

Photos:

(John Graham)

22F. Fresh snow, about two inches. No grooming anywhere on the trail system.... conditions were great.

(Louise Levy)

Skied Snowflake just after noon today, not a cloud in the sky, just a bit of wind. Groomers were out while I was there, they were setting track on the 10 K, the skate lanes on the 10 had been groomed already. The 5 K had perfect skate lanes and classic track. The 2 inches of snow in the last 2 days was still a little slow and soft at 5 F, but quite a bit faster than last week's wind-blown stuff at 10 below. I saw nothing to prevent the use of best skis. Fast Wax teal paste gave decent glide and a very old hunk of Swix special green gave plenty of kick.

Photos:

(Tim Holst)

All trails groomed for skating, and classic track set. This will be a busy weekend, with us hosting the Winter Trails ski demo on Saturday, a Biathlon meet on Sunday morning, and Kidski in the afternoon, but the trails are nice, and once you get away from the trailheads there is plenty of room. Bundle-up and enjoy the new snow.

(John Graham)