Beautiful snow, 19 degrees F and sunny at 9:00 AM. Blowing snow filled in classic tracks in many parts of Blue Ox and Bear Paw trails. Otherwise trails in great shape.

(Nick Lansing)

Headed out about 2:00 PM for first skate skiing session of the season on Bear Paw and across lake. Gorgeous day with temps in mid teens (above zero!) and light winds. Bear Paw skate deck in great shape and classic tracks also looked good. Classic tracks across lake pretty thin, but usable. Could use a bit more snow on the lake, but still looking forward to getting out there again tomorrow.

(Tim Stratton)

I classic skied from Wolfski's Ski Den. I went around the Bear Paw, Blue Ox, and Nine Pine trail loops. I would rate the snow and skiing conditions as fair or a little better in some stretches. The track was solid and shallow (mostly). There was dirt and grass showing through in a few spots. Easy to go around. I had a really fun time skiing there today. The temperature was zero when I started and about 6 degrees when I left. I utilized the "ski den" for a lunch break, re-waxing, and changing into dry clothes.

(John Bogen)

Skied the Blue Ox this morning. Snow was falling and the fresh layer helped. No bare spots. Great ski.

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(Kim Deiss)

The Blue Ox trail is in good shape. There are a few, small bare patches in the classic tracks. The bad spots are infrequent and I was able to lift up a ski or hop out of the grooves. The skate track looked fine all the way through. We got there late for a quick skijor at sunset so only skied Blue Ox.

(Nick Lansing)

Good conditions on Bear Paw. Plenty of dirty snow on the south side of Blue Ox and Nine Pine. Trails were fast and fun, but don't use your good skis.

(Tyler Henkels)

Beautiful spring skiing in January. Our trail groomer Dave Marciniak has done a marvelous job with the snow we've had.

(John Paulson)

Blue Ox, Nine Pine, Lonesome Grouse were all tracked for classic skiing. There was a lot of debris on the trail that ended up sticking to my skis (pine needles, some dirt, etc) but it was still a lovely afternoon to be out with some warm wax. Lonesome Grouse was especially nice to ski and had the best track/snow.

(Crystal Payment)

Classic tracks set and groomed today about 1 pm. Nine Pine in good condition with some grass and small sticks in places. Skate lane in better condition. Lonesome Grouse real nice. A great day to be outside!

(Wendy Johnson)

Second course update: After scoping the course earlier today we headed out for some productive shoveling. Added quite a bit to the thin areas which were mostly on the first 2km, and the S curve of Nine Pine. This will make the course much better with basically a handful of spots to watch for instead now. Groomer heading out tonight to do some light grooming. Expecting pretty decent conditions for the race at 11:00 tomorrow.

Photos:

(Clayton Keim)