This afternoon toward the end of our snow storm I skated down to Brownie and Cedar Lake, and it was a lot of fun despite the 5-6 inches of new fluffy snow slowing me down. The Chain of Lakes is definitely better for classic (back-country) skiing at this point; skating was very difficult with the deep snow. The Cedar Lake "land" trail was in good shape, and lots of folks were out enjoying some back-country skiing on the lakes, with man-made classic tracks everywhere. The 394 connector trail and 394 overpass had tons of snow, so it's easy to connect to the Chain of Lakes from the Wirth South trails (Quaking Bog) to get in a nice long ski on natural snow. Could be pretty spectacular after a few more rounds of grooming!

(Bill Oyler)

Rolled again this morning. Cedar and Brownie no Isles still. There is open water in the channel so we are not going to be grooming anytime soon. Look for great skiing this weekend.

Photos:

(Peter Leugers)

I rolled Cedar and Brownie and spurs. Open water in the Kenilworth channel kept me from doing Isles and Bde Maka Ska. Soft and you will push through skating. Be careful.

Photos:

(Peter Leugers)

We skied Lake of the Isles, Ceder and Brownie lakes around noon today. Trail conditions were very variable. Some areas (especially Cedar lake) had good snow cover and grooming. Other areas (Lake of the Isles) were mostly ice with standing water.

(Jolene Johnson)

Skied out onto Brown, Cedar and through the channel to Isles. Very nice conditions, good coverage (even in Brownie tunnel and the Isles channel), and trail felt firmer than South Wirth. Lights were light and sun was out so it was a very enjoyable ski. Saw the ice blocks going up on Isles for the Luminary Loppet! And one of the volunteers out snowblowing snow from the lake up onto the trail (only in Minnesota!).

Photos:

(Bruce Adelsman)