We groomed the two separate section courses this morning for the teams training today and marked the key intersections with v boards. I skied half of the skate course before lunch and found fast conditions but just enough texture for good edging. We had some wind yesterday that scattered organic forest matter in some places on the tracks but overall the skiing is great. Not icy, firm renovated transformed snow. We will be grooming the majority of the trail system Thursday through Saturday.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Skied most classic trails over the weekend and conditions were good to very good for all the trails. They do a great job of grooming and the tracks are very firm. And as usual the food and unlimited hot refreshments made for an overall very enjoyable weekend.

(Tran Alfrey)

Excellent ski conditions. Dusting of new snow past 24 hours. Not icy. This morning the skate course for sections was groomed, keeping the deck fresh and textured. We have been grooming the skate lanes pretty much daily keeping the snow fresh despite no new snow for over two weeks. The timing of the transition groom 10 days ago has paid big dividends for good skiing since that one warm day.With cold nights the base is staying firm and established, there is no risk of softening with daily grooming. We have had no melt freeze cycles since the one day 10 days ago. Over lunch skied both the skate and classic. The tracks are skiing very well, personally the best of the year, regular hard wax working good. The skate lane is firm and fast but enough texture and structure for good edging. We will be grooming daily this week on until the weekend.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

This morning all skate trails were groomed, as well as Suicide Hill. New track cut on an assortment of trails. The snow held out great today. Cloudy, temps below 30 degrees combined with very high humidity kept the skiing silky and smooth. The grooming planned for tonight on hold until the early morning because of cooler than anticipated weather. Should be great skiing for both skate and classic the rest of the weekend!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Beautiful frosty morning led to a sunshiny day before clouding over again late afternoon. Great conditions for the conference meet today, the frost fell off the trees right before the races making for silky skiing. The skate deck was spectacular as well, firm and level and fantastic glide. The trails will not close at Maplelag tomorrow. Should be some great skiing and we are ready to groom when timing is right to have best possible conditions over the weekend.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Got out on Sukkerbusk around 10 AM, finding fast with well defined solid tracks. We zipped over to Twin Lakes and found the same conditions. Applying a little blue extra in the toe area, the hills were doable staying in the tracks with a little extra arm effort. We were willing to give up some kick to get the most out of the long downhill glides. Riding the rails down Eagle View was a hoot, gliding all the way to the colvert and up a ways on the entry hill. The aprons are midseason solid, snow coverage is excellent, about as good as it can get. We skated yesterday finding N Loup silky and just a tad soft, which we expected being within 15 minutes behind the groomer: skiing on feathers also has it's appeal. It settled down and got firmer as temps started dropping by 2 pm.

(Denny Barry)

With the untimely, unseasonable demise of snow cover in Alexandria, we once again found ourselves driving up to Maplelag. Simply put, this place never disappoints! Fantastic snow cover. We skated on relatively fresh corduroy over a firm base. A touch of glazing in some places, making for fast conditions in which setting the ski was not a problem. The extensions of Skater's Waltz (across the road) were a bit firmer with more of a crust but absolutely no difficulties. Did some double poling in the tracks. They too were fast and well defined. Great day.

(Keith Brugger)

Excellent ski conditions. Firm deck, fast but not icy tracks. Skate deck in fantastic condition. This morning North Loup was groomed, erasing on of the tracks and grooming a skate lane. North Loup now groomed for skate and classic. Skate deck a little soft on the edge on North Loup.All other skate trails groomed as well including Suicide Hill for probably the 100th time. Skied the western trails this afternoon with Lee Bohlin and found fantastic classic conditions. We were both on skin skis and they were working perfect. The fat bike trail is in the best condition it has been all year. We have lodging openings Midweek and most weekends the rest of the season. Now is a great time to come to Maplelag.
We will be hosting a conference meet Thursday afternoon on Sukkerbusk, Twin Lakes and Skaters Waltz. Select trails on tap for grooming the rest of the week into the weekend.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

The trails are in excellent condition up at Maplelag. There is a ton of snow and the grooming is excellent as always.

(Chad Czmowski)

A spectacular day on the trails. We didn't really warm up until after 12 and only above freezing for about four hours. Started cooling down again at dusk, a few spots the tracks glazed. I checked the skate trails at dusk and the skating was phenomenal. Probably the best of the year. Ran into the Washburn and Bloomington Nords that were having fun as well (photo attached) Reports from the classic skiers all good, few reports from people sticking but overall lovely skiing and the outer trails were skiing very well. Heading out to groom now on most of the trail system. Should be great skiing the rest of the weekend.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)