I covered all the trails at Hyland this morning. I was hoping to get away with B skis on the natural stuff but turned back and grabbed the rock skis. Grooming had pulled in quite a lot of woodchips on lake, such that it was essentially unavoidable. Some gravel mixed in where Lake/Hill come back together, and a nearly exposed asphalt path near the finish of lake. Nature Center and North trails were better but still had some dirty spots. You could probably get away with B skis there. Manmade loop was firm and skied well, no snowplow berms on Boulder Ridge.

(Spencer Davis)

Skied all the trails except oak knob. Had a majestic night ski and really enjoyed getting on the natural snow trails. The natural snow trails have just a few avoidable dirt patches, but you should get out soon to enjoy them. The manmade snow loop was firm and fast.

(Mark Bushinski)

At my 3:30 pm start, it was 30 degrees, sunny and the snow making loop was in fair to good condition. I assume that due to heavy traffic the wet snow on the sun-exposed initial section of Star and the out-bound section of Willow was so compacted that it was nearly boiler plate. It improved from Frog Town on but it was slow with the way my skis were prepped with Optiglide brushed in over the Fast Salmon LF wax on the first set of skis that I tried and not much better on the second set of FastWax Yellow LF waxed skis with Optiglide glide brushed in on top of them. The performance improved on the return from the in-bound Frog Town climb on but it was still disappointing. Watch out on the trail edges. Unlike the prior artificial snow surface, it's soft. From the deep tracks, you can see it caught a few unwary skiers. It nearly caught me just before where outbound and inbound Willow merge.

(Keith Carlson)

Great to ski on natural snow in the Twin Cities for the first time all season! All of the natural snow trails were in great shape for skate skiing (no classic tracks on natural snow trails). I was able to use good skis without any issue, but there are some spots with dirt and debris that is easily avoidable. Great afternoon to be skiing!

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(Bill Oyler)

Hooray! First time this year that all of the trails are open. I skied all of the trails at least once on my classic skins skis. The natural snow trails were in fair condition. All had been flattened, but not tracked. There were some sticks and a bit of dirt showing through here and there, but for the most part, it was fairly good coverage, considering the small amount of snow we've had. And you can generally avoid the bad spots if you're paying attention. The snowmaking trails were good to excellent condition, with deeply set tracks. Fun to see so many smiles out there today.

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(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

I had an exhilarating time skating on the fresh natural snow today. The north loop had minimal dirt spots, and there were only a few more branches on the south loop near the lake. Although I had the option to use my good skis, I decided not to. The man-made sections looked like they cleared the new snow, revealing a solid and firm snow base. It was truly a fantastic sunny day to be outdoors.

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(Gunnar Boysen)

The natural trails today were beautiful. Coverage was good but aggressive skaters cut down to the turf occasionally. B skis or be careful. But again, beautiful.

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(Jim Mullin)

Skied all the trails at Hyland today. Natural snow trails are bumpy, a little soft and have a few sticks and dirt patches showing, and they're totally awesome. Bust out your rock skis and remind yourself why you like to ski! No tracks set on the natural snow. Manmade loop is perfect, all the sugar patches are nicely firmed up.

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(Mike Keyes)

OMG, fresh 6-7 inches of snow! 16F degrees with fresh groom (use harder wax) with more abrasive characteristic than what we have become used to in this season of manufactured snow. No complaints, though. This snow is a gift!

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(Jamie Peters)

Slightly better than yesterday. Sugar and mashed potatoes abound, but the flat areas are still pretty good. Plenty of snow, but can be tough going. Slower pace and more calories burned. I'm guessing the increased traffic is the reason. Hoping for more snow to freshen things up.

(Paul Larson)