A little warm and windy but got to see the sun rise this morning. Trails are in great shape except for a few wind blown leaves on the tracks. I used special purple kick wax and I did not have any trouble. I started out at the Holland Jensen trail head west of the main park entrance.

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(Conrad Sanders)

Tracks were nicely groomed with not much wear still (east side). Good to finally ski with the fresh snow. Not too many people out there which made it pleasant and peaceful.

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(Travis Kvilhaug)

Skied Lebanon Hills after work this evening from 5:30 to 6:30. Very pleasant ski. Trails were groomed just the other day and mostly in great shape. Finally got to use my good skis with all this wonderful snow. Got a little dark in the woods so broke out the headlamp.

(John Gamlin)

Snow coverage great. Classic westside from Holland Lake Trailhead. I felt the trails were poorly laid-out with sharp corners, walker-tracks all over, and no tracks on uphills or downhills. First time here in about 15 years, won't be back.

(David Pramann)

Skied the perimeter trail at about 4:30 pm. Swix Extra Blue worked perfectly. Trails were freshly groomed. Get out and enjoy.

(Rick Vatsaas)

Best classic only track skiing I have seen in the Metro in years. Snow was beautiful, both under ski, and in the trees. The double classic tracks were well set and firm this afternoon. Sun was out, snow was fast -- perfect afternoon. (For some reason there was an unusual number of grade school teachers on the trails).

(Jim Mullin)

Trails in excellent condition. Skied East section and found tracks in great condition. Some evidence of skate skier damaging tracks. Lot of people out enjoying the first real ski of the year at Lebanon.

(Paul Kraus)

The groomer started at dawn in the eastern-most section of the park just south of O'Brien Lake and made his way west (clockwise) past the Holland Lake Trailhead and to the Visitor Center Trailhead. At 10:45 AM he headed back out from the Visitor Center Trailhead south past Marsh Lake. He's moving slower than he'd like because of all the snow, but conditions are excellent (of course they are!). We expect the entire eastern section to be completely groomed by the afternoon and then he'll move on to the center section (between Pilot Knob Road and Johnny Cake Ridge Road). Not many skiers out yet. The Lebanon Hills Visitor Center's cross-country ski rental is opening up today especially for the snow day Noon-5 PM.

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(Katie Pata, Dakota County Parks)

Groomer reported trails are in poor condition. The wooded sections are holding up a little better than the open areas; however, the number of bare spots are increasing due to the warmer temps. We will wait to groom until we receive additional snow.

(Beth Landahl, Dakota County Parks)

Skied the skate-ski (western) section of Lebanon Hills - the one not tracked for classic and interlaced with the MTB and hiking trails. It is possible to ski it - but with a fair bit of caution. The coverage is near-total, but the peaks of the many rocks on the trail surface are peeking through at times. The trail also has a tendency to have runoff channels running down the center of steep uphill and downhill sections, and there's not enough snow just yet to fill those in and make it flat. That said, if you need some Birkie training, it's passable and can't be beat. It had been groomed a week ago or so (it seems), but not since the last snowfall. Based on visible tracks, there have only been a handful of skiers on it in the last five days or so.

(Daniel Currell)