Except for debris the Prairie trail was excellent, Timber good and trail from chalet to connection to Hill and Island very good. Only brief section of Hill was fair to poor. Unfortunately my hands and gloves couldn't take the single digit temps and I had to ball up my hands inside my gloves and not pole on uphills three times to warm them. Used Fast Wax Teal LF. It was still slow.

(Keith Carlson)

Great grooming and corduroy everywhere! Minor kick ups on some crests and hill caps but very easy to avoid. First uphill into timber always has a rock or two so walked and picked up the new ones. Timber to Prairie only loop worth skiing. Fresh snow groomed in makes for almost no dirty areas, and most of the sticks have been picked and flicked off the trail. Below zero needed sock and glove liners and warmers, buff and downhill goggles, and hands up too face like a boxer on the downhills to stay very comfortable. New snow and temps limit glide, but no icy spots.

(Andy Larson)

Surprisingly good. I feel like the guy who is about to tell everyone about his secret fishing spot because me and just a few others have been having a blast for more than a week here...But the Trails Crew at Baker deserves to have more people showing up to enjoy their hard work. There is limited snow cover of course and there is debris. I would rate it as 60% good, 30% is fair due to low snow and light debris areas, and 10% is poor due to low snow and heavy debris areas (mostly broken branches but some rocks). I think if you know the trail (it is poor in the normal spots) and are careful, you could use your B skis.
PSA - the trail crew has been shoveling snow onto the trail and obviously working hard. The big problem is debris. There is much less debris than there was a week ago; as it appears I am not the only one clearing debris on my visits. But there still is a lot of debris. If you go there, help them out and do some pole-flicks and stop and pick up some debris and throw it off the trail into the woods. Set yourself a quota of like 25, 50, or more pieces of debris you will remove from the trail per visit. If we get even a couple more inches of snow, then Baker could be really good if the debris is cleared because they have a surprisingly good base right now.

(Erik Sass)

While all segments were open, both I and three experienced skiers who followed me when we returned to the chalet said the trails were too poor for anybody to be renting and that Three Rivers had overrated conditions. (They erased the white board after 2nd party complained.) Island was rutted ice on the sun-exposed uphills and ice on the downhills. The portion of Hill accessed from Island was actually ok but the access from the chalet across the golf course was again rutted ice. Once you were in the woods it was ok if you can keep good control going down the icy hill. (I did go down when I was skating to the top of Hill when I caught a leaf or twig.) Timber was actually okay after the initial icy hill. Prairie was again pretty good except for some minor rutting on more sun-exposed uphills. (Not blaming the groomers; there wasn't much to work with.) B skis only work if you are fast on switching from side to side to avoid bare spots and have enough control coming off hills to do that.
Waxing was really confusing. I did the perimeter on what should have been the right wax for high 20's/low 30's temperature, FastWax Salmon LF, which was slow on the drier snow. Switched to FastWax Yellow LF when I skied interior trails which skated better on the drier snow but still a little slow.

(Keith Carlson)

Baker was pleasantly fair to good. We were out at 10 am. It's a mix of very good to ice down the hills. The Timber Trail was the best once you got out there. The short steep down hill on the way out was rutted ice (we took off our skis and walked down). Otherwise things were generally good. Fun on fresh snow.

(Diane Pattridge)

Baker is for real. I had I great time skiing on natural snow. There are some rough spots but for the most part it was real good.

Photos:

(Steve Dolan)

Baker was great. I got rain last week, Baker got snow. A few bare spots easily avoidable. Place was empty. Nice to be on real snow with lots of subloops. Better than woodland last week...not any leaf litter. My choice right now.

(Scott Engstrom)

Baker is still in excellent shape considering the temps yesterday. Skied late morning with similar conditions to what were reported previously. A few places with debris and icy patches here and there, but simply amazing considering the brown grass showing in most of the rest of the metro area.

(John Leaf)

Classic skied on my skins from about 11 to 12:30. No track set. It was a warm and wet one out there but the trails were holding up nicely. Great job to the groomers! Lots of corduroy still left from the morning groom. Some leaf debris and twigs. Watch out for a bare patch in the middle of the island trail back in the wooded part right after the first or second downhill. Snow in the sunny parts was starting to get sticky like good consistency for building a snowman. The snow in the shaded and wooded areas was much cooler and far less sticky. Hoping the snow can stick around during this warm up.

(Caitlin Anderson)

Baker was amazing this morning. It was thin and leafy in places but well-groomed (no classic tracks though). I hope it lasts the weekend.

(John Kendrick)