Conditions: Still pretty good! Some portions of Valley Trail groomed today.
Based on decent reports, I headed to Elm Creek this morning. As I was arriving after 10, I opted for waxless classic skis. New tracks had been set from the donut to the practice area. There was still good coverage and I was a fun option. There were a couple other striders and a couple skaters. Skating looked very slow when I was there, but was probably decent earlier.

(Sue Schroeder)

Conditions: Soft and slow but awesome! Water and bare in a few spots. Still great coverage. Good classic track as well on snowmaking loop.
Still grooming today. Skied waxless bombers and wore shorts. Elm Creek continues to be a cut above the rest in their efforts to extend the season. Nice Work. Open until Sunday?

(Chris Walgren)

Conditions: Valley skate deck (snowmaking) was awesome this morning! Classic tracks were well-formed but reportedly "icy".
Kudos to the EC grooming crew! After 65F yesterday and 25F this morning I was wondering in what shape I would find the trail at 8am this morning. It was some of the best conditions I've skied this year. Deck was very firm with a very light grooming on top, fast and easy to find edge. Still in great shape at 10am.

(Brad Johnson)

Conditions: Soft, wet and slow.
I skied at the noon hour - 55 degrees - and it was slow and soft for skating. There was some firmness and speed in the few short shaded areas. If I had the Zetas (no wax, may they RIP) that would've been more fun for classic. Before about 10 AM it was probably still firm.

Photos:

(Mark Lahtinen)

Classic Skiied the Valley Trail at about 9:30 a.m. Did not appear to be freshly groomed but the tracks are in pretty good shape. The Northern Lights is closed. Waxless skis worked well.

(Mark Basiletti)

Conditions: Valley and NL are in good shape for skating. Only Valley is tracked for classic.
I was very surprised that the 4-5" of snow from Tuesday didn't survive Friday's warmth. NL was in pretty good shape, some debris, but very thin over the bike path near the chalet. I doubt that will last the weekend. I ventured out on Lake and while some areas were quite good, others were peppered with bare spots, debris and dirt. The two bridges I encountered were completely bare, had to eject and walk those. The further North I went the better the trails were, so it might be more skiable from the Eastman center.

(Brad Johnson)

Conditions: Manmade excellent, Northern Lights/Thicket very good.
Skated. The snow was faster on the natural snow on the NL/T.

(Mark Lahtinen)

Conditions: Lake trail fair to good.
Had a lovely ski on Lake Trail at dusk. Used good skis. Groomed for skate, slightly soft. Mostly full coverage with a few avoidable exposed spots on bridges and downhills. Returned on Northern Lights which was also in good shape. Manmade loop was great as usual. Should be nice natural snow skiing if you can get out there early Friday!

Photos:

(Linda Evert)

Conditions: Northern lights trail fair for classic with no track.
Skied about 8:00 pm Tuesday night after the recent snowfall. Plenty of snow. Skating lane had about an inch of loose snow.

(Wayne Nelson)

Conditions: Multi-Use: deep light snow, not groomed. Fast Wax teal, worked OK.
Skijored the Multi-Use this afternoon, nice sunny day, about 25F or so, very windy. Trail wasn't groomed yet but was covered all the way around. Snow depth varied from 2-3 inches to 6 inches or so depending on wind exposure. The trail sections that had melted over the last week or so were easy to hit pavement. My B skis are now C skis, so be careful until after the groomers compact the snow a bit. Lake and the other trails that are visible from the MU were groomed and looked good. The 100 m or so the MU shares with Lake were flat and fast, nice. Can't wait to get out to the outer trails tomorrow without the Two Fangs, who were super as usual.

(Steve Evans)