Conditions: Good. Complete cover, groomed, 1-3 inches thick on Multi-Use.
Skijored the mulit-use trail this afternoon with the twins. Well they did, I drew chase duty. The trail was nice, hard packed, no pavement showing except a bit on the sides at the parking lot entrance and coverage was mostly good enough for decent pole plants. Good glide, about 15F, my Teal Fast Wax was about worn off, but seemed right. The kids flew with Boomer and LuLu, never saw them again when they launched after each pause for me to catch up. A few other skijorers, skaters and a runner out, nice sunny day, no wind. The trail was surprisingly good. We had fun, the kids can drive the dogs so well now.

(Steve Evans)

Conditions: All trails packed in good condition, man made loop tracked but wind blown.
The little-known outer loop of Elm Creek was an excellent opportunity to get off man made snow and to avoid the blowing wind. The multi-use trail, Lake, Creek, and Northern Lights trails are all packed. 2-3" base on the paved surfaces, so use caution. Exposed small rocks on the Thicket trail, so avoid that. B skis recommended.

Photos:

(Mindy Benton)

Conditions: Man-made perfectly groomed. Rolled on natural snow trails.
Skied mid afternoon and the sun was beautiful as were the sun dogs but the wind was fierce!! Started on the Northern Lights trail and went about a K out onto the outer loop - it was nice to ski out of the wind!! The natural snow trails were in decent shape, could use good skis but I'd stick with B skis as there is still some dirt and debris showing through occasionally. Best spot is the east side of NL, mostly white, careful on Cowabunga hill there is dirt showing through and someone took a digger just after the dirt. More rutted off the NL trail but still decent.

(Kathleen Miller)

Conditions: Excellent tracks for classic and very good for skating on the snowmaking loop.
Elm was deserted this afternoon! I could count the number of skiers on one hand. The cold temps and the biting wind might have had a little something to do with it. I actually had a pleasant ski. It was like the old days of cross country-- skiing without any people.

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)

Conditions: Mid-morning -2F and windy.
Lots of four letter words today: Cold, snow, wind and slow. I skied the entire lighted 5k loop. The Northern lights was groomed for skating; not classic. A bit uneven and rutted but skiable in good skis. Careful as there are some bigger sized branches on the trail. The glide factor was like skiing on Styrofoam.

(Don Callander)

Conditions: Good enough! Soft/not groomed for most trails at 3pm.
Did the multi-use with dogs and then outer loop (with no dogs). It's a bit slow but could have used good skis on all of it as long as you are careful (I did the dog-loop with my rock skis and switched over). Northern lights had been rolled maybe at noon, but the rest had not. Snow in the woods was relatively unaffected by the wind (vs the hamster loop).

(Ashley Van Beusekom)

Conditions: Very good on the man-made loop, didn't try the natural.
It was warmer than I thought it would be, I spoke to someone who liked their Swix 45 kick wax, I just had on some 30 I put on at home so skated instead. The track was in good shape though, and I saw lots of skiers who seemed to be kicking great with whatever they had. I just can't give a wax report. ( I was wishing I had ski-go red to try though). Track was non-abrasive, non-glazed, and plenty deep. The skating on the man-made loop at 9:30 a.m. was excellent, the cord had been largely worn off by the volume of skiers, but the surface was excellent. A reminder, they are checking passes (it's not like getting on an amusement park ride, but they are making an effort). The season pass is a great deal though. Feeling a little left out by the split in the storm track, but as a newcomer, I'm hopeful that we'll get that snow in a few days that will open up many more K's around the Cities.

(Luke Smith)

Conditions: Great but deteriorating quickly this morning; big race on Sunday.
Decided to classic ski on the Valley trail this morning. The track and skate deck both were in great shape when we arrived at 8 am. But there were already hoards of high school skiers there, and more soon arrived, so the track was seriously worn when we quit at 9.
Reminder of Sunday's big ski race here -- The Como Championships will be going on at Elm Creek throughout the morning. [ There is also Peter Westra high school sprints Sunday afternoon. The Skinnyski trail detail page does highlight upcoming major events -- Ed. ]

(Ron Refsnider)

Conditions: Man-made trail was great, everything else...meh.
A usual, Valley trail is awesome--the new natural stuff groomed in makes for some fast snow. The west side multi-use trail is pretty decent, just still a little soft and some debris. However, Lake/Creek are getting thin, and even Northern Lights is starting to show gravel. Unless you are A) an advanced skier B) have rock skis and/or C) are, like me, tiring of the hamster wheel, the Valley trail is the place to be.

(Andrea Ochmann)

Conditions: Very good on man-made snow.
I was there around 7 AM. Lots of corduroy and very firm snow... lots of fun skiing. I did not try going off man-made snow so I am not sure what the snow conditions or on those trails.

(Jim Cloutier)