Valley and Northern Lights. Sunny, 15F Late morning, little traffic, perfect day. Skated Northern Lights first; it was fine in most areas with some icy patches at the end of the lower section and the bottom of Kawabunga where you're at top speed. Not really a problem though, just fly through. No rocks anywhere except a tiny spot near the end of the high section where there's some ice, too. It was groomed today. Valley was groomed perfectly as usual, not particularly fast, gritty ice particles for the most part but no sugar, which made climbing really easy. I got up the wall with no poles, a feat for me, anyway. Been off for a week due to a stubborn cold and second time around Valley my balance completely disappeared on the wall, so that was all for today. Third year in a row of poor natural snow so Valley is much appreciated; our family has been around it thousands of times over the years.

(Steve Evans)

Just a note that hard wax (Oslo for me) was working today...no need for klister. A little slow near the top by the chalet where some newly made snow drifted.

(Mark Lahtinen)

Northern Lights was open today, no tracks set (not enough snow). I'm curious how much work they did on it because it was much better than I expected. The snow was very thin over ice in spots but overall it gave good edge. Steer clear of the big hill if you don't like ice, there's a big patch right at the bottom, perfect for sending your skis in all the wrong directions once you've reached maximum speed. I did 3 loops and somehow managed to stay up right, but there were some close calls. There are a couple other ice patches on NL but even I was able to easily double-pole over them. A couple areas had significant debris and two spots had dirt/grass showing, but plenty of trail width to get around it. Valley is packed and tracked. The skate deck is firm and fast, I had to focus to keep getting edge in many places. The tracks are in great shape and fast also. Watch out in the tracks on the donut at the NL turn-off, the tracks end on the curve and of course at the max speed location!

(Brad Johnson)

Skated the man made loop at Elm this evening. I suppose a good skier would have rated the skate deck firm and fast but, for those of us with lesser skill, I think it's fair to say it was rock hard and slippery. I just couldn't hold an edge and packed it in after five laps of flailing arms and legs, sliding sideways and fighting for balance. The top Wednesday night racers seemed to have no trouble though as I watched them scream by me up the keyhole hill with style and grace.

(Leif Irgens)

Skied over noon hour. Manmade snow loop in fabulous shape; classic track firm and fast, no ice. Skate deck firm as well.

(Ralph Schwartz)

Just to add that Northern Lights is open although I did not go out there. TRPD website says packed and fair.

(Mark Lahtinen)

It gets old reporting on the same 2.5 k of ground ice, but in all honesty, when it's well groomed, like today, it really is fun. The tracks were hard and fast, and the skate deck also looked good. And hard wax gave good kick. You can leave the klister and skins home today. Maybe it'll be different tomorrow when it warms up, but that's the scoop at the moment.

(Ken Tobacman)

Late morning ski on man made snow loop. Trail in excellent shape; track firm, not icy. Skate lane firm with enough ground snow/ice to have good edge. Fast. Rode multigrade klister, rex gold, rex 1814 possible wax choices. Wind brutal.

(Ralph Schwartz)

Temp 13F, windchill felt like single digits. It's amazing how good the ski trails looked at Elm Creek valley trail loop for tonight's Elm Creek ski race series, for both skating and classic races. Coming back to MN for the CNY, I am so glad to visit with old friends at Elm Creek. Great race organization and volunteer crew.

(Amy Xu)

The mush is gone on the manmade. Nice firm classic tracks and faster than blazes. Could've used a little more klister but it was fast enough to double pole everything except the two bigger climbs. Skate lane looked rim and fast also.

(Mark Lahtinen)