Groomers did a great job preserving the trail. A few thin/dirty spots on the skyline trail, but the hills were in great shape. Ski your B skis and you can avoid the bad spots. Otherwise play it safe with rock skis.

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(Kristin Lindquist)

Skating was really nice this morning, classic tracks had not been re-tracked when I left at 8am. There were a few icy places with thin snow so don't use your best skis, but otherwise the skiing was great! Funny note, I accidentally grabbed my rollerski poles and the base was so hardpack that I didn't notice until most of the way around the loop.

(David Nelson, Skinnyski.com Race Team)

I don't know how, but French survived. The tree cover and the shade undoubtedly helped matters. Conditions were worse in the full sun areas, but even those held up well. I skied about 7K of the standard loops, expecting to battle bald spots and bad conditions, and was very surprised to find it in good shape. Additional snow will definitely help. Tomorrow might be a little slippery as some of the melt freezes but I'm hopeful the groomers can work their magic again.

(Paul Larson)

Awesome, freshly groomed trails. Near pristine. Maybe 3-4 spots total that were a little thin, but otherwise good with minimal debris. Based was thin though - so even a one day warmup may put it at risk.

(John Leaf)

Good to very good. We skied all of the open trails on our classic skis and then I skied a couple laps on all of the lighted trails on my skate skis. Conditions were much better than the fair rating on the board at the park. A small amount of leaves and bark here and there on the skate deck, but not enough to have any effect. Almost no debris in any of the classic tracks. No exposed dirt or pavement, except one little 3-inch patch of dirt in one track. No ice anywhere. The only trail that was closed was the first half of Challenge Hill. Conditions are the best I've seen in the past 3 years at French Regional Park. Get out and enjoy it while it lasts!

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Official condition report says fair. They are better than that. I rate them good. Very good by 2018 standards.

(Craig Thielke)

French was fabulous today. Enjoyed the crisp temperatures and blue skies. Tracks were great. Very good conditions. A nice change from the washed out tracks at Carver. Skate looked freshly groomed.

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(Diane Pattridge)

Skied the lit loops (Lagoon, Lakeview, and Skyline) and it was as good as I have ever seen. The connector across the marsh was flat and not windblown. The uphills were firm. The downhills were soft. Overall a very pleasurable experience. I think this is best winter in probably 5 or 6 years. Thanks to the Park District for capitalizing on it.

(Luke Malm)

14 degrees, sunshine, and no wind--it felt like a heat wave! The skate lane and the tracks were in great shape this afternoon. These were the best conditions at French all season!

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(Bill Lundberg)

Pristine corduroy, four cars in the lot and blue skies. Really glad I ventured over to French today, nice job groomers!

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(Kirk Hyatt)