Icy in the morning and soft by noon, but still a pleasure. Even small hills are an adventure early. Skied east and west trails and tracks were uneven with minimal debris.

(Steve Brezinski)

Anvil was groomed and tracks were set this morning. With temps above freezing during the day and below freezing at night, the trail is icy. Tracks are not as deep as preferred due to the very solid base. Expect late season conditions.

Photos:

(Valerie Knurr)

Military Trail and Lake Loop were groomed and tracks were set for classic skiing. Grooming plans: The rest of Anvil trail will be groomed on Friday, if temperatures stay low.

(Valerie Knurr)

I went to Anvil Lake this morning and skied 9 mile. The trail was untouched since the 2-3 inches we had a couple days ago. Absolutely beautiful although I should've arrived earlier. Skis started to stick as I came closer to the shelter. Stopped there, and fortunately had the Maxi glide, and after that, it was smooth sailing back on West. Great day. Nothing like being out in the woods on your skis sweating it up in the sun!

Photos:

(Ryan Pstrong)

I arrived at the Franklin Lake Road parking lot just after 10:00 am this morning with temperatures around freezing. I skied from the parking lot to the Lake Loop and did the Lake Loop. Next, I skied north on the East Trail to get to the start of the Ninemile Trail. First, I skied to the parking lot and looped back around to the start of the Ninemile Trail. The section of the trail from the intersection of the East Trail and Ninemile Trail to the parking lot was leveled but not tracked. Thankfully, that made control on this extremely hilly section very manageable. Kudos to the groomer for not setting any track in that section. By the time I returned to the start of the Ninemile Trail, I had skied about an hour and fifteen minutes. Conditions for the first hour and fifteen minutes were excellent. Tracks were firm and fast. Unfortunately, conditions had deteriorated rapidly by 11:30 am. The snow became wet and heavy and the track slowed considerably, especially where exposed to the sun. With that, the Ninemile Trail became quite difficult to navigate. The wet heavy snow completely obliterated control. I ended up falling on pretty much every sharp turn. Judging by the snow on the corners, I was not the only one who had difficulty. By the time I returned to the Franklin Lake Rd parking lot, I had skied 16 kilometers in about two hours fifteen minutes. Conditions for the first hour and fifteen minutes were excellent. Conditions for the next hour were poor!

Photos:

(Jim Gantz)

Another 8-10 inches of dry snow fell last night. All of Anvil was groomed and tracks were set for classic skiing. With so much snow, the trail is soft but will hopefully firm up overnight.

Photos:

(Valerie Knurr)

Overall Anvil Lake was in great shape. Some boot traffic on a few of the loops which was mostly confined to the skate lane and avoided the classic tracks. No tracks set on Devils Run, the steepness of this trail combined with the relatively narrow groomed path made herringbone a challenge due to the soft snow on the edges of the trail, downhills were a blast!

Photos:

(Eli Anoszko)

All trails at Anvil were groomed and tracks were set for classic skiing. A few more inches of snow freshened up the trail and made for great conditions.

(Valerie Knurr)

Military trail and Lake loop was groomed and tracks were set. East and West trail were partially groomed. Due to equipment breakdown the rest of the trail system was not groomed and tracks were not set. Tracks from the last grooming are still visible but covered in about 3 inches of fresh snow.

Photos:

(Valerie Knurr)

Skied out to shelter and then did West and East trail. No fresh classic tracks set on East Trail. Conditions ranged from sticky in the sun to fast in the shade. Fun time overall, the woods are looking lovely.

(Sally Samson)