The tracks are very hard and relatively little glide in the sub zero temperatures. There is almost full coverage - the only exception is the short stretch from the lake to the parking lot is completely iced over and I needed to go around it through the ungroomed snow to the side.

Photos:

(Brad Anderson)

Excellent conditions today! 1-2" of fresh powder on the double tracks that had been set a couple days ago made the skiing quiet and smooth, but didn't interfere with progress. Good snow coverage everywhere except for a couple small thin spots near the lake where wind had blown it away. Beautiful snow on the trees. We saw very few other skiers during 11 miles of skiing. Interesting to see and hear water gurgling under the ice and through holes in the ice below the Fifth Falls, but we stayed off the ice!

Photos:

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

The tracks have 1" or more of fluffy new snow in them, some of them have been packed down by skiers. The only thin areas were by the highway bridge and right by the lake with more new snow up on the hills. Overall very good skiing.

Photos:

(Brad Anderson)

The trails by the lake and along the river have been groomed with deep double tracks, the park staff told us the groomer is our working on the trails in the eastern side of the park. The glide was good except for a lot of clumping and sticking going up the hill to the north edge of the park.

Photos:

(Brad Anderson)

Great ski this morning. A little rough and icy getting above the highway but then solid skate deck with velvet on top for the 2 mile loop south of the river. Not tracked for classic at the moment, other side of the river looks like it is. Standard up north debris. One small bit of ice, one rock showing.

(Bjorn Westgard)

Campground trail is rolled and tracked but the high winds have brought down significant debris on the trail. It's worse in the woods along the river. The wide open paved trail along the lake is much cleaner. We spoke with the park ranger and he said the inland part of the park has even thinner base so it's only been rolled which was surprising as inland typically gets more snow than by the lake. Parts of the tracks were burned through to the pavement.

Photos:

(Karla Anderson)

The park website states only the trails on the lake side have been groomed. Even the trail by the visitor center that typically has a lot of traffic had intact classic tracks. Some of the tracks are partially blown in, the tracks right by Lake Superior are starting to break through to pavement and there is some pine needle debris going through the campground.

Photos:

(Brad Anderson)