Skied knob and kettle, didn't ski razorback. Razorback looked like it would be almost backcountry conditions. Tracks were set a few days ago, prior to the last couple inches of snow, but are in pretty good condition thanks to it having been skied by a few people. Skate would be difficult until trails are packed again.

(Matt Grote)

Overall, pretty good for classic. Generally good snow coverage now except for a few small rocks poking to the surface here and there. You can generally see and avoid these. Kettle and Knob are packed and tracked. Razorback is packed, but not tracked. The surface of the skate deck is soft enough everywhere to keep skis tracking straight even without set tracks. It looked like skating would not be too good, though, because the skate deck was so uneven and soft in many places. Quite a few hiker tracks in some areas near where entry/exit trails come in from side streets. No ice. Enough snow on all the hills to make the descents safe, if a bit lumpy. Beautiful sunny day for skiing! Swix V40 worked very well for kick on our wood skis.

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(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Trail conditions were fair to poor, definitely use rock skis. Grooming was uneven with large ridges that needed more flattening -- this was the greatest challenge. Trail had been walked on but mostly fine skiing over that as I expect that here. Lots of sticks on the trail and some exposed rock. Fence closed at post marker #4 that goes to #19, along the lake. Classic tracks present but in bad condition.

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(Jen Sota)

I was surprised to hear that these trails were groomed recently! The Three-Rivers site reports that as of Jan 26, Knob and Kettle were fair and groomed, and that Razorback is still poor and packed.

(Mike Schowalter)

No grooming had been done, but there were skier-set tracks on most of the trails. These were actually pretty good. Better than I expected. Not too many leaves either. The trail segments in the worst shape were some that were closer to other entrances (not the main parking lot/entrance), where lots of hikers, snowshoers, and dogs had been walking. There was enough snow, and soft-enough snow, on all the hills to make it fine for going up and maintaining control on the way down. Overall, I had a great time skiing there and got a great workout on the hills. Skating looked like it would be pretty poor because of the thin, uneven snow and the fact that it had been worn down to dirt, rocks, and sticks in some areas.

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(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Epic back country conditions. Sign says trails open but no grooming still, only snowshoers and self-made ski tracks in few places with about 15 inches of snow. Skied all the trails plus nice snowshoe trail that looped South back to the road from Razorback. Watch out for rock next to right hand track in the middle of the biggest Razorback downhill which will scrape your ski if you are in the track. Other rocks were pretty easy to see. Note: I called Three Rivers and they said they might groom after they are done with Cleary. Disappointing because I noticed they groomed the fat tire trails.

(Dan Zenk)

The skiing was excellent, even though the trails had not been groomed yet, as of noon Sunday! The Knob and Kettle trails had been heavily traveled by many snowshoers and hikers, who packed a trail about the width of normal set tracks. Normally a bad thing, but since the snow is fresh and soft, the packed area is soft enough to help the skis track straight. And it eliminated the need to break trail through the deep snow. Most of the Razorback trail had seen little or no showshoe and hiker traffic, but several skiers had preceded me, so it was in good shape. Very nice classic skiing if you don't require perfect set tracks. Beautiful day to be out there and Swix V50 kick wax worked well on my wood skis. On south-facing hills, where the bright sun was directly on the tracks, the snow was getting a bit sticky and clumping up on the ski bottoms. But this was easily removed. There was one fallen log blocking part of the Knob trail within a mile of the parking lot, but it was easily avoided by skiing around the right end of the log.

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(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)