It's amazing how the warm temps can transform the trails so quickly from Monday to this morning! The hill trails are on the west side of the park are still in OK shape with some ice on a couple of the downhills. The classic tracks are icy, slushy, and mostly shallow. French Parks skiable days are definitely numbered--unfortunately!

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(Bill Lundberg)

French had just been freshly groomed this morning for both skate and classic. The skate deck was in good shape with no ice. The classic tracks were shallow a lot of the time with a little ice glazing, but I was still able to get a decent kick most of the time. The tracks were the deepest in the hilly areas on the west side. Thanks to the groomers for keeping it going at French!

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)

As I finished off my ski in the afternoon, I was asking myself if I would have preferred to stay home. The answer was no, but I certainly would have had to call the conditions poor. There were times I was gliding along nicely, but other times my skis were sticking, or could not get any glide. Still, a beautiful day, and it sure was easy getting up the hills!

(Liz Ferron)

Skied around 10 AM, skate deck was at that perfect temperature where it was still icy-fast but had just enough softness for good control. Lagoon, the drop into Lakeview, and the Meadow loop before the bridge had lots of sticks/bark/debris on the path. Lagoon, Lakeview, Meadow, Skyline, and the Causeway were washboarded. It was pretty good if you stayed to the far left. The classic track looked pretty icy. I was impressed there really was only 1 bare spot, and that was in the classic track under a tree!

(Steve Hum)

Pretty good! Pleasantly surprised, nice glide, great coverage. Some sections were pretty packed and icy-ish, and difficult to pole, but no slipping while skating and able to get an edge everywhere without problems. My guess is in colder temps they would be pretty icy. Lots of washboarding in some straightaway stretches, and there were a couple of spots along the edge of the trail (both underneath cedar trees) where water appeared to be pooling and the snow seemed slushy. But these things were easy to ski around. The tracks seemed shallow and icy in places. In the shade there was deeper snow that looked pretty well-groomed; it was slower but not too slow, and still good glide. Overall a fun trail in pretty good condition during the day.

(Kristian Markon)

Word for the morning: icy. After all the thawing and refreeze, the groomers did a pretty good job on the deck, though it's still ground-up ice. The tracks were mostly ice, with skiied-off sections, not very usable. Gave up after a short loop (Lakeview/Meadow). Plus side - no bare spots there, little debris.

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(Laurie Ford)

Generally good conditions, occasional leaf/tree debris but nothing that couldn't be skied around. On Meadow, Lagoon, and Skyview the skate deck was washboarded on the right-center, much better conditions on the left side of the trail.

(Steve Hum)

Skied all of the night-time-lighted trails and also the south end of the medicine trail. Generally good conditions, no bare ground, no debris, no ice. Classic tracks starting to wash out in places on Lakeview trail.

(Eric Bauer)

This was my first time skiing at French and I found the trails delightful. There is a solid base on all of the trails with recent grooming that was well used by mid morning. The signage was clear and very helpful. I would be interested in how well the lights work in the evenings.

(Greg Loper)

Great snow coverage. The track are decent 85% of the time. Looking east to the lagoon trail looked very washed out, but all other trails good. Skate looked very good. Slick today.

(Diane Pattridge)