So the groomed trails were great! Good edging and fast. The crust skiing was way better though. Snow was starting to loosen up by 8:30AM so get there early. Hop across the road and ski on Lake Phalen. It's fast and fun with good edging. I was able to ski the chain of lakes up to Maplewood. Just had to walk on the path along the creek.

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(Scott Kyser)

Fantastic conditions at Phalen. Groomers did a bang up job and the course is super fun. Some soft spots and soon to be puddles in some areas, but overall in great shape. Get out and enjoy it while you can!

(Amber Glawe)

Fantastic conditions at Phalen. Groomers did a bang up job and the course is super fun. Some soft spots and soon to be puddles in some areas, but overall in great shape. Get out and enjoy it while you can!

(Amber Glawe)

Phalen groomed up the best today, out of all St. Paul Parks ski trails. Both the classic tracks and skate deck were groomed and in great shape for a lap or two.

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(Amanda Smith, St. Paul Parks and Recreation)

Base was good for skate ski and tracks were mostly intact for classic with a few spots that were bare and others very shallow. The snow consistency was started to turn into shaved iced at about 1pm, and I'm not sure how much longer the course will endure these high temperatures so get out there.

(Austin Bell)

Outstanding conditions which will only improve with the snowfall. Today was a great day to be out there. Classic tracks were near perfect. Some sections that are either thin or icy, especially near trees. The downhills are a blast but would be a challenge for a brand new skier. Skate decks appear to be in fine condition. Get out and enjoy Phalen while it lasts, spring is coming!

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(Mark Stanfield)

Phalen's skate lane is groomed and in super condition. The track is just about three groomer passes wide. Must have been groomed this morning. Snow was pretty slow and soft in the beautiful sun shine this afternoon. The classic tracks were set on the 6.45 KM loop but were shallow in most spots, seems like they were dragged not pressed in. Should be good skiing for the weekend.

(Bill Stuber)

Skied at 4:15 pm. The skate deck is very, very wide, and the classic tracks seem to be further and further to the right, so much so that my poles frequently plunged through the softer snow. The tracks were generally good: deep, consistent, with occasional spaces with leaves and twigs. Of the places I ski, Phalen has the most litter, especially along Arcade, where avoiding abandoned face masks and fast food wrappers is more common than side-stepping bare ground.

(Michael Kuhne)

Phalen was just beautiful this afternoon although in the process of falling victim to the winds. Freshly groomed corduroy; variable depth tracks seemed pretty fresh, as well and just about zero leaves! Sadly many long sections of track were filled with windblown snow, but where that wasn't the case there was solid kicking and decent glide to be had in the cold. Full coverage nearly everywhere, little debris, the only danger spots being the usual thin and/or icy areas under tree cover. Easily spotted in time to avoid, especially if you're familiar with the course. I used good skis without worry. Skied at hawk o'clock and saw a couple of red-tails cruising around looking for supper, one of them lifting off the snow with an unfortunate grey squirrel dinner in its talons.

(Marjie Carr-Oxley)

Cold and slow. Tracks a little thin in places but mostly OK. However, there was powder blown into the tracks in most places; where it was, the glide was sandpaper-slow. The exception was the west side along Arcade - there the glide was OK, especially after I did several traverses, which made the tracks slicker.

(Pete Thurmes)