The Birkie web site states the snowmaking trails up at Cable are closed. They will be open Friday morning for a short while and will close again once temps rise above the freezing mark.

(Michael O’Connor, Rochester Active Sports Club)

Skied at the start line. Definitely not the best conditions. Snow has some debris on it but is overall clean. Uphills are at times grainy and you have to lift your feet, and downhills are rutted. Getting icier.

(Anna DeMers)

I skied the Birkie Tour today: I did the loop to Timber Trail and back on natural snow. What a change from Wednesday - I skied the natural snow trails then and they were thin, but actually good skiing. Today they have deteriorated a lot and won't be skiable for much longer. They were thin with bare spots and a few rocks. It was slushy and not recently groomed (for obvious reasons). I'm happy they kept the Timber Trail aid station open for us adventurous ones. I enjoyed it! The snowmaking loops have a great snow base and were groomed last night. With heavy use and warm temperatures today, it was mashed potatoes in some places and springlike conditions. But I'm not complaining - they are miracle workers and they have a lot of snow stockpiled for the big event.

(Louis Muench, CASTA)

Skied at the Birkie Trailhead. Skate deck was firm but starting to get slow and sticky. The downhills (especially elevator shaft) were icy and fast. Some dirt and tree debris starting to show with the worn trail. Birkie staff has done an absolutely incredible job given the recent weather. Looks like they've been working on piling snow near old Telemark to work even more magic.

(Ian Boylan)

Took a hike out my back door to look at Birkie Prince Haakon start. Four weeks out yet. Has about a 2" soggy base, dissipating. Too soft to ski on right now.

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(Audun Mikkelson)

Honestly, I wish you could have skied with me today. It was that amazing. Conditions aren't been good enough for a Birkie start to Hatchery ski like years past, so this morning I took advantage of the Birkie man-made snow loops. Conditions were absolutely perfect! Classic skied 11 full loops with all the hills and three smaller loops. I want to say somewhere in the 40 something km range, but I'm not exactly sure -- 3 hours 16 minutes. The temperature was about 35F so the man-made snow was firm but softened up. The tracks were solid, deep and bobsled fast with ample kick. Hill climbs were firm with give for traction. Downhill sections were fast, well groomed and controllable. This was the best training ski I've had all season. I'm so thankful for the entire Birkie team for this gem in the northland! Enjoy the ski.

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(Kevin Grand)

Attempted a ski from OO to Boedecker (out on ski trail and back on classic). Amazing what a day makes. Yesterday was in the tracks almost 95% of the time. Today spent over 50% on what is left of the skate trail. Unfortunately, on one southern facing down hill had experience of trail narrowing to less than 3 feet wide of snow left - will be gone soon. OO to Boedecker is not a recommended loop in my opinion (sadly).

(George Larson)

Strided starting at Hwy OO Classic to Boedeckker and back on Skate trail couple times. More grass organic popping up but still fun. Have to hop out of tracks once in while for the white stuff. Now, if we could get those Birkie snow guns freshening it up the Boedecker loop a bit, we'd really be cooking!

(Audun Mikkelson)

I was out this morning at the start (in Cable) but didn't ski the man made snow. I did the trails with "natural" snow that were groomed. There is a skied in classic track going up the skate trail to the powerlines. It ends where the trail veers off the powerlines into the woods. In places it is pretty good. The skate deck is surprisingly good given the conditions. Everything is getting hard packed and icy. I took a quick look at the loops of man made snow and they were excellent but those were getting hard packed too. The Birkie groomers are miracle workers given the conditions.

(Steve Thon)

I skied a bunch of the Birkie trail over the weekend, here is a summary of what I found for grooming. South of OO was packed, but there was approximately 1/2" of powder on top. The farther south I went, the thinner it got, approaching rock ski conditions. The grooming stopped a couple of K northeast of Mosquito Brook. The skate and classic trail were freshly groomed between OO and Boedecker on Saturday morning, there was a decent looking classic track. The trail was groomed north of Boedecker, I only made it to the high point, but the grooming continued on farther north (I don't know how far). There wasn't a classic track north Boedecker. The ABSF regroomed the skate trail Saturday night, the skiing Sunday morning was very nice! I used B skis, I would not recommend good skis, but you also don't need rock skis if you keep your eyes open.

(Matthew Ryan)