I skied the man made loops at the Birkie start area this morning. There was fresh corduroy throughout so exceptional skate skiing. There were 30 or so cars in the parking lot when I was there so it wasn't like I was alone but I never had any concerns about conflicts on corners or downhills. A very pleasant morning on snow.

(Andy Schwartz)

Very good for skating. Classic tracks are solid but getting icy. Very firm under foot with some loose snow on top from grooming and heavy use. I waited until the afternoon to give the teams and visitors time to clear out and was rewarded with good conditions and a wide open track. The man made loops at the start area are only 3 kilometers or so total but with the combination of loops and widely differing terrain, it feels like much more. Worth the price of the early season pass in my opinion.

(Andy Schwartz)

Was a little crowded this morning due to a ton of ski teams. The majority of them were standing with skis on as opposed to actually skiing though, so that left the trails relatively open for an uninterrupted session. The tracks were freshly groomed when I got there with portions of the old world cup trail open for skiing. Start wide klister is still working really well for me, but most of the hills require herringbone to ascend due to being either too steep, icy, or chewed up to kick.

(Andrew Einspanier)

The man-made loop at BTH is exceptionallly great for any time of year, but for the first weekend in December - it's awesome (for both skate and classic). Big thanks to the ABSF grooming crew!

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(Jeffery Tumbleson)

Wow! Birkie start area loops are like a little playground for folks getting fresh air and their early season ski groove on. As far as the lack of snow weather-wise, they have done a fabulous job manufacturing a white winter for at least a few km. Kudos to skiers for being respectful of each other, too.

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(Pamela Toshner)

The man-made loops at the Birkie trailhead are in really good shape with another roughly 0.5 km being added that will hopefully be open soon. But, the classic tracks are really icy and there's only so much that klister can do. I did a lot of double-poling and herringbone. Still, good stuff.

(Andrew Einspanier)

Skied the 1.5 km loop today. The trail was really fast and the classic tracks were icy. A Klister base with a little hard wax on top gave me good kick. Trail is clear with no debris, so go ahead and use those "A" skis all you want! Lost/Found: I had a pair of classic ski poles taken from the Birkie trailhead today. They are Swix Quantum 3 poles, 150 cm, blue/black/white in color. If you accidentally grabbed 'em, please contact me.

(Andrew Einspanier)

Really nice 1.3k artificial snow figure 8 loop open at the Birkie start. Nice mix of terrain. Snow was packed and fast but easy to edge on. Rock solid tracks. The skating was super nice yesterday. Quite a difference from the churned up sugar snow at Elm Creek the other day. They were busy making more snow as I skied. Thanks groomers!

(Michael Gotzsche)

Skated on the man made 1.5K loop. Conditions were fast and would be perfect were it not for a few pesky rocks that were on the trail in random spots. Did my best to take them off the trail whenever I noticed them. Otherwise was great. Really impressive what they have done!

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(Zak Ketterson)

Snowmaking loop was in great shape - lots of happy skiers getting ready for Thanksgiving. 1.3K loop was getting a bit crowded at times and the one trail connection is a bit tricky but we all seemed to get the hang of it. Look forward to skiing more trails in the coming weeks. Like a big skiing playground. Thank You Birkie crew and all the donations that made the snowmaking possible at Telemark.

(George Larson)