I skied north and south from Mosquito Brook. The trail had been groomed this morning but only on one side at the time. The groomed side was lightly travelled and the other side was heavily used. The ungroomed side was actually faster if not easier. There were few dirty spots and minimal tree litter. The classic tracks on both sides were really nice.

(Don Quick)

Classic skied from OO south to Gravel Pit Road. Tracks are excellent since they groomed for the Seeley Hills Classic on Saturday. About one inch of new snow Sunday morning slows things down a bit but excellent skiing. Skate deck is very nice but a bit slow becuase of the new snow, but not complaining about new snow! Blue kick wax day so all good!

Photos:

(David Gorringe)

Skied south from Mosquito Brook to Hatchery and back. There was good coverage after the bit of snow last night. It hasn’t been groomed in a few days. It was pretty warm and it made for a hard slog as the snow was very sticky. Everyone I talked too concurred it was very slow going.

(Mark Edstrom)

Another warm ski today in the Northwoods. Skied about 8K from Mosquito Brook north towards OO. Trails have not been groomed and still a bit sticky with the warmer conditions. Picked a warmer wax which gave some glide which was an improvement from yesterday. No bare spots from what I could see, but sunnier spots seemed to be a bit bald/icy.

(Betsy Van Cleve)

At mid-morning I went to Hatchery Creek and skied north to Mosquito Brook and back. There was 1.5 inches of new snow overnight, not too fluffy and not too sticky, so skiing was great. However, at mid-day the temperature rose enough to make the snow really sticky.

(Don Quick)

Woof -- Slow, slow conditions from Hatchery to Mosquito Brook today. Good base of snow (no bare spots), but warm snow and lack of grooming made for a slog of a ski. Hard to get any glide. But, beautiful day for a ski.

(Betsy Van Cleve)

Started at Boedecker Rd and skied up the classic trail to the Cable trailhead and then skied back down to Boedecker on the skate trail. Going north, the trail between Boedecker and Fire Tower was good. From Fire Tower to Timber Trail it was not groomed recently contrary to what the Birkie web site indicated. From Timber Trail to the Cable trailhead it was groomed but there were numerous dirt patches especially in the vicinity of the recent timber harvest activity. The skate deck had numerous dirt patches as well. Along the high line to the trailhead the trail was in great condition except for about a kilometer just as it went back into the woods where there were no tracks set for classic. It could have been slightly less as I didn't exactly notice where the tracks started up again as they were on the opposite side of the trail. Coming south back to Boedecker, the trail was in better condition though keep alert for areas where there's a significant amount of detritus on the trail. Okay skiing but actually kind of sad for the end of January. Nobody's fault, we just need more snow.

(Geary Searfoss)

OK bear with me because I'm not positive how I got to where I ended up. The North End and the ABSF share a couple of trail segments. While on my exploration of the Tony Wise section of the North End trails I came across a freshly groomed section of the ABSF trails which led to sections of the old Korte return which led to the front of the hill where there were freshly groomed trails back up to the top and around the other side. As near as I can tell, the old Korte route, the John Bower, the World Cup and Birkie Roller trails are all groomed. OK, I get it -- there's this big race coming up and folks are obsessed with training on that course. But it means less this year so do yourself a favor and explore some of the side trails. Because it's been a long time since they've been groomed and they're fantastic.

(Andy Schwartz)

Skated north from Seeley Highlands just north of OO. Started on the skate trail and crossed over to the classic trail at Boedecker Rd then continued north to the Firetower cabin. Both trails had been freshly groomed and were amazing! Best conditions of the season so far. No punching through with poles, even on the edges of the classic track when double-poling. Firm, flat skate deck. Thank you, Birkie Trail Crew! Outstanding work.

(Montgomery Mouw)

I skied south from Hwy OO. The trail had been groomed early the previous day, but apparently there had been a lot of use after that. Nevertheless, the skate deck was in good shape. There was a classic track set on only one side and it was very good. The track on the other side was visible but snowed-over.

(Don Quick)