We classic skied the green and red in Superior today. The skate deck had been redone and was mostly ice free except for a few downhills which were not the scary kind of ice. The classic tracks have not been redone since the last snowfall from what I can tell. They are 90% ice, fun double pole derby for experienced skiers, terrifying for timid skiers. The tracks were also skied on before things firmed up so they are uneven width wise and some in our group had issues with the track catching the boot and stopping them. Tracks are 90% debris free with most of the junk being under the pines. Only 1 % of the debris stops skis and my skins glided right over it. They are about 99% intact throughout what I skied.

Photos:

(Eve Graves)

We skated and classic skied the yellow flat side in Superior today starting at noon. The trail has not been groomed since the last small snowfall. Skate deck had about an inch of snow on it which people had skated over. The classic tracks were solid, intact, debris free and skied in. Skating was slower, classic was good glide on skins and scales today. It was starting to soften in parts as we were heading out. The road part was not groomed at all, had many snowmobile and 4 wheeler tracks on it, but wasn't "scary" to ski down the hill or up it for experienced skiers. No ruts.

Photos:

(Eve Graves)

Skated everything this morning except inner green and blue (too much hiker damage) and conditions were mostly awesome (as usual). Uncharacteristically, it was not freshly groomed this morning but had been yesterday. Conditions were fairly fast with about an inch of new dry snow on a fast crusty base. The green/red were great and somewhat softer and slower on the purple connector and yellow. The hilly side of the yellow was narrowly groomed with ?one pass and a bit uneven from grooming our new snow--very skiable though. The flat side of the yellow was much better with a few grooming passes yesterday but still softer than the green/red. Very little to no drifting, which surprised me, with the wind we have had. Yep, seems like January out there but as always this time of year, our ski days are numbered so enjoy our spectacular winter while it is here... we'll be complaining about the heat before you know it.

(Tom Heinitz)

There's absolutely incredible skating and classic skiing in Superior today! I skied at noon and it's as good today as it's been all winter!! Freshly groomed skate deck and classic tracks. The temperature is ideal and the snow is perfect! It's fast, firm and doesn't have any ice.

(Randy Johnson)

We skied the red part of blue (could have skipped this segment as it was uneven and getting soft) and green. The trails had been recently groomed and in decent condition considering the temperatures. The groomers do an awesome job! Thank you!

(Debra Bergstrom)

We skied the red and green and skated inner short purple at the Superior Municipal forest today. The skate deck was pretty firm throughout all but the purple. It was kinda uneven in spots. The classic tracks varied quite a bit. Parts of the red had some icy spots, the green had uneven tracks from those who sunk in, where they groomed today it was perfect and firm. The pole plants also varied from deep to firm and I kept getting snow in my baskets. They do so much over there with so little equipment, especially with 20 inches of fresh snow! We saw the groomer go by twice during our hour ski!

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(Eve Graves)

My wife and I classic skied and it was really tough. It was extremely sticky and slow with very little glide. The entire red and inner green trails were completely groomed and tracked, but with the volume of snow and the type of snow we got, it was extremely tough to ski. For those of you who shoveled yesterday and witnessed how snow would stick to your shovels, that would give you an idea how it was with skis. Our skis were fully waxed and ready to go, but that didn't make much of a difference. The snow did not stick to the skis, but there was a lot of drag because of the snow type. The outer green trail was so deep and sticky that the groomer got stuck five times trying to groom it. Nothing has been done to the purple or yellow trails, either. The groomers are doing their best, but it will take some time to whip the trails back in shape. I'm going to go back tonight, when it cools down, and skate ski.

(Randy Johnson)

Due to the demands of snow removal operations we don't anticipate being able to groom the ski trails today. We will be back on the trails tomorrow.

(Jodi Saylor)

I classic skied a couple hours in Superior today. The conditions were wonderful, as usual. I did multiple laps on red, green, and blue. I did not ski purple or yellow today, but I did speak with the groomers and they said they groomed and tracked the entire system today (60-total miles of passes!) They told me they will be back on Sunday at 4:00 AM to groom and track again. No grooming will be done on Saturday. The groomers do an outstanding job and are much appreciated. There's a lot of skiing left for this season.

(Randy Johnson)

Today's ski was just another example of why Superior is constantly my go to place to ski. There was 2" of groomed up slow, soft, silky snow on top of a rock hard deck. Brown's point was tough but fun because it was soft and the wind was blowing front the NE in my face on the way out. Every section of the system was groomed. I can't say thank you enough to the dedicated grooming crew!

Photos:

(Nic Bacigalupo)