I skate skied the entire green trail this afternoon. I layered up my ski wear, so the -25 windchill wasn’t an issue. The skate deck and classic trial were freshly groomed before the weekend, so the trails were in great condition. There were two issues, because of the cold. Number one, I couldn’t use my sunglasses, because they would ice up immediately and number two, the snow was very dry and slow for skate skiing, despite the great grooming. It was a lot of work to skate ski. It felt like you were skiing in sand. Any glide was pretty much non-existent and you had to do a running herringbone up the hills because of the lack of glide. I jumped in the classic tracks occasionally, to see how they were and they seemed firm and a lot faster than the skate deck. I double poled quite a bit in the classic tracks and it seemed faster than skating.

(Randy Johnson)

Brisk skate today out but surprisingly (relatively) fast with Swix Polar glide wax. They groomed everything but the gold yesterday and it was groomed perfectly, as usual. The gold was a tad softer and groomed maybe 2 days ago. This was the first time I was able to use my good skis there this year as, except the usual wind blown tree litter (purple connector and gold mainly), the coverage was great and no risk to damage your bases. No new grooming this weekend due to the cold temps but there is little traffic now so you will get a nice skating all weekend. The ice sculpture at the start is great.

(Tom Heinitz)

Everything has been freshly groomed and tracked. The ski trail conditions are great and snow coverage is looking good. Due to the forecasted cold temps this weekend, there will be no grooming over the weekend.

(Jodi Saylor)

Conditions around sunset this evening were as good as they've been all season! I skated all but the yellow trails (not enough daylight left). There are just a few thin spots, and pine cones in the usual places, but the grooming keeps improving. The skate deck was even, generally wide, firm, and fast.

(Betsy Sellers)

Went out on the yellow trails at night and everything on the outer loop but the path out to JJ had been groomed nicely and made for a great ski. Still a little difficult to get up the hills with some pole slippage, but great conditions overall.

(Jean-Scott Dodd)

Classic skied the outer blue, inner green and a portion of the inner purple trails today with my wife. The tracks were in excellent shape. The snow was perfect and the glide was as fast and good as it gets. The temperature was in the mid to upper twenties with very little wind. It was ideal skiing conditions. Hats off to the groomers for a job well done! The lower temperatures and the additional snow has make the skiing as close to perfect as possible.

Photos:

(Randy Johnson)

All of the trails have been freshly groomed and new track set on everything except the purple trail today. Throughout the system trails are looking and skiing great. Groomers are reporting the best classic track they have seen this year with the fresh snow.

(Jodi Saylor)

Skate skied the outer green and outer purple trails this afternoon with my adult son. The skate deck was in excellent shape, but the snow conditions were very soft and very wet. The temperature was above freezing and the wet snow tended to bog down your speed.

(Randy Johnson)

Classic tracks and skate deck had been tracked and groomed when we arrived at 10 AM. Great conditions due to the wonderful grooming job.

(David Lundein)

Conditions have greatly improved with the fresh snow over the weekend. All trails have been groomed and fresh track set. Skiers are reporting good to great conditions throughout the forest. Grooming is planned throughout the week and again this Sunday.

(Jodi Saylor)