Skated later morning just as the snow was tapering off. The groomer was out while I was there and the inner trails had received a couple of passes but still soft and slow, as expected. 2-3" of dense powder on the rest made for a good resistance workout but even and smooth. Very thin to non existent base under the new snow in places (the usual spots for those who ski SMF regularly) and then great coverage in others. We in the Twin Ports ski community REALLY appreciate all the work the city puts into the meticulous maintenance of these great trails. It was a low snow year for them and they did a great job of having consistently well groomed beautiful trails. Thank you for another great season SMF crew and I hope I get some March skiing out there yet.

(Tom Heinitz)

Skied some of the red, blue, and green trails. The snow is fantastic. Some bare and burned-out spots exist under the pine trees, but are easily passable. The track, for my friend who was doing classical, is worn in some spots. The best day on the snow for me, though, the snow was soft and fast!

(Richard Kaufman)

Trails have been groomed and fresh track set where conditions have allowed. The base is starting to disappear fast and the track sets are melting through in some of the normally thin areas. The outer Red is very patchy and we were unable to groom it today. Grooming plans: Weekend grooming will take place Sunday and trail conditions will be reassessed Monday.

(Jodi Saylor)

Trail conditions are great with everything freshly groomed and track reset today except for the outer purple and yellow trails; which were groomed yesterday and will be touched up tomorrow. The systems snow base still isn’t very thick and spots are starting to burn out under the pine trees in the usual trouble spots.

(Jodi Saylor)

I classic skied the yellow and purple trails at 9:30 AM today. I figured I’d get out before it got too warm. It was beautiful 34 degrees, but still too warm. It made the conditions quite soft in some areas. The classic tracks on the yellow and purple trails haven’t been re-set in quite some time and they desperately need it done. The multi-use connector from the 42nd St. parking lot to the yellow trail was a mess with no tracks at all. Snowmobiles had ridden over the tracks and they were non-existent. There were a few tracks on the yellow and purple trails that were perfect, but most areas were very soft and mushy and other areas in the shade were very icy. There was spots on the back side of purple, where the hills are, that had no tracks at all. I skied the downhills on the skate deck for safety reasons. The downhills were very slow. The skate deck was freshly groomed twice this morning on the yellow trail, but the deck was extremely soft. I’m glad I classic skied. It was so soft on the yellow trail, the groomer actually got stuck going up one of the hills and had to use a winch to pull himself up the hill. It’s always fun to ski, no matter what the conditions are, and I hope we see a bit more snow and colder temperatures to extend the ski season.

(Randy Johnson)

Skated the entire yellow trail, started from the 42nd St. parking lot. Conditions were fantastic! Super fast and fun! I skied through the sub zero temps when the snow was so slow that it felt like a weightlifting workout, but today was worth the hard work when the snow was so slow. Great glide throughout the yellow trail and the hills were super fast. No problem in climbing the hills, either. The only poor area was from junction CC to the end of Cedar Point and back. The trail hasn’t been groomed in quite some time and there wasn’t a classic track set. There was a ton of debris on this section, too. So much debris, that I had to walk on my skis to avoid it in areas. Other than that section, the yellow was first class. My glide was twice as fast as I would normally ski. Another positive was the fact that there wasn’t any dog poop on the yellow trail. The green, purple and blue trails all have had a lot of poop on the trails. Hikers and dogs have been walking where it should be ski only.

(Randy Johnson)

Overall the trails are looking really good! Fresh grooming has taken place throughout the system with new track mixed in where it was needed. We plan to continue grooming this week with plans for weekend grooming as well.

(Jodi Saylor)

As of mid-afternoon today, the skate deck on most trails was very recently groomed and quite soft. The yellow (peninsula) trail was amazing--fresh corduroy. The exception to the new grooming was the purple trail, which was still good--somewhat firmer and not too skied-in. The blue (multi-use) trail showed more boot and bike traffic than ski traffic, but it was firm enough that the skating was still fine. Watch out for debris in the usual places, as well as quite a bit of poop. It looked like the classic tracks had not been re-set.

(Betsy Sellers)

Ski trails are still looking good and were groomed regularly throughout the week. Everything has been groomed and track reset throughout the forest in the last 2 days. Ski traffic has been down with the cold temps but skiers should be aware of extra traffic in the forest with the local medallion hunt taking place. Due to the cold temps again we will not be grooming this weekend.

(Jodi Saylor)

I classic skied the outer purple and part of the green trails this morning. The tracks were firm and fast, despite the sub-zero temperatures. In fact, I classic skied faster today than I skate skied yesterday, which never happens. The glide was first rate today. I used the exact same glide wax on my tips and tails that I used skate skiing yesterday, but classic skiing was the better way to go today. I used Rex G41 pink racing performance glide wax spray. It’s an all-purpose wax that’s rated for temps -20C up to +5C. The groomers were out again today and have done a fantastic job with the tracks and skate deck.

Photos:

(Randy Johnson)