We re-groomed 55 km today of skate lanes and we left classic tracks alone since the majority of them were very nice. Grooming plans: We have a full groomer crew coming in the early morning to take care of the new snow falling now, most likely setting new tracks and grooming all skate lanes. Skiing was rated the best of the season today. I want to take this post to thank all of customers this year for their business and being great to work with. I am thanking the homeowners who trusted us and let us build them trailside houses, the customers who we built roads and cleared building sites for, the customers we installed septic systems, and keeping our crew busy all summer long and the customers that came to ABR Trails to ski, shop or lodge with us and trusted us to have well groomed trails for them. Happy New Year and see you tomorrow for skiing or snowshoeing! We open at 9 AM. Thank you from Angela and Eric!

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

The trails groomed up real fine this morning. We ended up grooming 55 km of skate lanes and resetting 10 km of classic tracks. All 95 km skied well today. Recreational and competitive skiers were very happy with the controllable but firm trail condition. Grooming plans: Three groomers headed out in the morning to regroom 55 km of skate lanes and may set some new classic tracks if needed. SISU course is looking good, a few thin areas under the pines but 1 week can change thin areas quickly from thin to thick (with shovels or praying).

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Peltonen's Pass out was good on the skate deck. Quite soft on the right side of the tracks where you plant your pole. Not as bad on the other combination trails but still occasional post holing. Washed out to base on Pelto every day because of all the people that snowplow. If you would like to avoid drifts it would be better to ski it in the morning. Otherwise beautiful conditions.

(Erin Matula)

The trails groomed up great this morning. Cold temps at 9 AM warmed up quickly by noon with the sun. All 95 km skied well today. The new 1.5-2 inches of snow really was great to groom, recreational skiers were very happy. Grooming plans: Three groomers headed out in the morning to regroom all 55 km of skate lanes and may set some new classic tracks if needed.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Trails 100% open again today with 95 km groomed. The weather sure has been cooperating. Five groomers out this morning taking care of the trails. We are 100 % open with very good conditions. Early morning groom crew of Pig Heart, Crasher, Wide Track, Wully Bully and Patner took care of grooming this morning. All skate lanes regroomed and all classic tracks reset. A few thin spots under the Christmas Trees or steeper downhills but not many. Grooming plans: We will be back out in the early morning doing it again since it is snow again!
Note: The owner of Windy Ridge Nature Preserve was very disappointed on Dec 25 when Ridge Runner was closed (trail closed sign in the center of trail facing forward) and several skiers skied past the trail closed sign. He turned a few of the younger skiers back and shared a picture of an adult skier passing one of his trail cams. When a trail is closed, it is closed for a reason (mainly safety). Do not ski on closed trails, please.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

What a difference a day makes. Five inches of fresh snow saved the day for classic skiing at ABR. Snow in the trees provided a scenic background for nicely groomed classic trails. Temps in high 20s made for a comfortable day. Lots of Twin Cities high school teams enjoying the day.

Photos:

(Chip Treen)

We received 6-7 inches of new snow last night, starting at midnight and ending at 8 AM. Full crew of five groomers were out at 6 AM getting the trails ready. After several passes, 90% of classic only trails were tracked and combination trails groomed for skating and classic. At noon, the groomers were done with their shift. All trails are open except Ridge Runner. 87 km open for skiing today. Grooming plans: Full groom crew is planned again early morning to reset tracks and regroom skate lanes on all 95 km of trails.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Only a few flakes of new snow fell overnight, I am not sure it was visible on the webcams. Widetrack and Pig Heart headed out grooming the skate lanes again early morning and all but Ridge Runner was groomed with two groomers renovating skate lanes of about 45 km of skating. Meanwhile, Crasher reset classic track on Tamarack 2 track, the Highlands and Deer trail. 21 km of new classic track. The new set classic was highly rated as cold dry powder. The skating was highly rated 9 AM to about 2 PM. The trail deteriorated with skier traffic as the day went on, but morning skiers were very pleased. Yes, there are some very thin areas under the Christmas trees and on the hills. Grooming plans: Pig Heart, Widetrack, Crasher, Wully Bully and even Honey Badger signed up for a groom routine at 6 AM. We will post pictures again when the conditions are more consistent. With 95 km of trails it is easy to post a misleading picture. I hope our reports are enough to make your travel and ski decisions (I see I need to reset the web cams).

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

A big thank you to Widetrack who came in on Christmas morning to groom with Pig Heart. We groomed about 37 km of skate lanes and they turned out much better than we both expected and better than skiers expected. The thin glaze from last night churned up into fine powder and provided a fast surface butwas very skiable. Classic skiers opted for the groomed skate lanes as opposed to the glazed track except on the flats where they enjoyed double poling with little effort. Grooming plans: We plan to have three groomers out early morning regrooming. We will redo some classic tracks, if we get new snowfall. If we don't get new snow, we will retrack Tamarack one side.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Merry Christmas! Today's temps warmed up to 36F. Skiing was super in the morning but got slow in the afternoon. We did not receive any rain, thank you. I did touch up grooming this morning on 15km of trails, the trails were looking good, Tracks were looking good. Grooming plans: Wide Track and Pig Heart are heading out in the morning to groom Christmas day. Not sure if we will reset classic tracks unless we get new snow, but we will give it our best for making a day of skiing on Christmas. Open 9-4:30 for skiing. Forecast is very favorable.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)