I enjoyed a really nice post-New-Years ski trip with my family at Rainbow. Ski trails were in very good condition considering the thaw that happened after Christmas. The classic tracks were a little icy, but had enough fresh snow from dustings on Wednesday and Thursday that kick was decent. There were some spots with vegetation sticking out, but all very avoidable. The skate deck was regroomed on Friday and was level and firm throughout. It was a little slow due to the cold temps, but I imagine will be a much faster when things warm up a bit. We also spent a lot of fun time on the ice rink. Accommodations at the ski-in/ski-out cabin were great. We're excited for our next visit

(Thomas Blackstock)

Weather 0F; clear skies, light nw breeze; average base depth of 2" with 1/2" of fresh powder snow from past 48 hrs. The base is for the most part frozen granular; track sets remain ungroomed and are shallow in areas and icy; deck does have a grip to it in sun protected areas of trails. 6 K loop: bucks run; rabbits trail; cougars run; and ridge run now renovated and combed on the skate lane. B skis recommended. Some grasses and a few twigs showing in thin areas. Went out to groom this morning at -4f below and with the sun shining actually felt warmer out in the woods. Renovated out the past few days of skiing activity and pack the ½" of new powder snow. All things considered found conditions to be fair to good.

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(Douglas Schumann, Rainbow Resort)

Icy but still good skis if I ski smart. Doug just did another groom trying to mix the last two days of light dusting (maybe 1/2 inch of very dry powder), that squeaky stuff that doesn't really mix up but floats around and then blows everywhere when there is wind. And cold -- so conditions are fast and icy so I actually just want to ski slow and careful. I avoided hills and stayed on easy sections since I wasn't up for the wild ride on some of the downhills, with how icy the base is it is better to just Picabo Street down and have fast feet. I am more likely to damage my good skis on an icy downhill, so I only stayed on the moderate (blue loops). So I feel like in this cold polar snow with icy base that these are not conditions for hard interval ski training but go out and put in foundation and focus on drills. Classic skiing the track was solid but my skin ski were only good on flats.

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(Jill Troutner)

Classic skied for our last ski of camp at Rainbow. Temp 5 degrees and flurries made for a great morning ski. Skied some in the older tracks and some out. Had pretty good kick with Rode Multi Blue. I wanted to give a thank you to Leah and Doug for their hospitality and grooming. It's been a while since Orono Nordic has done a camp at Rainbow, we will be back.

(Brian McCollor)

Last full day of ski camp at Rainbow. Consistent light snowfall, had a thin layer of fresh snow on the trails. Reasonable but cooler temperatures; kicked on special multigrade, worked well.

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(Brian McCollor)

Classic ski this afternoon at Rainbow. Light dusting of fresh snow, about 1/2" by this evening. Classic tracks were icy but skiable for the most part, the skate deck was firm but good for striding compared to the tracks. We used blue covered with N41 for kick wax with mixed results.

(Brian McCollor)

Temp has dropped to teens. Cloudy and no wind. After most of the day of skiing, grooming, snowshoeing, I decided to go out for a late afternoon/early evening ski. Classic tracks are good but a bit icy with quite a bit washouts. Skiers from schools and clubs have been training hard out there! Glad the trails are still holding well and skied in. So, tracks are fast, and I stepped out around a few corners, and I skied the Black Bear, Top of Rainbow, Deer View trails. Some of these trails are generally exposed to the sun, I'm surprised to see most are still okay.

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(Amy Xu)

We had a great ski day. Used mixture of good skis and B skis throughout the day. Solid base most everywhere that they did a good job of breaking up were possible. Skating was excellent. Classic track very firm and icy as expected. Not enough snow to reset. With good skis, needed to jump out half the time but could have stayed in more with B skis. These trails are some of the best in the state. Our group collectively did several hundred K and will be back again. It was our first time here.

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(Matt Mouser)

Great first day of ski camp at Rainbow. Surprisingly good coverage, especially with little to no snow in Park Rapids. Fast, fun trails, nice to be out on natural snow. Skate deck is covered but thin in some spots; classic is tracked but shallow and icy.

(Brian McCollor)

20* F above early am, now 28* F above at noon; trail base spring time conditions after thawing and refreezing past 3 days; have renovated and combed 6k loop, bucks run, rabbits trail, cougars run and ridge run. No reset of track sets do to minimal base depth average of 2". Renovations produced some nice combed surface and granule ice chips in more frozen areas. Existing track set icy and washed out in short areas where exposed to south sun. Recommend B skis due to grass, some thin areas, and twigs. All things considered rate as average ski conditions. After three days of day time temps reaching thawing temps and refreezing overnight I was surprised actually how much was left for snow. Any sections that have south sun exposure and low spots in those areas have frozen ice spots from water migrating there. We are skiable and with sunshine and 28*F above now would suspect the skiing surface will get better. I did not groom any of the big hills on Eagles Run due to icy conditions.

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(Douglas Schumann, Rainbow Resort)