We received around an inch of snow throughout the day today with significant winds that have drifted snow in places. We plan to be heading out to groom tomorrow morning at 7:00am on Cedar and Gold.

(Benjamin Bartz)

Bronze and Summit trails were both groomed this morning. Bronze has a number of wet areas where water is beginning to flow over the trail with some areas getting down to just ice. Summit is in great shape except for the areas that are exposed to the sun out on the golf course. These access trails are now too thin for the snowcat to groom without causing damage. Today's groom will likely be the end of grooming on Summit and Bronze. We anticipate getting out on Gold and Cedar at least one more time this week as these trails remain in good shape with no substantial thin or wet areas and remain accessible via the south end of the driving range/Gold Downhill.

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(Benjamin Bartz)

Happy April! This is no joke, we have great Nordic skiing available on a number of trails. Here's the skinny: - Bronze has one thin area just after coming off the mesabi trail headed up the first small hill, still covered with a bit of ice but will be bear soon. Then there are two small wet areas in the middle section, but they are still quite skiable. The rest of the trail is in very good shape for spring skiing. - Summit is in great condition top to bottom with access being the only challenge. Most of exposes areas on the golf course have melted, but you can still find your way out there if you're adventurous. -Gold is in great shape throughout. Best access will be to get on the trail via the section of northern lights along the driving range tees then heading up the downhill section of gold past the bottom of the rocky top lift. - Cedar is in very good shape as well through the wooded sections and can be accessed from the northern lights or from the gold. (Gold access will be best) See attached map for reference and to view what has been groomed today.

Photos:

(Benjamin Bartz)

Still a lot of snow. They are grooming Bronze, Cedar, Summit and most of gold. I would have selected good skis but for a couple spots with ice from last weeks thaw. Temps are predicted to stay cold so there's still a lot of great skiing to be had. Feels like winter up here.

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(Cheryl DuBois)

Skied Summit, Gold, Cedar and Bronze. Excellent spring skiing! Skied Oslo and Biwabik Spur not groomed but excellent coverage with 2-3 inches loose snow.

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(Gary Anderson)

Giants Ridge is in mid-February-like conditions with snow and grooming from piston bully perfection! It is awesome up here-albeit a bit breezy! The trail access beyond the lodge (NW of lodge ) is not groomed as advertised. I skied up the Bronze through part of the Gold and back down the Summit. I then started back up Gold (at the golf course). The lower portion of Gold (approach to and into the woods) was not (yet?) groomed so I cut off at Cedar, which was groomed. In short, it appears most is groomed in the woods, once you get there. Stopped by the chalet to compliment and inquired if grooming would continue next weekend. Response was "We will groom as long as we can." I'll be back! Too cold to bike?!

(John Witzmann)

I skied the Summit and Bronze trails, in that order (counterclockwise). On most segments, I was on pristine corduroy, with only one set of tracks ahead of me for a short distance after being passed by a faster skier. The coverage is excellent, packed and tracked edge to edge. The skate deck is solid, with enough texture to get a good edge for the push, but the top is soft and wet enough to reduce the length of glide. I passed a depression off the side of the trail that was filling with snow melt, to the extent that it had soaked the trail snow about half-width. The overcast today helped slow the melting. Small amounts of detritus beginning to show through, but not enough to worry about, so far. All in all, a very nice spring ski on wonderfully maintained Giants Ridge trails.

(David Sonnenberg)

Warm temperatures and rainfall have caused us to loose some snow depth in sunnier areas and hilltops, but overall the trail system remains in good shape. The Northern Lights and Silver trails have been most impacted and have as little as 2 inches of snow in some areas. These trails will be the first to close and may have enough melt out over the weekend to warrant their closure. Trails including Bronze, Summit, Biwabik Spur, Gold and Cedar are in great shape with 8+ inches of base in most places. Grooming will continue periodically as base depths and weather conditions permit. Come on out to enjoy what could be the final weekend of our full trail system.

Photos:

(Benjamin Bartz)

Skied summit and silver. Summit was freshly groomed with a nice corduroy deck and deep solid classic tracks. Silver had an inch or less of powder over a corduroy deck. Silver is one of my new favorite trails lots of rolling hills with good flow.

(Mark Bushinski)

The conditions at the ridge are just great right now. Tracks are deep and fresh. Deck is hard and fast. Come get your "spring" k's!

(Tony Norland)