Today we hosted the Proctor HS Ski Meet. More than 300 Northland ski racers kicked off their race season, and gave our 5K trail a good workout. While they raced, we spent 6 hours compacting the 8K trail. That trail is now skate groomed with the roller/compactor. Soft, but skiable. The Perimeter Loop is open, firm, and skate groomed. Classic skiers welcome to ski both. After the race, we regroomed the 5K skate deck and set a new classic track. Beautiful. Our goal is to finish all trails with the Ginzu and set classic tracks on the 8K by Thursday afternoon. Photos are of the freshly regroomed 5K, and compactor groomed 8K.

Photos:

(John Graham)

Snowflake is closed today, as we recover from the latest snow dump, and groom the trails for the Proctor HS Ski Race. We will be closed tomorrow, Tuesday, until the Proctor HS race ends, at about 5:00 pm. We will then be open until 8:00 pm.

(John Graham)

The 5K, SpecialK, and a 1.5 K loop, beginning and ending at the powerline Perimeter Loop cut-thru are groomed for skate and classic. The deck was regroomed this morning; the track is well-shaped and firm, except for the Biathlon Loop. This morning we compacted and opened the remaining 10K segments of the Perimeter Loop. It was groomed with the roller/compactor, is smooth but soft, and only groomed for skating from the 10K start (Shovel Hill). Classic skiers may ski the right side. Grooming plans: The remaining segments of the 10K will be opened on Monday/Tuesday, as the groomers and machines will be resting tomorrow.

Photos:

(John Graham)

Today we compacted and groomed the "new" Biathlon Loop, which circles the Biathlon range, and adds about 1/2K to the 5K trail. We will be grooming this loop as a regular section of the 5K. Skiers may bypass this loop on the existing trail, which we will continue to groom. Skiing this reimagined 5K + Special K will now equal about 6K. I will update the distance markers once we finish opening all of the trails, but the existing "direction" signage reflects this change and is accurate. Today we also compacted and groomed the East Nordic "Sprint Loop", which uses portions of the 10K. It may be accessed from the 10K Start. Just follow the grooming, skate and classic. We also opened and skate-groomed the 10K loop section which includes Pulse and Pine Grove: a long climb and a long downhill. This may be accessed from the 10K Start or, from the 10K Sprint loop. Finally, we opened and compacted the KidSki loop, accessed at the bottom of the sledding hill. This is a short, classic-only loop for children. All open trails were regroomed for skating today, The classic track looks used, but improving with use.

(John Graham)

Kudos to the hard working groomers for creating an awesome firm classic track and pretty darn smooth skate deck on the 5k and special k! When we got there they were inside sweating after working on the 10k for hours! Today was our new puppies first time skijoring and she stayed out of the tracks the whole time!

Photos:

(Eve Graves)

Classic track was set on the 5K and SpecialK today. Also ran the Ginzu with knives down to smooth and level the trails, with good results. Still soft surface, but getting harder by the hour. Beginner oval at the stadium was groomed with 2 sets on classic track and a skate lane. The Pond Oval is closed due to unsafe ice.

Photos:

(John Graham)

Kudos to John and the Snowflake grooming team. The 5 k was surprisingly nice today; despite the massive snow totals the trail was firm and with repeated passes it was flattening nicely. Snow was abrasive and somewhat slow but that will change soon. No tracks by late afternoon, classic skiing was a challenge. The 8 k was not groomed yet, as expected.

(Paul Windberg)

The snow is transforming and packing-down. Today, we further compacted and rolled SpecialK, then did six side-to-side grooming rins with the Ginzu, knives up. Produced a decent skate deck, still soft but much better than this morning's. Lots of skiers are helping by skiing the snow in. Started to set a classic track, but had a breakage in the track-setter; I purchased the needed hardware, we'll fix it in the morning, and plan to have a track set by early afternoon. Then, on to the Perimeter loop! Thank you Skiers, for your encouraging words and enthusiasm the past two days!

Photos:

(John Graham)

Wow, we have 22" of powder and drifts to 30" on the trails! Today we spent 6 1/2 hours compacting the 5K and SpecialK with the sleds, then did multiple runs with the roller/compactor. The 5K is now groomed for skating and open for classic skiing on the right side. The deck is still soft, and snow too loose for setting a track. Tomorrow we will try and run the 5K with the Ginzus and set a track. Next step is to groom the SpecialK, open the Bi-Loop, then the Perimeter Loop.

Photos:

(John Graham)

Post-blizzard, most Duluth roads are still unplowed, our access road, driveway, and parking lots are buried, and the Groomers are snowed-in at home. Thus, Snowflake is Closed today. Members who want to bust trail on skis or snowshoes may do so. We will update our progrss when we can start re-opening trails.

Photos:

(John Graham)