Valhalla trails received over a foot of snow early in the week. The entire trail system has been rolled, and there is currently a good 12 inches base. Grooming plans: Grooming and track setting will occur on Friday and Saturday. Grooming will begin with the Teuton side and progress to the Valkyrie side. The C loop on the Valkyrie side of the trail system is long, hilly and requires extra effort to groom. This trail will be the last to be packed and groomed and is currently still powder, other than one lap from a snowmobile to settle the snow. Trails are gorgeous right now.

(Marc Ankenbauer)

The Valkyrie side (East--Classic Only) has only A and B loops tracked, with C rolled/packed, no tracks. The Teuton side definitely needs some work on track setting. Since the trails are all one way, I was confused as to why there are two sets of classic tracks leading out from the parking lot. Eventually, it goes down to one set, but regardless of where they are, they are all too close to center--so no griping warranted at any skaters who've gone over them; they really can't help it. Low enough traffic overall so that the classic tracks didn't get damaged, at least. Good snow depth in general, and trees definitely great for the wind break on these wind-advisory days!

(Andrea Ochmann)

Skated all of the Teuton trails today and they're in really good shape overall. Mostly pretty firm surface, with a few softer areas. The classic track has been set closer to the middle of the trail, which makes for an impossibly narrow skate lane to avoid messing up the tracks, sorry classic skiers! Mostly the tracks look to be in great shape other than that. Definitely would use good skis.

(Paul Belknap)

Skied both sides of the road classic. On the classic only side, all loops were tracked except the longer C loop which had only been packed. On the other side all trails had been groomed. The skate deck was variable width and at times is was too narrow so skate skiers had to ski on the classic tracks with minimal damage. There were classic tracks set except on the last 1/2 of the B loop.

(Bill Callas)

Snow Conditions: Base is 6 inches, packed/groomed. The entire trail system has been groomed and track set. Trails are gorgeous right now.

(Marc Ankenbauer)

Classic skied the Sun Bowl on the Valkyrie side, along with the B loop on the Teuton side. There were a few more rocks on the Sun Bowl, mostly on the uphills, and a few areas of leaves and other debris on the downhills, than anywhere on the Teuton side. I used good skis and managed to not hit anything, but would probably use B skis if I was heading out again. Overall conditions on the Sun Bowl are nice and firm, no tracks yet anywhere, and not enough snow to set them.

(Paul Belknap)

Base is 2 inches. Both the Teuton trail system (chalet side) and Valkyrie trail system (north of Hwy C) are groomed to create a base, but coverage is thin. No tracks have been set on any trail in the system.

(Marc Ankenbauer)

Skated all of the Teuton trails today, and they were in pretty good shape! The A loop was best, the rest could use one more pass with the groomer. No classic tracks yet, I don't think there's enough snow for even a shallow track. I used rock skis but didn't see much that you could hit, a few thin spots so B skis seem appropriate. The groomer was out on the Valkyrie side while I was skiing.

Photos:

(Paul Belknap)

Fair conditions, but better than expected. No grooming. About 1-2” of fresh snow on top of a very thin packed base. Lots of sticks and bark showing, but didn’t encounter rocks. No ice. We skied 80% of the Teuton trails. Had a nice time!

Photos:

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Classic skied all of the trails on the Teuton side last night and again this afternoon, they are in fair condition after the thaw and rain. The trails look to have been groomed before the rain, which has frozen into a decent base, with a few thin spots, and 2+ inches of fresh snow on top. I used rock skis, and definitely hit a few things, but 90% or more of the trails look like the photo. No grooming since the fresh snow, but varying degrees of skied in tracks on all the trails. Blue hardwax has been kicking fine except for one or two icy spots.

Photos:

(Paul Belknap)