One of the crew scratched up the main loops this afternoon, just the skate deck. The trail is still uneven and has some debris on it. The tracks have not been set for a week but are holding up well - there is some new track where the Seeley Classic went through on Saturday. The Tony Wise trail is groomed for skating but is uneven and there are no classic tracks. The NE Classic only trail is tracked but only is fair shape. The tracks are very shallow where the snowshoe race went through Jan. 5 as the trail was too hard to set better tracks.

(Irv Berlin)

Skate skied NE trails this morning. Skate lanes are a little uneven and debris is accumulating from the trees. Base is shallow but bad spots can be avoided. By observation the classic tracks look good overall but lots of oak leaves to dodge. We noted the Tony Wise has no tracks set. The Seeley Classic race cut through the NE trail system today and tomorrow the Birkie Tour will as well.

(Irv Berlin)

Fabulous skating. Fresh corduroy, great control, very fast with the recent thaw-freeze. The rare thin spot is easily avoided. It doesn't get any better! The classic track on the main North End wasn't reset today. It looked good, seemed slower than the skate deck.

(Steve Weiss)

I skied a combination of the Birkie Classic Trail, Sleigh Trail and the North End Trails. Conditions were pretty poor, what with the recent warm up. The classic tracks were shallow and icy early, then softened up as the morning wore on. There were a couple of bare spots and some twigs sticking through since the base isn't that deep yet. Grooming was decent, but for classic there just isn't that much to work with right now. I skied with good skis, but recommend B skis and waxless.

(Adam Schwartz-Lowe)

Good coverage, a little soft but hey it's real snow! The groomers were out in force making for beautiful conditions for both skate and classic. We had planned to ski mostly on the Birkie trail but veered off onto this trail system because it looked so good, and, we're glad we did.

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(Genevieve Johnson)

We received 3 plus inches on new snow yesterday. The main loop was groomed for skate and classic today with a major improvement in the trails. The skate lane is much more level with very few leaves showing and the classic tracks are firm and deep except under a few pine trees. There is very little debris on the trail and the few dirt spots are easily avoided. The conditions are approaching the best they can be. Good skis are fine, but pay attention to the few thin areas. The Tony Wise was combed out for skating and the Classic trail has older tracks.

(Irv Berlin)

Skied the Classic Trail late this afternoon. Solid track on most of the trail, and the remainder was well skied in by others by the time we came by. Some exposed leaf litter and dirt, but easily avoidable. Have to duck in places under the snowy branches! Still looks like a fairytale up here in the north woods.

Photos:

(Mitchell Campbell)

Thanks to four members of the grooming crew who spent virtually all the daylight hours working on the trails, the trails are open and skiable. We received 4 to 5 inches of new snow after it quit raining yesterday. The crew rolled the trails and unburdened and cut limbs that were laden with snow in the morning and in the after noon combed out the skate lane and set tracks. The trails have good coverage with a few leaves peeking through under pines and the tracks varying from very good to a little shallow. The skate lane was still soft at 4pm and had been cut up in some areas by skiers. It is also uneven in some places. The tracks vary from very good to fair, are mostly full depth but are also soft on the edges. Setting up overnight should improve all the trails. Expect to duck a few limbs if you are classic skiing. The classic only trail has been skied in but not groomed.

(Irv Berlin)

While I was in the neighborhood I drove over to the North End trail head to see what progress they've made. The main skate trails have been rolled but not groomed. You could probably ski on them if you really wanted to but I'd consider waiting until they can get at it with the grooming equipment.

(Andy Schwartz)

I skied at the Birkie start area (man-made) Sunday morning and it was very nicely groomed. There was a total of 2k open. This consisted of about a 1k loop with three short out and backs scattered around it that added up to the 2k if you skied everything each time around. There was only one tiny bare patch (about 2 feet long) that I saw over the whole area. For the snow that they had it was in great shape. Bonus, music playing over the loudspeakers!

(Adam Schwartz-Lowe)