All the lakes were groomed with tracks. Conditions look really good except for a few spots that were a little thin, but there was no ice showing.

Photos:

(Ken Valley)

Groomed Bde Maka Ska yesterday. It had plenty of snow cover to make classic tracks, and a nice skate deck. Note that it is possible certain areas may get wind blown during the day so be advised to use B skis. It was nice to see a lot of people skiing the lakes when it was super cold and windy.

(Ken Valley)

Isles is so nice for flat skate skiing. Yes it’s cold, (so slow) but I always take the somewhat ice crusted channel to Cedar and I end up asking myself, “Why didn’t I stay on Isles?” Only did a little of the east side of Cedar before turning back, it was even slower from the wind blown snow, I guess. The classic tracks are really not deep enough on Isles (I asked a classic skier) but both lakes seem to be skate-able. But stick to Isles, it continues to be really great.

Photos:

(Melanie Sorensen)

The Kenilworth Channel was groomed for classic and skate, plus a biking/walking path was packed. Winds were blowing a bit and some drifting occurred. The Cedar Lake Park Trail (from Hidden Beach to N. Cedar Lake) was groomed for skate and classic, with decent coverage. Brownie Lake was groomed for skate (double wide) and classic tracks set inside and out, as well as biking/walking path along shoreline around entire loop. I also shoveled some more snow at the Tunnel entrance to Cedar. The entire NW and Eastern side of Cedar were drifting over with a steady wind from the SW - so you will be skiing in and out of drifts and some windblown areas.

Photos:

(Craig Rittler)

Blowing snow had obscured some of the Cedar Lake segments, and sections under the roadways were icy, otherwise skiable and in decent condition.

(Michael Mckinney)

Made several passes through the Kenilworth Channel, packing the skate deck and set classic tracks on right and left where possible. Also made a few passes on the walk/bike section too. Cedar was very tundra-like with a steady wind erasing the trail I just groomed on each pass on the north, east and south end. The western shoreline was holding up well and is packed for skate with classic tracks on right and left. Brownie is in the best shape by far due to low wind exposure, and the skate deck was widened a bit with classic tracks set. The hill to 394 is good as well. The Brownie Tunnel had some debris from bike path plowing, but is otherwise good. The bottom line - in any windswept areas you will be breaking through windblown snow and drifts - more grooming is scheduled once winds die down.

(Craig Rittler)

Got out and groomed Bde and Isles and Kennnilworth channel. Leeward side of all lakes are great and tracks remained intact for the most part. Everywhere is soft to very soft. It will take a couple more passes and the wind to die down to get the snow to stick and not drift over. Grooming plans: We have someone going out tomorrow morning and doing Cedar/Brownie and and another person doing Bde and Isles again.

(Peter Leugers)

The trails on Isles were covered in snow this morning (no grooming visible for skate or classic). Great snow for classic; skier-made trails fill in fast but there are tracks to grab and it’s easy to make your own. Snow is even blowing in under the bridges to Cedar, although there is a small amount of ice you have to cross on the Isles bridge.

Photos:

(Melanie Sorensen)

Briefly on the west side of Bde Maka Ska. I saw three cracks coming from the middle of the lake to the shoreline that seemed to be just through the snow. Rather than investigate if the cracks were just superficial, I got off the ice. This is my first year skiing on lakes and am unfamiliar with how lakes respond to fluctuations in temperature.

(Monica Hynds)

Good morning! I really enjoyed riding the chain of lakes this morning and LOVE the grooming of side-by-side decks for skiers (I plan to use these gorgeous skate decks very soon in the future!) and other users (riders, walkers, etc...). The skate deck and classic tracks look fantastic, and the links between lakes are all ridable/skiable. Awesome. I did note one very strange thing on lake of the isles: A line of several ice fishing holds right smack in the middle of the skate deck.

Photos:

(Lee Penn)