Skated Cedar and Brownie this evening. Very soft, but manageable. There were some isolated slushy spots but these could be easily avoided. Only thing to note is that someone has built a large ice-mound/fire pit smack in the middle of the skating trail on the south side of Cedar lake! Keep an eye out to avoid a catastrophic collision!

(Timothy Bontrager)

Skied just Isles and Cedar at 11am - conditions were great! I would say B skis if you are really picky - some dirt near bridges from the plows and a few bare spots under bridges, but really nice coverage and wide skate deck. Not too crowded. A local skier was out shoveling snow under bridges between Isles and Cedar so I stopped to help spread it and then half a dozen skiers from Great River School stopped and helped - made quick for work under one of the wide icy spots. Thanks to all the volunteer groomers/helpers and to the Loppet for the grooming equipment.

Photos:

(Eric Leugers)

Good conditions for skate skiing with periodic ice showing but easy to go around most of it. Classic rails look good condition although ice patches at times.

(Ken Valley)

Skate deck groomed on all the lakes. Skied them afterwards to see if it was as good as it looked. And it was. Firm, fast but very "edgeable".

(Michael Gotzsche)

Took a late night skate on the chain of lakes. Started at Wirth Beach and skied the overpass to Brownie. We found great firm and fast skate deck on Brownie, Cedar, and Isles. We did get to Bde Maka Ska, but just for a peek and turned around. The moon gave us almost enough light to not need headlamps. Obviously, pretty icy under the bridges, and a couple "humps" to watch out for but nothing serious. Get out and ski the lakes! Beautiful trails. We even saw some coyotes on Isles running around in the moonlight.

(Peter Johnson)

Hard packed and fast for skating. Double tracked for classic. Great conditions except under bridges - some have good snow for double poling and others mostly ice.

(Betsy Hoium)

Thank you groomers. Bde Maka Ska was spectacular! Best conditions of the year.

(Bob Pacieznik)

Got out and groomed BMS. We groomed the walking/cycling, and got compliments from a cyclist for their own trail and he is spreading the word. We also did 2 passes for the skate deck and cleaned up classic tracks where we could. Thin snow except on the south side, new classic tracks there. Isles some areas thin, newly groomed walking/cycling, 2 passes on skate deck (still many footprints and some tire tracks, groomed them out). Many walkers using the correct path and skiers are giving many thumbs up. Was able to reset the inside classic tracks, left the paired tracks alone. Trained in Craig Rittler and he got his grooming card, say hi to him on the trail.

(Peter Leugers)

Grooming-in-progress as I skied this morning. The lakes just went from great to the best yet! Walker damage is hardly noticeable.

Photos:

(Mimi Berg)

Maka Ska, Isles and Cedar were all groomed this morning again for classic and skate. There was some boot and bike tire wear from previous days that has now been groomed over, and most of the skate deck and classic tracks are in great condition. Reminder that we have groomed an outside (shore side) deck 1x wide for cycling, walking and sun tanning. The inner deck on and between the classic tracks is for skiing only. Between the lines = skiing. Outside the lines = everything else.

Photos:

(Brian Crotteau)