Groomed Isles and Cedar this morning. Skate deck is looking nice, classic tracks are quite shallow (we need more snow!). In some places I left some skied in tracks in place since they looked better than what I could accomplish. Get out there for a Valentine's ski.

(Michael Gotzsche)

Lake of Isles groomed for skate, and sort of for classic. Using Rossignol EVO OT65 skis I just created my own path. Bde Mke Ska had no grooming for either skate or classic. Fine with my OT65 skis that have metal edges.

Photos:

(Stephen Tannen)

Skied from Wirth lake to Bde Maka Ska. Lake of the Isles has classic tracks but otherwise there is occasional tracks on cedar. Bde Maka Ska was packed by fat tires. Skate skiing would have been my choice. Skate lane is windblown on the south end of Bde Maka Ska. Overall there is full snow coverage over the ice and there is enough snow on the land section of Cedar lake (although a few bits of dirty snow).

(Mark Bushinski)

I skied from Bde Maka Ska to Isles, around Isles over to Cedar and Brownie. Isles was in the best shape with decent classic tracks all the way around the lake. The skate deck was hard packed. Kenilworth, Cedar and Brownie had tracks off and on. They were in the best shape on the west side of both lakes. It was a great weekend for the Loppet!

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)

Well formed classic track around Lake of the Isles, just a few icy spots starting to poke through. Skate deck didn't look groomed but looked skiiable. Thanks to the groomers for setting the track so soon after the busy Loppet weekend!

(Lacey Hartman)

Warning: Slushy and dangerous conditions on south/east Bde Maka Ska. The grooming equipment had gotten stuck (it was still there) and was blocking the trail. I went around the equipment and fell down and cracked through a layer of ice into slush, soaking myself and breaking a pole. I realize now the equipment had slightly fallen through the ice, but at the time it appeared like it had just gotten stuck in a "snow dune" strewn across the trail from the high winds. I immediately skied home and am OK. Otherwise the trails outside of this section (Isles and Cedar) were great.

(John Schmidt)

Perfect conditions on isles. Skate deck is wide and smooth (and classic tracks looked OK too). Get out and enjoy!

(Tim Bontrager)

The 394 bridge was dirty snow that was a struggle to cross (getting as close as possible to the rail made it slightly easier). Some pavement at the top of the 394 hill to watch out for. Brownie was ok. The Cedar trail south of the tunnel seemed groomed. But north it was soft and not recently groomed. The trail heading from the lake up Hidden Beach looked ungroomed and more like a road so we skipped that part and headed back north.

(Dan Boody)

Bde Maka Ska, Isles, Cedar and all the channels have been rebuilt after the wind from last week with classic, skate and a separate walking trail all good to go. Walking trail on the outside, skiing on the inside between the two classic tracks.

(Brian Crotteau)

Trails around Lake of the Isles and the canal between Isles and Cedar Lake were freshly groomed and tracked. Tracks were shallow but generally in good to very good condition. The trail around Cedar Lake was not groomed or tracked recently, but tracks were reasonable to ski. The path around Bde Maka Ska is in serious need of grooming, though I only skied on a bit of it along the east side.

(Robert Kean)