My wife and I skied 12.4 kilometers starting at the softball park in Cannon Falls-6.2 kilometers each way. The classic tracks are in excellent condition--firm and fast, but still with enough texture for excellent kick. The skate deck also appeared to be in excellent condition. We both used our good skis with no damage.

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(James Martenson)

We received 3 to 5 inches of fluffy snow on Saturday night. Groomed out from mile one to seventeen. Classic track is good. Skate deck is very soft but skiable.

(Dan Forsythe)

The trail was in poor condition. It was ungroomed; covered with 2 to 3 inches of wet snow. In the more open sections, the snow compacted down to nearly the pavement under my strides. It was high 30's with occasional light drizzle. I used FastWax Yellow LF. Conditions were what one could have reasonably expected - really bad. I generally could skate about 75 yards and then stopped and walked/strided 50 yards and repeated. Got better on the return when I was going downhill on the grade from the driveway to the trailhead. Skated 3.3 mph overall, less than half my normal speed. From the ballpark parking lot, I made it as far as the first overlook where the one redeeming thing of the outing was 3 or 4 over flights of a flock of trumpeter swans and 4 or 5 over flights of Canadian geese so near you could hear the air swooshing as they flapped their wings flying by 20 feet overhead.

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(Keith Carlson)

We groomed from Welch to Cannon Falls today with mixed results. The walkers and bikes have really hurt the minimum snow we have out there. Please take the time to inform walkers that the trail is for skiing only, we do not have the staff to chase them all off. We will not be grooming again until we get more snow.

(Dan Forsythe)

The Cannon Valley trail is groomed and open for skiing only from mile 1 to 15. There is very thin coverage, but skiable. There is not enough snow to set a classic track. The skate lane has firmed up nicely as of today. We did experience a bit of New Year’s Eve snowmobile damage from mile 6 to 7 that I plan to clean up on Saturday morning.

(Dan Forsythe)

Traveled from Cannon Falls to the rest area three miles in. Groomed, but too thin for classic tracks to be set yet. Completely covered, but poles hit pavement a few times. Heavy pedestrian traffic and even a fat bikes have left lots of tracks across trail. Overall, skiable and a number of people were out enjoying the trail today.

(Robert Coleman)

I skied about a mile around the Welch station. There were times I could hear the tips of my ski poles hit the pavement, but my skis were not in danger of hitting it. The snow was sometimes soft on the edge, and I sank down. The trail was groomed from the parking lot toward the direction of Cannon Falls but not toward Red Wing.

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(John LaPlante)

We skied from about mile 5 to mile 2 east of Cannon Falls. The snow was thin (about 2") but 100% cover on the trail, no bare spots. It was freshly rolled and was excellent. We saw a couple of dozen swans on the water and flying around. What a treat! Very pleasant outing.

(Timothy Vick)