We got 4" of heavy snow Wednesday night and packed using drags on Thursday. It was too warm to roll. Today we rolled and tracked with the Ginzu and the results are pretty good. The skate deck shows some broken corduroy but skiing will be fine. Tracks looked good. All trails except the Blue Return are open and groomed.

Photos:

(Burgess Eberhardt)

Temp between -3C and 0C. Excellent coverage most places, very thin under pines and cedars. The trail is still very irregular because of low snow depth, but the Polar Polers have done a fantastic job with grooming, filling in some bare areas, etc. Totally fine to use best skis, just pay attention. With the trail being so bumpy and uneven, it's like your own, 18+ km ski cross course, super fun. Great for working on balance, playful, etc. it's such a beautiful trail system.

Photos:

(Louise Levy)

Classic tracks set. A few rocks showing to look out for. More snow need for great conditions. A few wolf tracks on the trail.

Photos:

(David Kettula)

With almost 4" of new snow and frigid temps, we rolled and followed with Ginzu setting tracks on all trails Saturday, including the Blue and Red trails. Everything looks good, but there are still rocks and uneven sections on the Blue shelter loop, and on all the Red hills. I think you could use good skis everywhere but be careful. We rolled but did not groom the first Blue hill trail, the "little Blue Hill trail." It's rough.

Photos:

(Burgess Eberhardt)

We got another couple of inches of dense snow on Sunday night, so on Monday late afternoon we used both Ginzus to groom the skate lane and set tracks on Green, Orange, Yellow, and Bogwalk. We also cleared and packed the Red so that it is ready for rolling. There are still rocks available on the ridges, especially on the east side of the Orange. All the wet spots are frozen at last.

Photos:

(Burgess Eberhardt)

We received almost 6" of very puffy snow on Wednesday night. Steve rolled all the main Green, Orange, Blue, Yellow, and about 1/2 Red on Friday. I skied it this afternoon. Windy, 12 above F = cold! The Green is still nearly perfect, but you have to set your own tracks. The Blue shelter loop is a bit bumpy and there are rocks on the hill by the shelter - be careful there. The east side of the Orange is better by far than before, but still rougher than the Yellow which is good almost everywhere. I'd still recommend "B" or rock skis because of the ridges. Photos show what the Blue looks like.

Photos:

(Burgess Eberhardt)

Getting ready for real winter (perhaps arriving today) we ran the drag over the Green Trail at Tilson Creek Wednesday and it is nearly perfect! And, not to ignore the other trails we rolled them again to full width. Some rough spots remain, but skating is fine. I still recommend avoiding the east side of the Orange. Let's ski!

Photos:

(Burgess Eberhardt)

Grooming report update: I skated Green, Orange, and Yellow this afternoon. The Orange from the Green shelter east is rough and all the hills are rocky. You'll have to walk some of the downhills. I'd skip this section. If you do ski it, use rock skis. The bottom of the Orange is fine, as is the west side. The Yellow is pretty good, except for the 4 wheeler damage on the very bottom between the 2 Red intersections. It's all skiable, though. The Bogwalk is fast!

(Burgess Eberhardt)

Cold and sunny this morning. We had planned to pack and roll lots of new snow.... Not a flake fell on the Tilson Creek Ski Trail, but we rolled anyway. Got most of the Blue, all the Green, Orange, and Yellow.
Where the trail is level it looks great! There's some 4 wheeler damage to the Orange and Yellow trails. That's very irritating. But the skiing will be fine.

Photos:

(Burgess Eberhardt)

Air temp -7C, breezy in the open. The boardwalk at the start of the trail system is beautiful! Groomers have done a great job with not much snow. The green and orange trails have been rolled; the blue trails into Voyageurs National Park haven't seen attention since the summer. Definitely skiable but you have to keep an eye out for bedrock and small diameter logs laid crosswise to the trail. The section of orange trail immediately south of Hwy 11 is beautiful as always. Good skis can be used on this section until you reach the east side blue trails into VNP.

Photos:

(Louise Levy)