Great spring skiing! The grooming was World Cup quality and the classic track has been moved to the left side for better flow. Get out and try it after this next storm. Spirit is usually groomed first!

(Kara Salmela)

Jody Ream and I set a new classic track line this morning. We moved it to the left side for most of the climb and half of the return back down to the stadium. This approach achieves a continuous track on the climb and the skate line feels good as well. I skied a couple loops in each technique and skied all the cutoff to see if how much the track would be impacted. With so little cutoff usage I think having to cross a track shouldn't be a problem or damage the track too much and you gain a nice continuous climbing track. Go out and stride or skate it and let us know what you all think.

(Cory Salmela)

Things are looking good here for the Tour DuLuth festival today! A couple inches of fresh snow last night have been mixed in and the trails are quite firm after the cold last night. Come on out and enjoy the festivities, free demos and enjoy this bluebird day!

Photos:

(Erik Blow)

Excellent, groomed 2.5k loop. Hard pack and fast. Classic tracks set. But be sure to bring your headlamp! These trails are dark, save for the beautiful star-lit sky!

(Charlie Corcoran)

All loops have been groomed last night/this morning with full skate deck and classic tracks. Conditions are quite firm with the below zero temps overnight but excellent overall. I would suspect that once we get into the positive temperatures skiing will be excellent! We are back to 4 tracks wide in the stadium as well.

(Erik Blow)

After the big snow yesterday I wanted to check out the conditions at Grand Avenue Nordic. I was looking for great classic tracks and a chance to ski the upper half of the trail. Great classic tracks are exactly what I found. With the VR40 I had excellent kick and nice glide. After I got up out of the stadium I "stayed up on top" of the course and did 1k loops. The course is technical but flows really well. The width of the trail makes it very easy to choose a fast line down the hill or check your speed with a snow plow and take the corners at an easy pace. I am still impressed with the skill that it took to layout the trail and build this wonderful addition to Duluth trail system. Thanks as well for the great grooming Eric!

Photos:

(Dave Johnson)

We have managed to keep most of the snow we received yesterday on trail and trails should set up well over the day. Overall we have about 7-8" of fresh fluff packed onto the base, so skate deck will be a little soft and tracksare probably sitting at a medium hardness. The trails are beautiful however, and the weather is very cooperative so come out for a couple kilometers!

(Erik Blow)

Snow hasn't arrived yet in the twin ports so we've got a full till and fresh track set for those looking to get some pre Birkie k in before the storm comes! Everything has set up solid and is looking good. Once the snow does come we'll be out periodically to do some packing and a refresh of classic tracks in the afternoon.

(Erik Blow)

Things definitely firmed up last night with the dive below the zero mark on the thermometers, but not too much to cause any issues with the snow quality. Of greater concern is wind debris and drifting; we had some 20ish mph winds come through all last night and into the morning, so unfortunately there is a significant amount of woody debris on many sections of the trail, predominantly around the stadium area. The further you head up into the woods the less debris there is. I have good skis marked since the snow is still great, but I would err to the side of caution in your ski selection. There are some smaller wind drifts out in the stadium and small pockets of trail, the largest ones have been knocked down. Tracks were set after the wind, so there is less debris in there, but there are still some unavoidable sections.

(Erik Blow)

Mother Nature has delivered! The center is looking beautiful and this is by far the best snow of the year. The trails have a full till and track set and we've even got the addition of some "Nordic cross" features courtesy of St. Scholastica in the stadium. The best skiing of the year is going on right now!

Photos:

(Erik Blow)