I classic skied this afternoon at Hyland, found the tracks were in great shape, just a little slow down the gentle hill by the practice area. The skate deck looked good with no sugar at all. There is a bit of a wind from the north but I never got overly cold. Big thanks to the groomers! I recorded 25.6k in 5 laps, so just over 5k per lap.

(Tom Harris)

Everything was groomed for both skate and classic today. The only issue was some sticky/slow snow spots.

(Kenneth Kooistra)

It was nice to get a respite from the extreme cold and finally ski the entire snowmaking loop (except Star, which was closed for grooming). Despite the "warmup", skiing was slow on any uphill stretches due to the still low temps - around 14F - and recent grooming that had not setup and was soft. Nevertheless, the Boulder and Frogtown-Willow downhills were fast with only the Scenic downhill not fast enough to carry me thru the flat onto Frogtown without much skating. There were no snowplow wakes on any of them. Thanks to the groomers for getting the entire snowmaking loop open.

(Keith Carlson)

They regroomed as I started my second lap of classic skiing. So first no tracks, then second loop was fantastic tracks and softer skate deck. In the sun it felt much warmer than the air temp registered.

(Bill Quinn)

I classic skied this morning / early afternoon. There were no classic tracks! The skate deck looked good and firm. The Star loop is currently closed. I got 20.7 k in 5 laps, so a bit more than 4 k per lap right now. The weather was beautiful, the newly opened trail was great, if only there had been tracks (they said the machine broke) or they had posted so I would have had my skate skis along.

(Tom Harris)

The classic tracks were groomed over and not present but there was fresh corduroy on the skate deck. Great snow overall and a handful of others out this morning. It looks like Star loop is almost complete.

(Matthew Kennedy)

Snow was fast for how cold and windy it is. Looks like they were grooming Star loop as I was leaving. Man we are spoiled to have it in the Twin Cities!

(Scott Cummings)

Thanks to the grooming team for working through this sub zero stretch. We have a world class course again this year at Hyland. Many snow guns were running today on the Star loop to improve the base on that loop.

(Brad Mlynar)

Full 5K snowmaking loop is now open, thank you Hyland crew! Aside from the windchill and some areas with wind drifted snow in the tracks, conditions were about as good as it gets without natural snow. Nice firm tracks and the skate deck was solid as well. There was a sign on the visitor center door stating the Star Loop would be closed Jan 16-17th. Trail access from Jan's Place parking lot will remain open.

(Ben Ruhme)

I pulled into the parking lot around 4 pm and was surprised to see so many cars in the lot, especially at about 1º. The snow was amazing, super firm and fast. Classic tracks were deep and consistent. I couldn't quite manage my own temperature - hands freezing and body overheating. Other than that, the skiing was tremendous. Groomers were moving about, and it was a great afternoon to be skiing.

(Glenn Hansen)