At 11:00am the snow making loop was in excellent condition. MPR said it was 32 degrees just before my start. Trail had a firm surface with a minimal amount of fine sugar on top. It was fast. Boulder downhill was no problem and the Boulder climb was the easiest it's been all season for me due to the lack of sugar accumulation. With new, lighter skis that a shop reprepped for me after a really disappointing first time out, I am pretty confident I hit my recurring goal for each season of an 8 mph pace. Unfortunately I forgot to put my mileage tracker on to confirm it.

(Keith Carlson)

Best conditions of the year. That snow we received last week pumped some life into the skate deck and it just doesn't get much better. The uphills were pristine with zero sugar and there was essentially no ice at all on the 5K manmade loop. All praise to the fantastic groomers and staff at Hyland.

(Matt Frantzen)

Just skied the snowmaking trails. Excellent condition for skating. Classic tracks looked excellent, too.

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(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Skied natural trails at Hyland (Lake, North, Nature Center loops) just before noon. There were many places where leaves or wood chips were poking through, but a snow covered path was always available. I never scraped bottom or had wood chips stuck to my skis, so would rate trails as being in fair shape. Overall an enjoyable, quiet ski.

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(Tom Pitchford)

I skated all the man-made and the south natural trails this morning at 10:00am. Man-made was outstanding. The natural trails were pretty rough as a lot of wood chips were already showing through. I had my rock skis and I even felt sorry for them on the abuse they were taking. Still a great day of skiing -- zero complaints.

(Philip Westover)

I skied classic this morning at Hyland, the tracks were deep and smooth, the deck looked firm with no sugar. I thought I was going kind of slow due to recovering from an injury, but when I looked at my mapping app I was actually a little faster than normal. Several of the skaters I talked to said the deck was fast.

(Tom Harris)

The natural snow trails look rolled. I saw a few people on them. Most like me were on the 5k loop. It was excellent out in the tracks. Plenty of kick using my skins. There is some dirt or leaf debris getting tilled in.

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(Scott Greymont)

At a 2:20 pm start, it was partly sunny with the temperature at 23 degrees. The snow making loop was in very good condition. The surface was hard packed with just enough loose snow for adequate bite. No snow plow wake to complicate the Boulder descent. Unfortunately, my new skis freshly waxed with FastWax Salmon HF were inexplicably slow. I also tried the shorter version of the natural snow loop. It was also slow for me and required moving from side to side to avoid the frequent bleed thru of the wood mulch underlying the snow. Avoided any scratches.

(Keith Carlson)

Where is everyone? Is some other skiing event going on? Hyland was deserted, which is too bad. The snowmaking trails were the best I've seen this season. The classic track was set with a nice layer of grippy snow, while the skate deck was hard and fast but still soft enough for great control. Can't say the same about the natural snow trails. Lake, Oak Knob, and North had coverage but lots of wood chips and occasional bare ground showing. Expect to pickup damage on your skis. No classic track is set. I didn't try Hill.

(Steve Hum)

Skied the snowmaking trails and they were in fantastic shape! Some of the fasted I've felt going up the hills and not too sketchy on the downhills, just a tiny bit slick with the cool temps over night.

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(Ophelia Loree)