Slightly better than yesterday. Sugar and mashed potatoes abound, but the flat areas are still pretty good. Plenty of snow, but can be tough going. Slower pace and more calories burned. I'm guessing the increased traffic is the reason. Hoping for more snow to freshen things up.

(Paul Larson)

Already a crowd and sugar snow at 6:00 A.M. The sugar snow on the hill on the Frogtown return and the climb to Boulder Ridge was already very deep. It was still good skiing, though, and the other hills weren't too bad. I used the Boulder Ridge Bypass after my third lap, not because the descent was tricky–it was–but because of the wrong way traffic from there to the base. I nearly got hit twice by wrong-way skiers who made no attempt to share the trail.

(John Kendrick)

At my 10:30 am start, the temperature was 32F degrees, skies were grey, the trail was loaded with sugar and there was a fair amount of traffic on the trail. There was 10 member group of 20-something men in black that I think were members of the Canadian team practicing for the Loppet and 6 or 8 women in black and white that I guessed were also members of Canadian Loppet team, They skated the uphills effortlessly: I couldn't. Made the mistake of taking the outside channel on Boulder's downhill. As I transitioned through the snowplow wake at the curve, I thought for sure I was going down as I hit the runout. I fortunately made it.

(Keith Carlson)

I've been visiting Hyland the past few days while Wirth is closed for the World Cup. This morning at 5:00 AM it was soft and sugary on the hills from the start (much different than yesterday at the same time). It was a bit more work due to the sugar, but still pretty fast and overall great all things considered. Thank you to the groomers! And thank you to the Hyland community for welcoming the displaced Wirth skiers.

(Sam Knuth)

At my noon start, the temperature was 41 degrees per the trail center's thermometer and the trail was in good condition. Much less traffic and much less sugar than yesterday. The snow on the south-facing uphills was beginning to corn but it was nevertheless my fastest skate of the year because I was able to skate the entire Frog Town as well as the NW Willow climbs without stopping, a rarity for me. Thanks to groomers for getting the trail thru this warm stretch with minimal adverse impact.

(Keith Carlson)

Fair to good for skate skiing on the snowmaking loops. I skied three laps starting about 2:30 PM. Temperature at the start was about 40° F. Flat sections of the trail in shade were in good shape. Uphill sections in the shade were a little bit sugary or sometimes a little bit wet, but not too deep. Slopes facing the sun were slushy.

Photos:

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Started skiing around 11:30 am, and found the classic tracks to vary between a little icy or slushy, but still very skiable. The base is surprisingly good considering all of our warm weather. Only a couple spots are getting thin.

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)

I don't believe in miracles but something miraculous happened at Hyland. I arrived at 8:30am and found that tons of sugar from the weekend onslaught had been transformed into a firm and fast skate deck even though the overnight temp was not much below freezing. Great job groomers.

(Jack Stech)

Arrived at 5:30 am and found the skate deck perfectly groomed. Two words described it: blazing fast!

(Dave Hunt)

At my 11:30 start, the trail was crowded but in good condition. Lots of sugar except on the outbound leg of Boulder before the climb, the inbound Scenic downhill and inbound from the top Frog Town thru the end of inbound Willow. Despite the more widespread sugar and the much bigger crowd, my pace was identical to yesterday.

(Keith Carlson)