I skated all of the trail segments this morning. The coverage was excellent for skating, although glide was a bit soft and slow. The air temperature was just below freezing with about an inch of fairly abrasive new snow on top of the solid skate deck. The classic tracks were in very good shape, and they provided the fastest ride downhill. Best conditions in recent memory - thank you to the groomers!

Photos:

(Mike Maiers)

Skated the outer 5.2 km loop at above freezing with ultralight precipitation of sorts: the skate deck was in excellent condition after recent grooming, and the tracks looked good, but then I saw no other skiers in well over an hour on the trail, and only one guy looking to probably hike. The leaf quotient was extremely low, and I saw just one spot with dirt showing through. Gliding on LF 25-39 wax was slow, hindered by the high humidity, and all those short steep hills seemed harder, but with the trail this good (and untrammeled), I'd say get back there soon.

(Richard Swenson)

Freshly groomed after yesterday's snow. Skied all the trails. Nice classic track, with some ice in tracks here and there from rain that preceded snow. Smooth, flat skate deck. Snow soft and sticky.

Photos:

(Ken Kuznia)

Skied classic late Monday night. Lots of snow, tracks were a bit worn but firm and consistent. Rest of the deck was excellent for control on the fast downhills.

(Gary Roach)

Great classic tracks set before I skied this evening. I skied all the loops once or twice. There were quite a few leaves blown into the tracks, but otherwise they were in excellent condition. No dirt or sticks. I do wish they would put "normal" maps back up at the intersections (They should be oriented north up, so they all look the same, rather than direction of travel up, which is confusing when you see it on a paper map, even if it works great on a moving GPS view). I always enjoy the abundance of hills and woods at Terrace oaks, whether I'm on my classic skis or skate skis.

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Skated the outer, 5.2 km loop several times from 9 to 10:30 am, with temp dropping from 25 to 16. The 4+ inches of new snow had apparently seen a grooming pass plus another that left the skate deck almost double wide in places, often with a rut in the middle. Skating was slow and arduous, especially up several short hills, though the longer downhill and flat parts were enjoyable, if a bit tricky. No tracks set, but the several classic skiers I saw appeared, like me, to be appreciating this lovely, tranquil setting (which with the thinning of trees and brush looks radically different in places than it did in years past).

(Richard Swenson)

Good snow coverage. Skiied the expert loop. Classic section is untouched. Skate section is choppy but double. Some sections still show signs of grooming but were not eyet skied in. Conditions were excellent - no wind, excellent snow coverage, very little debris on the trails. Snow and ice on the branches with sun create a winter wonderland.

(Tony Doan)

Their website claims that they hadn't groomed since the thaw, but it must have been rolled in the past 24 hours. The ice was rolled into shallow corduroy. It was fast but not glazed. It is not groomed for classic. There are oak leaves everywhere (no surprise with the name) but snow coverage is good throughout - there is one bare spot at the start only. It's been years since I've skied here; it's a fun, curvy, hilly 5 km outer course. I'm glad I went, and recommend others go. The inner 4 km track is also open.

(Mary McKelvey)

Skated the outer loop. It appears that additional grooming had been done, with fairly fresh hard corduroy (temp around 25F) and significant leaf debris in many places. It was enough to grab my skis and make it difficult to keep them moving on a few of the steeper climbs. Fairly flat trail to very difficult off-camber trail for a few stretches. Most of the downhills were fairly level from side to side and was able to stay in control. There were a few spots where dirt had been pulled up but they were easily avoidable. Relatively shallow classical tracks. I used rock skis - probably could have used "B" skis with caution.

(Mike Maiers)

Looks like a tractor was used to drag the trail, and frankly the trail would have been better if left ungroomed. It would be both safer and more enjoyable. A lot of the trail had a big tractor tire rut down the center. It's one of the worst grooming jobs I have ever seen. There are multiple stretches with hi/low levels, holes, a ridge down the center.

(Dale Vaillancourt)