Skied Eagle Point trail at 4 this afternoon and found it in good condition. Trail had been freshly groomed without tracks. Just a few spots to be concerned about but no problem stepping around them. Very nice skating.

(Bill Stuber)

Trails at Lake Elmo around 10am this morning were amazing! Looked like the skate deck had been groomed earlier in the morning, a few skiers had already taken to it. But was packed and and beautifully groomed (no classic track set yet,) but a great day to get out! Last night's snow really helped put a solid layer over the ice and leaves. Still some leaves down in the more wooded areas, but not enough to slow you down! As always, Lake Elmo is on it!

(Liz Westerhaus)

Ski trails have been groomed this morning. The east side is in good condition. There's good coverage - very few icy spots. There is some debris on trails in the woods. The west side trails have a few rough spots but are skiable. There are leaves in the wooded areas.

(Theresa Young, Washington County Parks)

East side trails at Lake Elmo Park Reserve were groomed today. Trails are in fair to good condition with some intermittent bare spots, some icy spots, and some debris mainly on the brown trail. The Eagle Point Trail on the west side of the park was not groomed.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)

Conditions on Northern Lights, Brown's Pond and Lake Elmo were amazingly very good. Skate deck was firm and fast with only a little ice. It was my fastest recorded skate of the year. Kudos to the groomers. Despite entry staff's caution about trail debris, the only bad section of leaf litter that I ran into was the climb to the top of the ridge on Brown's Pond at the SE corner. Classic track was inconsistent. I used FastWax Red LF.

(Keith Carlson)

Ski trails on the east side of Lake Elmo have been groomed. Trails are fair to good with some icy spots that can be skied around and debris that is heaviest on the green and the brown trails. There are also a couple bare spots that can be skied around on the brown trail.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)

I skated the Northern Lights loop only, and then gave up. Full coverage, but hard packed and solid -- turning to ice. In some places there was translucent ice. And, of course, the ice is in places where you want to use your edges, so I felt like the ice was chewing on my skis. The downhill on the west side of the loop is not very steep -- normally, I don't even notice it. But today it was icy, and very, very difficult to maintain control. This weather near freezing every day makes for tough conditions. I will not ski here again until we get some new snow, it's simply not fun.

(Richard Gerth)

Skied all trails by chalet and Brown's Pond being in the best shape. A bit icy throughout and some debris but good coverage and because these are not real hilly trails, good control. Universal grip tape with Red Fast glide worked well. A beautiful Minnesota winter day to be out.

Photos:

(Scott Ford)

All ski trails at Lake Elmo Park Reserve were groomed this morning. No track has been set. Trails are in good condition but there are quite a few leaves on the green and brown loops. The red trail on the west side may have some rougher icy patches but overall is in good condition.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)

I skated the entire system and found it pretty good - at least on the East side. Eagle Lake Trail was a little iffy due to the bike tracks, but the other side was OK. Burr Oak had a couple thin spots (with grass showing) but pretty good coverage elsewhere. There were skied-in tracks on most of the southern trails, but they were pretty thin. In general there was plenty of snow, even on the steep climbs. Lots of families out and about, enjoying the warm weather.

(Pete Thurmes)