I went out at 9:00 this morning and skied a Hills-Prairie-Savanna-North loop. Most of the trails had already been nicely groomed, and all had been groomed for my second time around. The skate deck was nicely firm for good glide with enough newly packed snow to set an edge to skate. The Lake Elmo groomers have done a wonderful job, but as the temperature rose during my second lap, the snow was already beginning to soften a little (26F when I started, 35F when I finished about 10:30). It was great ski, and now is the time to pray for cooler temperatures and more snow!

(Dave Sonnenberg)

Mostly just groomed this morning. Far northeast loop was not groomed since the last bits of snow, but was still smooth and fast - as there wasn't much fluff to contend with. Overall fabulous conditions, but I stopped just before it hit 32F. We'll see how things hold up with the melt, rutt, refreeze cycle...

(Jess Holle)

Skiing is beautiful. Freshly rolled for skating, the new snow is a little soft but the base below is cold and firm. The classic tracks were excellent - only a small amount of leaves in the track the fresh snow provided good kick and glide. no bare spot and only one short icy spot. The great weather made it all the more enjoyable.

(Jim Lasch)

The old perimeter trail south of the trailhead was in very good condition. Per Google it was 17 degrees with partially clear sky. I used FastWax Salmon LF. Two days of being too lazy to rewax my skis after rewaxing all three times I went out during the deep freeze probably had me working harder than I needed to to keep up a respectable pace. But that is what I did. Minimal loose snow on top of packed base allowed me to move okay in particularly the sun exposed sections of the trail but longer uphills and the colder, drier shaded sections with any loose snow slowed me. Looking forward to warmer temps.

(Keith Carlson)

Skied a couple laps of several of the trails on classic skis (Browns Pond, Lake Elmo, Northern Lights), then a couple laps on skate skis. Conditions were generally excellent with the fresh snow. Grooming was in process. No ice. No bare spots. No leaves or sticks. Nice classic tracks. Nice skate deck.

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

The Browns Pond trail and Flats trail have been groomed for skate skiing. The skate deck is fair on the Flats trail and good on Browns Pond trail. No classic track has been reset. The existing track is in fair to poor condition with some bare spots on the Flats trail. Debris is also present on the trails.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)

The perimeter trails south of the trailhead were in very good to good condition. It was 9 or 10 degrees, sunny with little wind. I used FastWax HS 0 with Swix CH3 Powder where the kick zone would be on a classic ski. I couldn't give up trying to find a waxing scheme that would work in low temps after two prior failures. I hot stripped my skis and then followed Swix's recs of putting the powder over the hard wax while it was still warm instead of under as the sales person had told me. It seemed to work. Not phenomenal but better. I managed a 6.6 mph pace, which is reasonably fast for me, even though I herringboned the two bigger hills and had to work at it. This was the first time I did the new far SE loop. I am sorry but its as boring as its location alongside a cornfield suggests. I understand the hikers, snowshoers and bikers need their trails but I really miss Eagle Point.

(Keith Carlson)

Lake Elmo ski trails, with the exception of the Flats and Browns Pond Trails, have been groomed for skate skiing. The skate deck is in fairly good condition. No classic tracks were reset, tracks are in fair to good condition. Minimal debris reported. The groomer did report that the classic tracks on the Hills trail are in poor condition.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)

I skied all the east side ski trails and they are looking good with good skate deck coverage. Cold snow made it slow. I used Fastwax 10 but I don’t think it mattered. The new Red trail seems to be not groomed for a while. Snow is well packed on the other trails which makes for good technique practice. Overall pretty good considering temp and lack of fresh snow.

(Amir Gh)

Designated ski trails have been groomed. Skate deck is in good condition with little to no debris and minor drifting. Tracks have only been reset on the North and Savanna trails. The west side multi-use trail has not been groomed.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)