Great fun this morning. On snow at 9:00, crusty but enough texture to get a good edge. If only glide was always so free. Some good crust skiing across lakes and fields, dodging the vegetation.

(Walter Ebertz)

Trails were mostly in good conditions with a few icy spots. Areas where groomer went over were nice. Flats is in fair condition, otherwise I would say Savanna, Prairie, Hills, and Brown's Pond are in good condition. Was not able to get up to the North Loop.

(Alex McKinney)

Lake Elmo ski trails were groomed for skate skiing. No classic track has been reset. Trails are getting soft/ slushy and some bare spots are forming. Debris is present. There is also a JV CXC Ski race Thursday afternoon.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)

Lake Elmo trails are soft but in good condition. Some debris on trails. Tracks are in fair condition. Skied the North, Savanna, Browns Pond, Flats, and Prairie loops.

Photos:

(Alex McKinney)

Prairie and Hills ski trails have been regroomed for skate skiing. No classic tracks were set. There is debris present. Trails are still considered in good condition but are deteriorating due to the warm conditions.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)

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)