Really nice again at Lake Elmo Park! Pisten Bully groomer was out making new corduroy on the skate deck. Friend, Pam, skated and snow was still a little cold and dry so not as fast as classic tracks which were still great! But skate deck getting a little more packed down. A couple crunchy spots from ice underneath and a couple dirt spots but just lovely!

(Carol Fitzgerald)

Ski trails have been groomed with classic track set. Trails are in great condition with no debris. Happy skiing!

(Elena Schewe)

Generally soft with the new snow, some downhill sections were skied in and faster. One hilltop was windblown and icy. Stepped into the tracks in a few areas, set deep and very fast double poling and down hill. CH5 wax wasn't working so well on the skate deck with softer new snow, slow ski but nice tuneup before the Birkie.

(Craig Woodley)

The west-side multi purpose trail, Eagle Point, was in very good condition. Recently groomed with lots of near virgin corduroy, soft in spots with ice on the little hill leading to the long southern straightaway and just underneath the thin snow cover on the climb after the 1st culvert going counter-clockwise from the trailhead. It was 9 degrees and sunny with little wind. I used Swix CH3 powder. Unfortunately, I still can't get CH 3 to perform for me in the cold weather it's specified for. So things were really slow. Think I would have been better off with FastWax Teal LF.

(Keith Carlson)

Beautiful Pisten Bully groomed like frosting on a wedding cake! Thank you groomer! There are a few spots where it's crunchy underfoot and just a couple spots where a little dirt/leaves coming up from areas where was likely windblown. I skied all but the rifle range trail to the south and the trail that goes north off the campground loop which wasn't groomed — maybe windblown in that area. Probably the best it's skied all season.

(Carol Fitzgerald)

East side, Outer loop. Very good double tracks with a few leaves in them but minimal interference. Pretty icy none on the hills. You can get around some of the debris that from forest clearing by taking the tracks from 7 to 8 and back to 6, retracing the last part of 5 to 6 and then going right on people tracked trail to the rest of the 8 to 9 segment. The segment from there is still a mess. Requires walking to 12, either on foot or skis. Then good tracks from 12 on.

Photos:

(Lincoln Fetcher)

Skied early afternoon. Trails had just been groomed; as a matter of fact the groomer came by as I was skiing. I was classical skiing, but the groomer set no new tracks. There were paces where the previously set tracks had been skied in; in other places there were no tracks at all. The skate deck was smooth and firm; I encountered no bare spots.

(Ralph Schwartz)

The skate deck was freshly groomed (combed only), and the 1-1/2" of new snow was enough to provide good coverage. The snow that fell was very light and dry and did not firm up at all but despite being somewhat slow provided a very nice skiable surface. There are, as usual, some scattered oak leaves and other debris to avoid, but nothing to cause concern. Good skis should be fine. The classic track was not reset but appeared to be in fair to good condition in most areas.

(John Fitzgerald)

Tricky conditions. Fresh, moist snow is slow, but, where blown, bullet-proof hard pack beneath is rocket-fast. It works but be careful! Bad optics at best! No grooming for awhile.

(Charlie Corcoran)

I couldn't get out until after lunch, 35F when I started and 38F when I finished. I stuck to the Hills and Prairie loops which seem to hold up better than some of the other trails. I found some segments with very nice corduroy and other segments getting scraped/packed hard. The flat segments were reasonably fast, the ascents very skiable, and the descents getting snow-plowed down to hardpack. There was more brown coming through than when I skied here last week, as one might expect due to the lack of snow. A couple south-face crests show a lot of brown, and there was quite a bit of detritus in a couple areas, also. Overall, I'd rate the trails I skied as 50% good, 50% fair.

(David Sonnenberg)