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)

Skated the entire system. Overall good coverage with a few thin and icy spots. The groomer made passes on a few of the inner trails creating some great conditions.

(Ethan Knuti)

Friend, Pam, John and I skated there this afternoon. We were pleasantly surprised to see the Pisten Bully out freshening up the skate deck. Was very skiable, especially of course where he had made new corduroy! John and I both talked to the groomers and thanked them for trying to basically make a skiable trail out of a tiny bit of snow! Base is thin, some brown spots showing up but right now easily avoidable. Classic tracks were shallow but good in a lot of places, thin and barely there or not at all in other places. Again, very thin base so we got what we got! Thanks again to the really nice groomer running the Pisten Bully!

(Carol Fitzgerald)

Not bad conditions. I used classic skin skis around noon. The classic track is holding up pretty well. Photo#1 near the barn shows most common conditions- a few leaves and a few bare spots. Other places are worse and other places are better than photo #1. Photo #2 shows the better conditions. I will definitely go again!

Photos:

(William Buell)

Skied all but the new prairie section and the the portion of the green trail by the barn. Most of the trail was great, but some sections are very thin and/or have a lot of concerning debris. I was on good skis but nervous on these sections. Overall the groomers have done a great job given the limited snow they had to work with.

(Jess Holle)

Ski trails were groomed today. Trails are in fair to good condition with some debris and grass present in the thin spots. The classic tracks are getting thin but the skate deck has a decent base.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)