A lot of debris present: leaves, sticks, dirt, and some gravel at intersections and on hills, difficult to avoid dirt on Brown's Pond segments. Only the flats along the shooting range had excellent conditions. It appeared there was not enough snow for classic tracks to be set.

(Karen Rosenflanz)

It was wonderful to ski around Eagle Point Lake on the freshly rolled multi-use trail. Conditions were fairly good, with the exception of intersecting trails. Thanks to the maintenance crew for the fine work and to the office staff for posting updates.

(Pat Barrett)

Like yesterday, the solitude was wonderful - only three other vehicles in the parking lot and had the trail to ourselves. Skied the Savanna and North loops on a good corduroy skate deck, no diagonal tracks set. Looks like it had been groomed since I was there yesterday, no more than one or two skiers had made tracks ahead of me. Found a little "brown" corduroy here and there, but it's easy to avoid on the slow, squeaky snow. There were segments that had drifted in and other areas where the snow had blown off leaving bumpy hardpack. My thanks again to the groomers - they're doing a great job with the little snow Mother Nature has given us.

(David Sonnenberg)

Trails were groomed for skate skiing. No classic tracks were set due to thin snow conditions. Trails are thin at the tops of the hills.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)

If you like winter and solitude, today was the day to be out skiing. At -4 F when I clipped in and skated off, there were only two other vehicles in the parking lot. I skied the Prairie and Savanna loops before my face got too cold. The groomers did a terrific job with the small amount of new snow. The skate deck is firm and level with a nice corduroy finish, albeit there are a few spots that have a brownish tinge and a few leaves churned up here and there. The diagonal tracks are intermittent with grass showing through regularly and one stretch down to the underlying soil. The Eagle Lake dam is always a nice, flat stretch where I can work on my V-2 and was moving along nicely when the corduroy disappeared, and I was chattering along on the frozen, bumpy base where the snow had blown off. Other than that, I found nice corduroy for my short ski. The snow is squeaky slow, and I found I had to skate or pole to keep moving on the gentler downhills. The uphills, normally slow climbs on my old legs, were even tougher on the squeaky snow. However, this was the best skiing I've had since that first 15" melted a couple weeks ago. Cold and slow, but it was great with my Buff, split mitts, and heat pack insoles, and I had the trail all to myself.

(David Sonnenberg)

All trails are being rolled. The ski trails are in good condition with the current snowfall and corduroy is is in good shape. No track are being set until tomorrow.

(Carolyn Friedrich, Washington County Parks)

The good news is that the snow is fast. The bad news is that the snow is getting very thin. I’m amazed at how well they’ve kept the limited snow, but there are spots with grass poking through, easily avoidable rocks and roots, and some ground especially on the crux of climbs. It is possible to ski around any bad spots. The best coverage was on the green and yellow loops, where you could use B skis. I was skating. The classic tracks look washed out. Let’s hope the much needed snow falls tonight.

(Stan Krause)

Yellow, Green and Brown loops hard packed and good for fast skate skiing. Classic tracks looked shallow and non existent in places. Red loop was mostly good for skate, but had some expose ground near the tops/crests of steeper hills.

(Brad Billstein)

East side: Brown and Yellow loops are not groomed and are well worn. I did classic and skier made tracks are in some places otherwise they’ve been flattened. Surfaces are hard and fairly slippery (not icy). Some bare spots and leaves but not enough to really interfere. NOTE: On the Brown trail I found a pair of black-framed glasses with silver side pieces (can’t remember proper name). I left them on the ski rack end closest to the main building entrance.

Photos:

(Lincoln Fetcher)

Skied the Green, Yellow, and Northern loops. Classic tracks not really set anywhere, so wish I had brought the skates with. A few small bare spots throughout, but not really any that couldn't be avoided. Knowing you'll not run into many people given the cold spell, I'd happily ski with B or rock skis on the skate decks, but would avoid classic skiing until there are tracks once again. Would avoid the northern loops as they were in worse condition relative to the central and southern loops.

(Kevin Anderson)