We skied the gold course. The skate deck was in very good shape. Snow was well packed, temperature was 35F, and it was fast. Classical tracks had a few bare spots and a modest number of leaves. Beautiful day. Very few skiers.

(Greg Filice)

Skied the Ski Games trail. Some avoidable grassy spots, leaves and twigs. Almost no footprints (!), but freestyle skiing and other ski activity has impacted track. Still pretty good, not icy and a beautiful view. A quiet place for beginners.

(Darcie Vandegrift)

Trails were very skiable this morning at 28-30 F degrees. Good conditions for both skate and classic. Didn't see the icy spots that were reported yesterday. Some leaves in the track in some locations and some parts of the trails have vegetation sticking through but these are easily avoided. Nice and quiet. Not many people out before noon.

(Whitney Clark)

Skate deck on Bronze, Silver and Gold refurbished. Overall conditions quite good: just a few easily avoidable bare spots, some ice on the downhills so be careful, and leaves becoming a bit of a nuisance. Classic track holding up and is firm. Surprisingly beautiful morning. Enjoy.

(Bill Kosfeld)

We groomed the Silver Trail this morning as there is a high school meet at 3pm on the Silver trail. In the woods the skate lane is very good with only a couple dirt spots to navigate around. Not as good in the open prairie as the base is thinner. The classic track is still pretty good so we left it alone. A few leaves in the classic track in the woods. Caution on the hilly secion of the Gold trail as there is a icy spot at the bottom of all 3 downhills. Downhills on the Silver trail all good and manageable. We are planning to groom again on Saturday morning.

(David Gorringe)

Battle Creek was in very good shape this afternoon for skate. We did all 7.5K (and more). It must have been groomed midday, because the corduroy was beautiful and only a handful of skiers had skied before us. Kudos to the groomers. I used my B skis but could probably have used my good skis. There are a few uphills where a few wood chips and twigs have worked their way to the skate deck, but most are easily avoidable. The classic tracks had not been groomed for a few days. They are shallow but present throughout the system, though a bit slick.

(Mark Schneider)

Groomed the skate deck this morning. A few bare spots persist but generally good ski conditions. The classic track is in fair to good condition. Tracks tend to get smeared on up hill and downhill portions. Fine day for a ski overall.

(James Rue)

Mostly great coverage and grooming. Some of the backside curves are getting pretty icy. On my third lap the big left turn on the backside got me good - trail rash and full yard sale. Last climb from the backside has lots of debris - without which I'd say one could use good skis (I did but shouldn't have). Still a great ski.

(Jess Holle)

It was a fun ski at Battle Creek! Overall, conditions were great, with really good coverage in the woods, though the bottoms of the bigger descents are pretty icy. Coverage in the prairie is a bit thinner, with some easily avoidable bits of grass looking through. My only complaint is that there was a lot of branches and other debris on one of the climbs (it looked like maybe someone had been doing some tree maintenance?). It was only a couple short sections, but enough that I wouldn't want to use good skis.

(Shawn Dodds)

Groomed all skate decks in the system including Ski Games and ball field. Tracks were not reset as they are 90% intact with some grass/ dirt mainly in the first open areas. Great coverage in the wooded areas. Could use best skis, but being cautious due to some exposed areas, though they are minimal and easily avoidable.

Photos:

(Doug Schumacher)