I skied Elm Creek this morning around 6:30 am and the conditions were excellent! I was able to ski the entire 5.8k loop. Temps were just below freezing and everything had a nice crust on it. It seems like they are only grooming the manmade 2.5k loop, now, but Lake and Northern Lights were still very skiable and in good condition. The outer loop was closed and did not seem like it was in great condition.

(Jared VanderHook)

I skied Elm Creek around noon to 1 pm today. The website said that the only trail open was the Valley 2.5K loop, but it was wrong. I skied Lake and Northern Lights. Lake was not groomed, snow was a bit dirty, and there are some rough patches, but overall still decent. Tried to cut over to Creek, but there was a low area that seemed impassable, so I turned around. Northern Lights was groomed and in awesome condition. Fantastic skiing. Great glide and grip with my new skin skis.

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(Jean Storlie)

I was pleasantly surprised at the conditions at Elm this afternoon. I skied the outside loop on the natural snow, and it was in pretty good shape. There were decent classic tracks most of the way, double tracks on Eagle. The last parts of the Creek Trail and the Lake Trail were not in as good a shape, but still very skiable. The Creek was really running fast today with all the warm weather! By the time I finished, it was almost 40F, so it was a little slow coming back.

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(Bill Lundberg)

Rain is for sure good for one thing: Sublime crust skiing. I was on the outer loop groomed trails and found them hard and fast with little pooling. But then I found open prairie and chose my own adventure. Lots of wildlife and beautiful vistas. The crust was firm and consistent until about noon, when the sun had softened it enough. Crust skiing should be great on any open space you can find this week.

(Daniel Luoma)

Valley trail was amazing! The classic tracks were fast but not icy. The skate deck was fabulous. I am not sure what alchemy our groomers are using but given the weather this past week, it is clear that they are magicians. The trail was as good as I have seen it all year.

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(Greg Loper)

Just the Valley loop open - firm, fast, fastidiously groomed and fun. Classic skiing on Rex universal klister could not be beat. If you hate klister all you need is a day like this to bring you around, fast skis and bomber kick. Lots of kids and families out today as well having fun in the sun.

(Jim Smith)

Classic skied the Valley trail about 10 a.m. The tracks were hard and fast. Waxless skis worked okay but I had to herringbone on steeper sections. It was difficult to get an edge for control so care was needed to avoid a crash. By 11 a.m. with the high sun, it was beginning to soften to control and kick was improving. It may be better in the coming days to ski starting late morning if you want softer snow.

(Mark Basiletti)

Here's the quick summary: The natural snow trails are closed, but the Valley Trail is groomed and open.
Here's the details: I talked to the park supervisor and the head groomer, who continue to assess conditions. They said that grooming the natural snow trails is not possible right now because there is standing water at the bottom of some of the hills, including Cowabunga. From what I could see from the Valley Trail, the Lake Trail and Northern lights are an icy mess. They intend to groom at least the Valley loop for the free skiing event tomorrow. This morning, the skate deck on Valley was crusty enough to allow skating with some control, but it's really fast, and not for the faint of heart. The classic tracks are, literally solid ice - white and hard. Skins gave reasonable kick, and another skier was doing ok with scales. Pushing off down the hill from the chalet, you can glide all the way to the lesson area without poling. So the tracks are also very fast, and not for the faint of heart.

(Ken Tobacnan)

Skate skied the first hour at EC, covering the Valley Trail, the outer loop and the 1.5 K section of the Northern Lights trail. Valley was in great condition, but outer loop skate lane and classic tracks not regroomed yet, but still very skiable. Switched to classic skis for final hour and a half covering the outer loop plus Eagle Trail (groomed and in excellent shape) plus portions of the Monarch and the Creek Trail. Sections here varied from newly groomed to no connector groomed on sections of Monarch. Groomers were grooming skate lanes on outer loop as I skied with my classic skis. All in all, a wonderful ski. Get out for a ski while you can!

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(Doug Schumacher)

Skied Lake, Creek, Northern Light and Valley trails. Lake and Creek must have been groomed Sunday before the winds kicked in because the classic tracks were drifted in open areas. Northern Lights and Valley must have been groomed this morning since they were incredibly perfectly groomed.

(Earl Stabenow)