Lake and creek trails are mostly fair. Tracks are washed out in many places, need to be reset. No ice or bare spots, some debris.

(Kathleen Walter)

Did a quick ski on the Valley Trail tonight. Tracks were deep and was relatively fast. Saw the groomers getting ready to work the trail.

(Tim Palmatier)

Big disappointment on natural snow classic trails. Plenty of snow, no ice, no bare spots, but most tracks are washed out -- needs a reset of the tracks. Skied all classic from nature center and big loop by chalet. Three Rivers reports Eagle trail as poor, but it had the best tracks.

(Scott Engstrom)

I skated the outer skate trails at 8:30 am. All were freshly dragged, which remedied the uneven hardpack that was developing yesterday, and produced a smooth, soft, somewhat slow surface that was great to skate on. The classic tracks on Lake and Creek haven't been reset and are getting washed out. Northern Lights was also freshly dragged, with a good skate deck, and with nice, newly-set classic tracks, too. Those classic tracks were set way to the right near the playground, brushing the bushes and with very soft/deep pole plants on the outside. Debris remains a minor nuisance at places. Spotted a Northern Shrike along the NW side of Mud Lake, a common hangout for the species in past winters.

(Ron Refsnider)

Good conditions at Elm Creek. I classic skied all trails except the monarch loop and found good snow. The tracks had seen heavy traffic and were washed out in many places through the natural snow areas, including classic only and Northern lights trails. Tracks on the manmade sections were deep and firm.

(Adrian Swanson)

All trails were groomed and tracked for classic. It doesn't get any better than this! Tracks were in great shape with full coverage. Use all and any skis you want and get out and enjoy some of the best skiing we have had in January in the metro in years!

(Evan Pengelly)

Started out skiing classic from the remote lot on the Northern Lights trail. Classic tracks were severely washed out and icy to the point where I had minimal kick so, after about 200 yards, I gave up and reversed direction back to the car to switch to skate skis. First time through skating the Northern Lights trail was still a bit challenging for me. It did not seem to have been groomed since the freezing rain on Friday evening and was rutted and slippery. I arrived at the man-made loop though to find freshly groomed corduroy bliss. Having had enough of the man-made loop this season, I broke off to try the multi-use trail to the Nature center. The Multi-use trails had been rolled recently and were also in very nice shape, just soft enough for me to look like I knew what I was doing. A pleasant minimum of footprints and the one Fat bike tire track did not give me any trouble. In fact, the Multi-use trail was some of the best skiing of the day, with only one section near the Nature center with any problematic drifting. I also skied the Lake and Creek trails and found them to be similar to the Northern Lights, ungroomed for perhaps 1-2 days and rutted to a point where the ruts kept taking my skis other than where I wanted them to go. However, by the time I made it back to the Northern Lights trail around noon, a groomer had come through and that had been converted back into fresh corduroy bliss.

(Leif Irgens)

Superb classic especially monarch eagle creek. Groomed after the mist so free of glazing. Moderate humidity stellar crystal snow. Skate deck softish but should firm up.

Photos:

(Doug Mercer)

Reporting on West side trails: Multiuse Loop, Creek and Lake: skate lanes firm squeeky slow (cold for this Northwester); Classic track not reset but mostly fine. Classic: Monarch and Eagle are reset and nice!

(Doug Mercer)

Sweet skiing both classic and skate on the natural snow; no ice, groomed recently, very few leaves. This is the kind of skiing that keeps me coming back!

(Pete Hawkins)