Three Rivers has rolled all of the outer loops including the multi use trail. Outer loops packed not tracked but gorgeous! Skied the lovely Monarch Trail to the nature center as it wasn't tracked. Get out there.

Photos:

(Mindy Benton)

After six years of living here, I finally managed to get to Elm in time for my first Wednesday night training race. On learning that the skate race would use the full Northern Lights loop, I took my good skis out for a reconnaissance lap. I found it to be similar to a previous report - very hard, uneven, and rather rutted; in short - beyond my skill level. I decided to not risk losing control on a rut and biffing hard so I returned to the man-made loop and switched to the classic race, which was held entirely on the man-made loop. The classic tracks on the man made loop were in very good shape overall. Only couple of shallow spots and one place near the trail entrance that had been filled in by overspray from the snow guns on the downhill area kept me from rating them perfect. I also did one lap of skating on the man-made loop and found the skate deck to be reasonably solid with confident edging -- and also reasonably fast given the single digit temperatures. I had FastWax 0 (-30 to +8 F) on my skate skis and I was pretty happy with my glide. My classic skis were waxed a little warm with FastWax 20 (12-28 F) but they also seemed to glide reasonably well. I was on skins for classic (because that's what I had with me in the car today - wasn't planning on skiing classic) and the kick was just fine.

(Leif Irgens)

The man-made snow loop is now completely open including the South Donut. The Northern Lights was groomed but still was a bit rough. Cold temps and some overspray from the snow guns made skiing pretty slow.

(Don Callander)

I skated Lake, Creek, and the return half of Northern Lights this morning, beginning about 8:20. Lake and Creek have become hard-packed and icy wherever exposed to the sun. They don't appear to have been groomed for several days. I'd call them poor to fair, due to the hard surface and frozen-in ski grooves and walker tracks. Snow coverage is still good, but lots of leaves (oak and buckthorn!) in places. Northern Lights is more shaded and wasn't as hard-packed, but hasn't been groomed recently. I'd call it fair to good. No classic tracks have been set on any of the outer loops, although Eagle has been packed and showed some illegal skating tracks. Valley was in great shape, still only 1.9 km, but the snow guns were going on the Lower Doughnut and the Wall Bypass.

(Ron Refsnider)

Skied the dark side, including the Eagle/nature center trails, Creek, and Northern Lights. All are packed but not tracked with full coverage. A couple of icy spots, including one after a hard right turn on the Eagle, but nothing unmanageable. Definitely with a chance to get off the hamster wheel.

(David Anderson)

Skied the man-made loop starting around 6:30 pm. Still only 1.9 km but I saw park personnel setting up snow guns while I skied. The skate deck was manageably firm and fast. I had no trouble holding an edge anywhere except for a few short sections bordering on icy (particularly under the overpass to the Chalet) and lap times were much faster than my norm. I had a couple of very close calls from people making wildly unpredictable moves such as abrupt stops in the middle of the trail or bolting across the trail in the face of on-coming skiers. Let's all be safe out there.

(Leif Irgens)

Skied the outer trails today on A skis and the track was in great shape! I think our expectations of trail conditions may be skewed because of manmade conditions with a 3 foot base :-) No classic tracks but plenty of snow coverage.

(Evan Pengelly)

Skied classic on machine made snow. The track was firm and in good shape. Very few people skiing except for groups in the lessons area. Still 1.9 km length, not the full 2.5 km that can be covered by snow making.

(Norman Greenberg)

Skied classic on the man-made loop starting around 6:30 pm just as the temperatures were dropping to 32 F. The man made loop is still only 1.9 km. Classic tracks were solid all the way around except for maybe 2-3 short washouts. I saw skiers skiing of onto Northern Lights and returning but I did not venture off the man-made loop. Classic tracks were somewhat variable. Mostly hard with some icy spots and some strange sticky spots (someone testing klister today?). I was on skins and had good kick on the wall and the donut hill but was slipping on some of the lesser hills, particularly the two gentle slopes on the return to the Chalet from the wall. I only got onto the skate deck on the donut turn and the hairpin turn-around but it seemed reasonably firm with good edging. There was one strange glazed icy spot about 100 meters past the top of the wall - it was as though someone left a snow gun on after the temperatures got above freezing. Frozen solid for about 15--20 meters. I was able to double pole through that section in the tracks but I'd stay well to the inside if I was skating.

(Leif Irgens)

I skated at Elm Creek this morning on the Lake, Creek, and Northern Lights loops. They had all been packed but not tracked. There were some undulations in the usual spots and I had a ski catch on one uphill. I would suggest "B" skis on the back loops. The Lake and Creek loops were very lightly used and the NL loop had seen a fair number of skiers. It was so nice to get to do a longer ski without going round and round. The Gerbil loop was in good condition for both skate and classic. The Eagle loop (classic only) has not had any grooming yet.

(Tom Harris)