Overall, a very enjoyable ski! I was one of the first people out there this morning. Nice to have a solid base. I recommend B skis only for the classic trails because they are a bit dirty, otherwise I think the skate deck looked very solid and you could ski on your best skis with little risk. The tracks were a bit washed out and glazed so I think a more aggressive kick wax like Oslo Green would have worked much better than VR30. Groomer was out just before me making passes on the skate deck but not on the classic tracks.

(Connor Canfield)

Good skiing to be had other than the three folks walking on the trail. Classic tracks looked a little washed out.

(Michael Bolinkske)

Excellent conditions. We skied a couple laps on all of the lit trails. Tracks were nicely set and skate deck was in great shape. No bare spots and very little leaf/bark debris.

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Perfect conditions at French Park. New snow has been groomed in and skate deck has firmed up nicely. Will only get better after a couple more passes.

(Mike Maiers)

Arrived at French around 8:30 as the groomers were putting the finishing rounds on the skate deck. Classic tracks had been set and appeared to be a little soft. Skate deck was as I expected after about 4" of new snow, soft and slow but snow covered everywhere. I did two reconnaissance laps around the lagoon, meadow, skyline, lakeview loop on rock skis, decreed it safe, and switched to my good skis. Classic tracks were looking a bit washed out by the time I finished around noon and the skate deck was quite churned up and still quite slow. But it was great to be back on the natural snow trails. French continues to have problems with people insisting on going down the one-way up route heading up towards the chalet (I've attached a picture of the location in question) so everyone please be careful. Also a lot of people insisting on walking or snowshoeing on the ski trails today. :-(.

Photos:

(Leif Irgens)

Skied the outer lighted loop at night. Extremely dense, icy pack but still able to get an edge everywhere, and nowhere that had turned over to complete ice. I'd say good, fast conditions except for significant debris such as small branches and large twigs. Like another poster, I planted myself when my ski unexpectedly caught something underneath the snow — probably a branch although I couldn't see anything — on the lesson loop trail connecting the building to the Lakeview trail, on the short relatively flat section before you go down the hill.

(Kristian Markon)

Did some skate skiing during lunch. I could feel frozen snow under a thin layer of fresh powder. Kick was good, glide average. Lots of leaves and twigs in the majority of the track so I had to navigate around them. One small branch that was buried in the snow took me down. Because of debris, I would not call the conditions good as an official website suggest.

(Bart Nowakowski)

Skated all the trails. Most of it was good coverage and very fast, very hard but not ice The 2-way section from Lagoon to the hill in was very hard with some icy spots, and the section of Meadow next to NW Blvd had some frozen ruts. Otherwise it was fast skiing. Double-poled some of the classic tracks and while the track was nicely set they were frequently icy. Overall it was pretty good skiing.

(Steve Hum)

Arrived at French a little before noon to find it recently groomed and skiable, but not really enjoyable. There is still snow everywhere but it's wet, sticky and slow. A few places are starting to get a grey, slushy look and the snow is really dirty in several places. Leaves and twigs are poking in in several places as well. While it doesn't seem to have been scraped down to bare ground anywhere on the skate deck, there are signs that bare ground is not far away in a few places. Classic tracks had been set but were dirty brown in several places and also appeared to have hit bare ground in a few spots. I make no attempt to hide the fact that I'm technically challenged and a little persnickety when it comes to snow conditions but I threw in the towel after one full lap of the Lagoon, Meadow, Skyline, Lake trails.

(Leif Irgens)

First one on the trails this morning at 6:30. Nice and packed down so props to the groomers. No classic tracks set yet when I was out there. I think that most if not all the bare spots earlier this week were covered by the new snow and grooming but I still would not yet recommend using your best skis just in case. I hope that the trails harden up nicely when it cools down.

(Connor Canfield)