Got out around 7:15 am and skied the skate track on Lagoon, Skyline, and Meadow loops. Thawing has made some areas thin/slick but all in all, pretty skiable. Groomers were out smoothing the deck out early as well.

(Betsy Van Cleve)

Classic skied all trails except Lagoon. Conditions were good, especially considering yesterday's thaw. A handful of icy stretches of track where they get full south sun exposure. Did not notice any ice on the skate deck, which looks like it had been lightly regroomed over night/this morning. A few dirt spots, easily avoidable. Did not notice any walker damage, except perhaps to the sides in spots. I think you have to approach it like spring skiing. Don't go too early or it could be icy; don't go too late or it could get soft.

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(Dave Gardner)

By night the trails were very used and icy from melting and re-freezing earlier in the day. There were lots of divots from walkers, too. As a beginner it was definitely new territory - icy downhills are not my strength! The green loop that goes south was less used than the blue loop that starts north and had less icy patches.

(Lauren Wester)

We had a good ski at French this morning. We didn't see another skier the whole time we were out. It looked like the trails had been freshly groomed. The skate deck was in good shape, and the classic tracks were in the best shape on the hill trails. There were some dirt spots and debris on the trail at times, but overall conditions were good.

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)

Great skiing at French! Just a few spots show a bit of dirt. Parking lot was crazy and had to circle but must have been for sledding and snowshoeing! Trails not crowded. Weather and snow wonderful.

(Betsy Hoium)

Classic skied all trails - conditions were mostly good with the exception of a few washout spots where the track was too close to the edge.

(Ben Cahill)

Skate skied all trails. Mostly good coverage with some woody debris here and there. The causeway has some thin spots. All in all, I would rate the conditions as ‘good’ for skate skiing. Classic tracks looked mostly good - with a few dirty sections that were easily avoidable and a few washout areas where they were set too close to the edge. The wonderful person throwing snow on the bare spots deserves a hearty ‘thank you’!

(Jim Carlen)

Highly productive meeting of the French Park Snow Shoveling Committee this morning and afternoon. We moved snow onto several thin spots around the trails. Quite a bit of snow in a couple spots - might be soft for a day or two. We didn’t get to the areas near the parking lot and playground so keep your eyes peeled there.

(Adam Himes)

Skated for 2 hours starting at 10 am. There were about a dozen or so places where grooming had churned up a mix of snow, ground and vegetation (see attached pic for an example near the trailhead) but there wasn't anything that couldn't be skied around. The worse section was the two-way connector between the meadow trail and skyline. I chose to carefully double pole most of that 30-yard section. All of the downhills were in very good shape. Even the dog-leg left hand turn on Skyline that sees so much snow plowing was still all white. Some wonderful human being had gone around and shoveled fresh snow on top of what must have been another half-dozen or so bare spots -- Whoever you are, thank you. There were also signs of another attempt by the park to paint blue arrows to regulate traffic around the lodge. It would appear that figure-8 through there continues to be problematic. However, by the time I arrived at 10 am, one could hardly distinguish the arrows any more as they had been skied into more or less abstract art by then. I chose B skis again but I don't typically break out my good skis until conditions are more or less perfect.

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(Leif Irgens)

Beautiful morning at French! Nice to be on real snow away from the crowds. Conditions were almost perfect. Tracks were good throughout all trails with only a couple of small spots of dirty snow and washed out tracks. A few places could use some brush trimming next to the classic track, but makes it interesting to duck, turn, and stay in the track. No problem at all with good skis.

(Mark Waldoch)