Thin cover, pole tips clicking on underlying asphalt regularly. Groomed trail side walls only about 1/2” and often washed out, with regular patches of leaves and sticks and a few rocks showing through. Skating path looked much better.

(Eric Bressler)

Three Rivers calling the trails fair is pretty charitable. I would rate them poor at best. All the trails are snow covered, but there is a lot of debris just under the snow. I made a set of B skis into some of my worst rock skis today. They were grooming when I was out. Skate deck only, no tracks set. Lagoon is barely skiable, both the climbs and the downhill sections had plenty of rocks and sticks under the snow, and the concrete curb was exposed in spots. The climb into and out of Lakeview had plenty of ski stoppers and exposed gravel. The rest of the trail was decent but very thin. Meadow and Medicine Lake were both good, no exposed rocks or sticks, and not much under the snow to grind into the ski. Skyview was okay but pretty thin, with the usual bad spot at the bump by the wetland. The climb on Challenge hill was good when I was there, but I saw kids sliding down it. The downhill section out of Challenge was surprisingly good.

(Steve Hum)

Rock ski conditions. Three Rivers trail page rated these conditions as fair and good. I hit four ski stoppers and took a serious gouge. Lots of debris and pavement just an edged push away. I took a chance on the report because the grooming at French is often miraculous. Not today. Another skier said the hillier trails were a little better (just one rough spot.) I wasn't willing to chance it at that point.

(Steve Casey)

Nice to get out on fresh snow at French at 12:00. Fair to decent tracks and it appeared to be good skate. Tracks were variable-from a few dirt spots, washed out, to excellent. Still fun.

Photos:

(Diane Pattridge)

The tracks are deep and well-defined, but there are a number of places where the base of the track is so thin that grass/weeds/leaves and even sticks are poking through. A couple of spots had bare ground. I used my good skis, but moved into the skating lane to avoid the worst of it.

(Curt Hillstrom)

Snow is a little soft but 99% of the trail is covered with adequate snow. A few of the uphills had some pebbles showing through and the paved path by the main building was very thin. The classic tracks had a lot of spots where the grass was showing through but otherwise looked good.

(Matt Carlson)