A great day on the trails. Temp steady right at 28, falling to lower 20’s at dusk. There has been no melting on the trails and areas of the trail actually have more snow with shoveling on thin areas to build up base for Section race course.  We do not salt or sand the trails, parking lot  or driveway so it doesn’t get slushy or wet like the streets. Skiing is fast, but controllable skiing. Not icy. Grooming this morning on select trails brought up drier snow. We are holding off on any more major grooming until needed so we can preserve the snow as best as possible.  Ski conditions rated good to excellent (thanks for your reports, we appreciate it!). All 64km of trail open with track set on 56km of trail and 15km groomed for skating. 4km of snowshoe trail open. Ice skating rink in good condition.

A great weekend of skiing on the trail. With 3-4″ of new snow Friday and Saturday after fresh snow earlier in the week, conditions couldn’t be much better. Sunny on Saturday and Sunday with mid teens for temps and calm wind making for as good as it gets skiing.  The trails were skied hard which was great to see and holding out great. We have been grooming daily refreshing tracks where needed and combing the skate lanes.

Compacted base on trail 2-6″. Snow depth in the woods 6-14″. Snowfall the past week around 7″. Total snowfall this season around 18″. Although this is a low snow year, we spend every dry day outside the winter season preparing the trails to be in the best condition possible so we can have good skiing on minimal snow.

(Not the best day to take photos with hazy conditions but many calls today asking if we still have snow. Photos taken mid afternoon)

https://picasaweb.google.com/117475008862763984699/January31stTrailReportPhotos02

https://picasaweb.google.com/117475008862763984699/January29thTrailReportPhotos

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Snow falling this morning with a solid 2-3″ of dense moisture laden snow as of 11am and light snow still falling. All the classic trails tracked for a total of 56km groomed with tracks. We groomed the skate lanes as well, putting the entire trail system groomed this morning. The new snow is making for fantastic conditions with the existing base/snow we had. We  have around 54km of tracks set for classic and 15km open for skating. 4km of snowshoe trails open.

After Winter Wonderland conditions Wednesday,  trees, branches and pretty much everything thick with frost, clear and colder temps to start the day on Thursday. The clearing was good to let the moisture release and help set up the new dense snow that was thick with moisture. Thursday we built up the base in the start area using snow from the basketball court and also built up the southern exposed hills on Mother North Star which is part of the classic course for sections. A new track was set on Mother North Star and also Lucky’s Loype. Fresh tracks set Wednesday on Sukkerbusk, Sap Run, Mother Hen and North Loup. Ski conditions are the best they have been all year. Still a few areas of thin cover and rough spots but overall very nice skiing right now. We skated yesterday afternoon and it was pretty much perfect. Skaters waltz has leveled off, firm and fast. North Loup a bit more soft but the snow was silky, smooth and perfect surface to glide upon. The tracks were surprisingly fast, thanks to the frost that had fallen down, the tracks mostly firm but softer on the pole plants. 15km groomed/open for skating, tracks set on about 30km of trail and the remainder of trails packed with skier made track. We will try and have most of the trails tracked before the weekend.

A great day of racing on the trail Tuesday for the Bemidji pursuit race. Fresh snow, calm wind and pleasant temps making for ideal conditions. The trails used for the race saw a lot of traffic but held up great and were groomed in the high volume areas in the evening. Skaters Waltz was groomed as well and is in the best condition it has been all year. Trails tracked on Monday are in great shape as well with a few/thin/rough spots but overall great skiing conditions from the 4″ of fresh snow on Sunday. We are holding off on any more grooming until Thursday night/Friday morning but skiing is the best it has been all year.

Full photoset from Tuesday’s race on our Facebook page.

https://picasaweb.google.com/117475008862763984699/January28thTrailReportPhotos03

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https://picasaweb.google.com/117475008862763984699/January25thTrailReportPhotos03

https://picasaweb.google.com/117475008862763984699/BemidjiPursuits2012Photos

https://picasaweb.google.com/117475008862763984699/January23rdTrailReportPhotos03

https://picasaweb.google.com/117475008862763984699/January22ndTrailReportPhotos03