First hand Trail Reports

These reports are maintained by readers like you. Let us know about the rollerski trail updates/conditions in your area via our Rollerski/Training Report form. And if you're lucky enough to have snow, please file a Ski Trail Report. If you'd like to send along some photos, please e-mail those as attachment and we'll plug them into your report.

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Rollerski Report

Minnesota Metro Area

• May 2 - Afton State Park (Afton):
  Conditions: Best. May. Skiing. Ever.
  6" Or so of new snow at the state park, and I wasn't even the first one out. I'd recommend staying on the upland portions, since the river bottoms were slush. Take klister, which you may need to reapply. The good news is that you can practically walk up most hills. The bad news is that you may die if you try to downhill in the woods, navigating and turning being very difficult. If you can get out before this late spring gift melts soon, do it! After all, would you rather be remembered by your kids as having griped and whined about the weather this spring, or remembered by your grandkids as having skied in Minnesota in May?
  (Sam Seltz)
• Apr 26 - Lake Elmo Park Reserve (Lake Elmo):
  85% grass, mud, leaves, BUT about 1200 meters out on the West side loop there was a nice little ribbon (180 meters long) of snow that I skied back and fourth until I got one last kilometer in for the season. KR70 klister works great at 70 degrees...who knew?
  (Ed Neaton)
• Apr 26 - Elm Creek Park Reserve (Maple Grove):
  Goodbye to a surprisingly good ski season. One could string together a ski today at Elm Creek but it was 60+. Until next winter.
  Photos:  
  (Mark Lahtinen)
• Apr 24 - Hyland Lake Park Reserve (Bloomington):
  Conditions: Good crust skiing.
  Made the call to go to Hyland for the "final" ski of the year. Wondered if they would have the fence locked, but no, it was open. The crust was nice and firm between 8 and 9:45. The motorized vehicles had rutted up much of the flats, but the hills were smooth and crusted for good skiing. I guess I'll put storage wax on the remaining skis, although it would be tempting to drive north for a first-ever May ski.
  (Sue Schroeder)
• Apr 24 - Elm Creek Park Reserve (Maple Grove):
  Skated the man-made loop this morning. There were about half a dozen of us making the rounds. It was a beautiful blue sky with the sun already pretty high at 8 a.m. The crust skiing was good on almost all of the trail except the downhill on the donut loop was pretty rutted and a little treacherous. The far donut was the best with the little lesson area in the middle you could do some fast figure 8's. By far the most fun though was skiing the tubing/snowboarding area. Only one other skier had been down it so the crust was really smooth. I had a blast skiing a bunch of times up to the top of the tubing hill and then down again. I'm amazed that I was able to get in a real ski on April 24. Most years I would consider myself very lucky to be skiing on March 24! Enjoy - and now I think it is time for storage wax and a switch to roller skis.
  (Kathleen Miller)
• Apr 24 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Closed for the season! Unfortunately it looks like it might stick this time. Thanks for enjoying Woodlands with us this year. Also, thanks again for the donations. Your donations all go back to the park and allow us to provide the great ski venue that Woodlands has become. Your thanks both in the form of postings and verbal while at the park ignites the passion of the Trail Crew to provide the best skiing possible as long as there is snow to work with.
  Along with this inevitable bad news, we have a little exciting news coming from the Grooming Cave this spring. For the first time ever, we are going to bestow the highest award that any groomer can receive and that is to retire the handle of the now legendary Taxi. It will be hanging over the gas cans in the Grooming Cave should anyone want to stop to see it. Don’t get too worried about him however. As the new self-appointed Director of Public Relations for Woodlands he has already earned a new one. Enjoy!
  (Dave Anderson, Elk River Nordic Ski Club)
• Apr 24 - Weber Park (Edina):
  Conditions: Last ribbon of north facing snow.
  Found a strip of skiable snow just to say I made it to April 24 in the metro. I skied an astounding solid 5 months this yea r- this was only possible thanks to the amazing groomers at Elk River, Wirth, and Elm Creek who got us on snow early, stuck with it for weeks after the Birkie, and really earned their standing ovation the past 2 weeks at Elk River. Bravo!
  Photos:  
  (Leslie Hale)
• Apr 24 - Theodore Wirth Regional Park (Minneapolis):
  Conditions: With the overnight below-freezing temps, crust skiing was good and fast this early morning. Several other skiers out enjoying the morning ski.
  I know I sound like a broken record but I do believe April 24th is the end of a great season at Wirth.
  (Bill Oyler)
• Apr 23 - Theodore Wirth Regional Park (Minneapolis):
  Conditions: Slushy and fading fast.
  Did two very high resistance laps around the snowmaking loop at high noon. The snow was visibly melting as I skied. Unless the overnight lows freeze the crust again the season at Wirth is pretty much done. I already did my last ski of this season a couple times so I'm calling this the first ski of next season. Break out the rollerskis folks.
  (John Hoch)
• Apr 23 - Battle Creek Regional Park East (Maplewood):
  Conditions: Ducks, frogs, water crossing and snow.
  Full coverage, with melting chunks of snow falling off the trees. Great spring skiing in fresh snow at noon. The sun was really melting the snow. The water level was rising fast, as you can see a portage was necessary. I think the time has come to pull the bike out...
  Photos:  
  (Ray Johnston)
• Apr 23 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Dave Anderson thinks it was only the "desperate" that were out there today, but this wasn't good-for-April skiing, this was really good skiing, period. Fairly dry and fast snow, groomed nice and smooth -- the kind of conditions that make you think your technique is really good. Plus, it was just gorgeous -- blue sky and lots of sun sparkling on the fluffy new snow covering the trail and decorating all the trees. Magical.
  (David Christopherson)
• Apr 23 - Tamarack Nature Center (White Bear Township):
  Much of the snow hadn't transformed so skiing was pretty good. Some bare spots in the sun near trees caused problems. In the woods is was beautiful. First and last time out with fish-scales this year.
  Photos:  
  (Dave Puskala)
• Apr 23 - Lebanon Hills Regional Park (Eagan):
  Conditions: 2 to 8 inches of amazingly cold, powdery snow depending on the aspect and how warm the ground was during last night's snow. Lots of branches and trees down on the trail but I could still get around them (and the thin patches) this morning for a 2 hour ski without removing skis.
  Enjoy your last ski of the season I told myself for about the 8th time since mid March. Good coverage this morning and there should be skiable stretches in the woods through today and perhaps tomorrow morning.
  Photos:  
  (Jim Luby)
• Apr 23 - Elm Creek Park Reserve (Maple Grove):
  Conditions: Decent to start with, but soft and slow before 11am. Had to cut classic tracks for a good section of Valley.
  After watching the late spring ski reports here with jealously (I was unable to ski first due to injury and then work schedule), opportunity finally knocked. I was so excited I forgot my HRM strap, my MP3 player, my water bottle belt, and worst of all I grabbed my wife's poles instead of my own. Armed with poles 12" too short, I set out and was surprised to be cutting tracks at 9am, but did so on a good portion of Valley. The crevasses adjacent to the bottom of the sledding hill held up, but the little hill under the Chalet bridge was turning into the flume ride by 10am or so. Someone ventured off toward Northern Lights off the bottom of the donut hill, but I saw tracks coming back up. After a couple of passes on Valley, and being joined by a few other skiers, speed improved, but by the end it was getting soft and slow. It would appear this could be the last day for skiing here, but I'm guessing those words have been uttered a number of times this year already...
  Photos:  
  (Brad Johnson)
• Apr 23 - Lake Elmo Park Reserve (Lake Elmo):
  Conditions: 4-8 inches of fresh snow overnight but melting fast under the sun.
  Perfect condition for classic in a pristine environment early in the morning. A great place to appreciate nature's beauty. A few fallen large branches blocking the green trail in the east.
  Photos:  
  (Ji Chen)
• Apr 23 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Plenty good. After missing last Saturday's "it's all about skiing" celebration at Woodlands, I was very happy to see a little fresh snow falling when I got home late last evening. I was even happier when I started my just before sun up ski this morning on a freshly rolled 6k. Five of the also desperate arrived shortly after I did. This was a fitting end to a great ski season (the forth end so far). Unfortunately by the time you read this posting, continuous skiing at Woodlands will be over. We enjoyed it for 110 days.
  Photos:  
  (Dave Anderson, Elk River Nordic Ski Club)
• Apr 23 - Lake Elmo Park Reserve (Lake Elmo):
  Conditions: Slow and soft. There was more exposed earth than I expected, but still very skiable.
  Skied the SE quadrant of trails at 11am and I appeared to be the 3rd or 4th skier of the day.
  (Seth Lindenfelser)
• Apr 23 - Hiawatha Golf Course (Minneapolis):
  Conditions: Ungroomed, not too sloppy.
  It was as if I was skiing in a snow globe this morning. The conditions were just gorgeous, April or not. I skied the trail thanks to the pink flags and made my own classic tracks. Waxing my waxless skis actually helped with the sticky snow.
  Photos:  
  (Charlie Casserly)
• Apr 23 - Theodore Wirth Regional Park (Minneapolis):
  Conditions: Around 4" of new snow, a little slow and sticky.
  I got out early this morning for a last hurrah to the ski season! With all the snow on the trees, it was a beautiful late spring ski at Wirth. What a season!
  Photos:  
  (Bill Lundberg)
• Apr 23 - Gateway State Trail (Mahtomedi):
  Last time skiing today (I have said that before 4 times in the last month). Some of the snow was melting the tracks on my on return trip so the sun is taking care of the melting the 4 inches we had last night fast.
  Photos:  
  (Scott Bennett)
• Apr 23 - University of Minnesota Golf Course (Falcon Heights):
  Conditions: New ungroomed snow. Skier set tracks.
  3" inches fresh snow. Thin layer of dry powder on top of wet skicky snow with hidden slush in a few spots. Had skate skies and double polled the skier set tracks for awhile, then skated back and forth in a thinner area by the parking lot. I am now 2 months farther ahead on my Birkie training than I was last year at this time.
  Photos:  
  (Roy Vosberg)
• Apr 23 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  3 new inches. Rolled. It won't last long! Enjoy!
  (Dave Anderson, Elk River Nordic Ski Club)
• Apr 23 - Theodore Wirth Regional Park (Minneapolis):
  After my disappointment at the less than predicted snowfall subsided, I waxed up the epokes and had a great ski on the back 9. Skiing in April feels so good.
  (Zach Handler)
• Apr 22 - Elm Creek Park Reserve (Maple Grove):
  Conditions: Skied in classic track on parts of the Valley looked OK.
  Non-skiing report: At least one skier out on the parallel skied in tracks along the gradual slope parallel to the road.
  Wish I still had the skis in the car in case of a ski emergency.
  (Mark Lahtinen)
• Apr 21 - Theodore Wirth Regional Park (Minneapolis):
  Conditions: Good "soft crust" skating. No official grooming, but the snow has compacted enough to allow for good skating. The classic tracks were "bottomed out" in many places so skating is probably your best option at this point.
  I was able to ski the snowmaking, Par 3, and Judy loops without much difficulty this afternoon. The only two places where I had to walk on mud were the south-facing uphill in the Par 3 loop and a brief section on the Judy loop. Overall, the snowmaking loop has excellent snow coverage, the Judy loop allows for endless crust skiing fun, but the Par 3 loop is in pretty sketchy shape so it would be best avoided. The infamous "sledding hill" turkey carcass has risen from beneath the snow and is now a large skeleton, so just prepare for that sight as you descend the sledding hill.
  Photos:  
  (Bill Oyler)
• Apr 21 - Theodore Wirth Regional Park (Minneapolis):
  Conditions: Sloppy but snow covered.
  Hard to believe the snowmaking loop is still skiable. Went out at noon and it was sticky and slow but I was able to ski the whole loop. On the last turn from the grooming shed to the Par 3 lot there was an exposed stretch of a 'cart path' from a game called 'golf' that our ancestors once played at Wirth. Otherwise totally snow covered, in the morning if it cools off overnight there is still plenty of crust skiing to be had!
  (John Hoch)
• Apr 21 - Valleywood Golf Course (Apple Valley):
  Conditions: 1/2" new snow on top of solid crust. Overall excellent coverage. 36 degrees, cloudy.
  In the area and wanted to try an hit some crust skiing so stopped by Valleywood. I was expecting a soft corn snow base (and was prepared not to ski as I didn't want to risk any damage to the golf course) with temps hovering right around freezing most of the night. Instead, pleasantly surprised to find a solid non-breakthrough crust. The dusting of new snow earlier in the morning made for slightly slower conditions but overall it was great spring crust cruising conditions and a very fun ski. Bumped in to Odd Osland who was cranking out a few laps, checked out the grooming equipment and saw a golfer. I said hi but the person didn't reply. I said form and posture looked good but still no reply so went on my way!
  Photos:  
  (Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)
• Apr 21 - Elm Creek Park Reserve (Maple Grove):
  Conditions: Ungroomed, wet deep snow.
  Thought I would crust ski on the Valley trail, but I got out too late at 11:00. Trail was slow, deep and hard to get thru.
  (Jon Schaumann)
• Apr 21 - Hiawatha Golf Course (Minneapolis):
  Conditions: Good crust skiing early.
  Skate skied about 8:15-9:45 am. Roughly 36 degrees. Crust was still firm enough to support me. Even though I don't think it froze last night, the snow was firm. Speed was moderate to slow with the warm temps. Good opportunity to work V2. Coverage still good, but have to watch for cart paths. Couple classic striders out too. Fun birdwatching: Wood ducks, kestrel, blue heron, plus lots of Canada geese and mallards.
  (Sue Schroeder)
• Apr 21 - Hornet Hiihto Trails (Edina):
  Conditions: Variable from very good to very wet to very bare ground.
  Skied around 10am. The skate deck was much faster than the surrounding ungroomed snow but much of the Hiihto lies in the Nine Mile Creek flood plain and was pretty wet. The water tower hill was very skiable but took a couple of giant steps over bare ground to get to. The high school zig zag looked good and the higher parts of the athletic fields were good. However, near by Braemar Golf Course had better coverage and less exposed water. Braemar was firm enough to skate or classic pretty much anywhere. Zero skis were the ticket.
  (Andy Turnbull, Hoigaard's)
• Apr 20 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Conditions: Very good. 28 degrees and sunny. Only the uphill coming out of Pepper Hollow was going bare. I used FastWax Yellow LF.
  X-country sking in the Cities on April 20 with full coverage. Wow! Unfortunately, I had to work until 1:00 in St. Paul and didn't get on the trail until after 2:00. So trail was soft - my pole plants slipped in spots - and slow. Downhills were scary if you built up any speed because all of sudden you would hit a soft spot and suffer ligament-tearing deaccelerations. So I quickly learned not to carry any speed on the downhills. Nevertheless, I suffered a little twinge in my back as I hit one of those soft spots on a moderate downhill just before the old BN RR grade. I did 7.5K in an hour and ten minutes.
  (Keith Carlson)
• Apr 20 - Hornet Hiihto Trails (Edina):
  Conditions: Far from perfect, but kind of groomed.
  I had to run fuel stabilizer through the snowmobiles, so why not pull the groomer too? Three very bare spots, some puddles, but overall plenty of snow left. We still have machine made snow in places that is quite deep. If you want to say that you went skiing in late April, get out early Sunday morning.
  (Craig Jarvinen)
• Apr 20 - Lake Elmo Park Reserve (Lake Elmo):
  Conditions: The trails were completely snowpacked today.
  I arrived at Lake Elmo at noon before it started to get into the mushy phase. I skied the east side trail-outer loop. As I was skiing I noticed some strange fresh footprints in the snow. I met a guy who stopped me and asked if I had seen them. I told him I had. He thought it might have been a bear. I said the stride was way too long and in a completely straight line-3 ft apart. The prints had distinct toe prints too. We both were quite amazed. The footprints went for over a mile and disappeared into the woods. I asked him to take a photo and he forwarded it to me. Quite interesting.
  Photos:  
  (John Dewall)
• Apr 20 - Lebanon Hills Regional Park (Eagan):
  Conditions: Fair to poor, but it's mid-April, what do you expect?
  Ground is warming and there's bare spots but they're easy to ski around. Used waxless and really enjoyed the time on the trails. The tree is down between markers 14 and 16.
  (Paul Kraus)
• Apr 20 - Highland 9-hole Golf Course (Saint Paul):
  Conditions: Very good. Some crust but mostly saturated snow. Very rare spots where grass showed, only for a foot or two.
  Ended about 3:15pm. Classical tracks made by skiers. Someone skate skied earlier enough to stay on top (earlier when it was still crust?).
  (Stanley Sledz)
• Apr 20 - Hiawatha Golf Course (Minneapolis):
  Conditions: Full coverage, ungroomed, red wax, classic skis.
  What fun today, dozens of skiers enjoying the day. Highlight of the day is seeing and hearing the common loons that have stopped along Minnehaha Creek and Lake Hiawatha. They have nowhere to go right now, and do not have enough water for a take-off yet. The snow is too deep in most places for walkers and dogs, and a little soft for skating. The overnight lows should offer good crust skiing ...
  (Jim Lair)
• Apr 20 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Conditions: Awesome. No thin spots... On April 20?
  Another incredible day at Woodland. Arrived about 8:30 to nearly full lot. Trail was firm with some ruts on he first lap, but it softened (and I relaxed) on the next three. Many, many happy faces. Fun to see many familiar folks from the ski community. Thanks again to the Woodland groomers for letting us enjoy this late season snow!
  (Sue Schroeder)
• Apr 20 - University of Minnesota Golf Course (Falcon Heights):
  Conditions: Very good for classic and the skate tracks looked as though the early morning crust skiing was perfect.
  Second straight Saturday the U of MN golf course had ungroomed, but fantastic skiing. As I left at noon I was still staying on top 1/3 of the time.
  (Seth Lindenfelser)
• Apr 20 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Conditions: Great spring skiing!
  Arrived at 10--parking lot full...check, fresh grooming on the trail....check, adjacent Elk River Golf Course perfect crust skiing...check...Wow, what a morning ski at Woodland!
  (Bill Lundberg)
• Apr 20 - Elm Creek Park Reserve (Maple Grove):
  Conditions: New deep snow ungroomed.
  Skated valley trail at 10:30. Was able to stay on top of the deep snow for some crust skiing at 36 deg. Might be better tomorrow as the snow settles. Poles would push thru the now about 6-10" which made it tricky. There were two classic tracks around the Valley trail. I tried classic on Northern Lights, but turned around because of bare grass spots.
  (Jon Schaumann)
• Apr 20 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Conditions: Fast and full coverage, softening a little as the morning progressed.
  Arrived around 9 am to a nearly full parking lot and temps in the low 20s! Skied the first lap on some quick demo boards from Gear West, found conditions to be the fastest I've had a Woodland this season, but not icy or hardpacked. In fact, it was powdery snow to start out. Second lap switched to my own skis and found them to bit a little slower and the sun-facing hills felt just a little sticky. Excellent conditions though, and using good skis wasn't an issue -- not a bare spot, or even thin spot, to be seen. So many skiers, it did indeed feel like a winter celebration!
  Photos:  
  (Bruce Adelsman)
• Apr 20 - Phalen Golf Course (Saint Paul):
  Very good crust skating this morning and it looks like there's enough snow there to be good tomorrow. It may all depend on how cold it gets tonight.
  (Russ Ludeke)
• Apr 20 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Conditions: Very good, a bit icy early but transitioned in the morning to perfection.
  Temps were well below freezing when the parking lot filled up before 8:00AM. The groomers were out pulling screens. The Fischer demo van was out. The conditions progressed from good to great as sun and skiers loosened up the deck. All around a great ski and a festival atmosphere.
  (Jon Erickson)
• Apr 20 - Theodore Wirth Regional Park (Minneapolis):
  Trail report part 2: went back out for one more lap, after drinking a pot of coffee. My previous klister job had been reduced to hash by the abrasive snow, so I used ice klister this time, which I got all over my hands like a dope. Headed out again, but with a touch of sun the snow crystals were more blunt, and grip was not as good. Headed into the woods off the back 9 in search of colder snow sparkling with crystals. Lots of weed and grass poking through there, but they did not slow things down. Some of the trees had an optimistic display of fresh buds. The is a strong smell of skunk but the only tracks I saw were from a fox. After a while some chronic joint issues crept up so I called it a day.
  (Zach Handler)
• Apr 20 - Theodore Wirth Regional Park (Minneapolis):
  Pre-dawn report: great crust skiing. Skated for a while then really started thinking about how good the klister skiing looked so I switched to classic and that was good too. Crust held my 170 pounds but felt like it wouldn't hold much more. The old classic tracks from yesterday are hard and icy and I avoided them. Happy April 20th!
  (Zach Handler)
• Apr 19 - West Medicine Lake Park (Plymouth):
  Conditions: Skiable snow - definitely!
  The snow really compacted throughout the day Friday but still great conditions and very peaceful with the stream rushing by. Lots of deer tracks leading down to the water. Enjoy while there's still water flowing!
  Photos:  
  (Karla Anderson)
• Apr 19 - Como Park (Saint Paul):
  Conditions: Full coverage, make your own trail.
  Well, I thought I'd join in the fun, why not? Ron and I ski in the chunk of Como Park that's right between our house and the lake; we like to call it the Como Wedge. We break a trail around the park that is about 1.25 K long. Do that eight times and you have 10K. Today it was really pretty in the late sunlight. We get a lot of supportive comments from people walking their dogs. Somebody said: Well, at least you're enjoying it. And that is so true. Some silly photos attached.
  Photos:  
  (Jenneke Oosterhoff)
• Apr 19 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Conditions: Groomed for skating, getting soft and slow in late afternoon, plenty of coverage.
  Can't believe the great dedicated Woodland Hills groomers are still at work when everyone else in the metro has quit. Thanks much for the late season ski!
  (Timothy Nelson)
• Apr 19 - Highland 9-hole Golf Course (Saint Paul):
  Conditions: Ok for classic.
  Blaze your own trail or follow in the tracks of the few other die-hards who have been there. Not groomed, of course, but plenty of snow, so easy enough to get around the whole course.
  (Linda Lade)
• Apr 19 - William O'Brien State Park (Marine on St. Croix):
  I, and the 15 year old girl who skis faster than me, took a lap around the park on classic skis this afternoon. We did not go on the duckhead or South America. We were the 3rd and 4th skiers through, laying down a decent track for those who follow. There were no bare spots, just a little mud coming up here and there. Not a bad 10th "last ski" of the season!
  (Paul Schaaf)
• Apr 19 - Vadnais/Sucker Lakes (Vadnais Heights):
  Pretty good skier set classic tracks around Sucker Lake (north of County F) this evening. Good coverage throughout. One notable wet/slush section in pine tree area.
  Photos:  
  (Ted Lystig)
• Apr 19 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  First time skiing here and it was excellent! No bare spots. Agree with skiing early. By early afternoon the snow was just a bit sticky (I could walk straight up hills on my skating skis without slipping). Every face I saw had a smile.
  (Doug McDonald)
• Apr 19 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Conditions: Fresh grooming, slow conditions with all the new snow.
  We got out to Woodland a little late in the afternoon. So, it was pretty slow and a little slushy. We had a great time anyway this late in April. Many thanks to Taxi and Buckthorn Bob for grooming twice today.
  Photos:  
  (Bill Lundberg)
• Apr 19 - Theodore Wirth Regional Park (Minneapolis):
  Conditions: Classic only. Bring your classic skis and a lot of kick wax! Several coats of V42 was not enough for me, I was re-applying often and slipping up most of the hills.
  I skied the Par 3 and Judy and Hap loops in the Back 9 on man-made classic tracks in the company of many other happy classic skiers. I had the day off work so I was unable to take advantage of Mayor Rybak's challenge, but this was plenty challenging. Well over a foot of snow in many drift areas, 8-10" elsewhere. Very clean snow and a beautiful landscape for a classic ski.
  Photos:  
  (Bill Oyler)
• Apr 19 - Snail/Grass Lakes (Shoreview):
  I put in some skier-set classic tracks by Grass Lake this morning. Coverage was pretty good, but you'd want to keep a flat ski to avoid catching on anything below the snow. Tracks start from Gramsie and Mackubin, follow the paved path, then join up with the "regular" trail closer to the shore of Grass Lake. There was one section of wet slush under the fresh snow close to one of the manhole covers along the grass path by the lake- don't dally if you want to keep your feet dry. The wind was already starting to fill in an exposed section after about 30 minutes, but large portions of the trail are relatively wind sheltered.
  Photos:  
  (Ted Lystig)
• Apr 19 - Highland 9-hole Golf Course (Saint Paul):
  Conditions: Ungroomed but decent for classic.
  A few people had been out already by the time I went just after lunch. Conditions were quite good in parts, slushy in other parts.
  (Meaghan Burnham)
• Apr 19 - Elm Creek Park Reserve (Maple Grove):
  Conditions: Went out about 11 a.m. striding with waxless skis. One other skier had made a track which had mostly drifted over on the Valley trail but held up on the northern lights and thicket. So skiied in tracks are present for those trails.
  Striding was slow but my skis did not ice up. Snow is deep. About 10 inches in Maple Grove.
  (Mark Basiletti)
• Apr 19 - Fort Snelling State Park (Saint Paul):
  Cross country ski trails are closed for the season. See you next winter!
  (Krista Jensen)
• Apr 19 - Woodland Trails (Elk River):
  Conditions: Double bonus! Rolled twice and very skiable.
  Taxi rolled the 6k loop again this morning thereby pitching a grooming double header with late inning relief from buckthorn Bob. Skiing was great at 8:00AM and starting to soften a bit by 10. Ski it early if you can.
  Grooming plans: Groomers have a plan for an early Saturday groom to make the most of this late snow.
  (Dave Kallemeyn)
• Apr 19 - Streets of New Brighton (New Brighton):
  Conditions: Wide range, from pavement to deep set tracks.
  Joined a couple of Irondale high school kids for a rare ski to school - and April no less! Plows had been busy on main arteries in New Brighton, so we had to ski over some thin cover, picking best of line. Used streets and sidewalks, crossing over 694 on Long Lake road (skis on), and then along the east side of Long Lake park, where we broke trail in about 6" of snow (very nice for the person in the back of the group!). Trees were beautiful with snow clinging to everything. After a few photos at the school, I skied back home, enjoying some of the fresh tracks (which in some places were getting blown in!). Temps were rising and some of the street skiing was already down to pavement, but made it back without having to remove the rock skis once! Epic.
  Photos:  
  (Bruce Adelsman)
• Apr 19 - Theodore Wirth Regional Park (Minneapolis):
  Fresh snow. Best birthday present I've had in a while. Skied the streets to Wirth and then a couple laps on the back 40. The Epokes were very happy to finally get out in their native environment. Hard wax worked fine; VR 60 a bit too sticky though. Skating would be impossible. Some snow laden trees are bent across the back 40. Should be a pretty nice classic track spin the areas that aren't wind exposed.
  (Zach Handler)

Minnesota Northeast

• May 17 - Spirit Mountain (Duluth):
  Conditions: Sporadic disconnected snow, mud, water, grass.
  We headed out to Spirit hoping to get one last ski in and found the portions that were left were just too disconnected to make it worth it. Until next year!
  Photos:  
  (Eve Stein)
• May 13 - Spirit Mountain (Duluth):
  Conditions: Tons of dirty connected snow!
  I drove in off of 80th and parked this time and was able to get right onto the snow without walking through mud first. There is still a lot of connected snow throughout the mountain!
  (Eve Stein)
• May 10 - Spirit Mountain downhill area (Duluth):
  Conditions: Lots of snow left, dirty corn snow!
  I parked by the new chalet and walked up to the first patch of snow, then classic skied on various portions of the hills. There is a lot of snow left if you don't mind walking between the gigantic patches!
  Photos:  
  (Eve Stein)
• May 9 - Piedmont Trail (Duluth):
  Conditions: Mostly grass and dirt, It's gone: (.
  I went to Piedmont today fully expecting to be able to at least ski some and after walking quite a ways into the trail and seeing just spots here and there, I realized, it's over. How sad...
  (Eve Stein)
• May 8 - Spirit Mountain (Duluth):
  Conditions: Great for May 8th.
  Joe Dubay and I skied the bottom of the hill on a flat and gradual uphill section. Great for intervals to start the "season" off. If you can handle skiing on snow anymore I would recommend checking it out.
  (John Wessling)
• May 7 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: 85 plus percent covered, skiable, icy, slushy, and a few bare spots.
  The inner loop is still 85 percent snow/ice covered. I was able to ski the whole inner loop with rock skis and only took my skis off once for the inner loop downhill section. A few bare spots but skiing May 7th. Duluth has officially broke the record for the snowiest April in history receiving 41.7" of snow. The previous record was 31.6" set back in 1950. In honor of the snowiest April on record, snow can still be found in the woods and skied upon.
  (Greg Mielke)
• May 6 - Piedmont Trail (Duluth):
  Conditions: 85% connected nice corn snow!
  It's so nice to ski in a jogging bra and shorts on dirty spring corn snow! Trails had a surprising amount of snow on them or at least half of each trail...there are a few spots I had to walk on my $4.99 trak skis and it was worth it!
  Photos:  
  (Eve Stein)
• May 5 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: Corn snow with some traces of the ice pellets from Friday. Just above freezing with good glide.
  I was able to ski Wednesday's May Day Race 3.3 km loop with continuous snow all the way around. There were two spots with small water flows but both could be skied over or stepped over. The large puddles had subsided and frozen back over. All in all, it was incredibly good skiing and I got in a 20km ski both Saturday and Sunday. This ties my previous latest-ski-of-the-year in Minnesota from May 5, 1996 on a 30km loop without removing skis. Out of respect for the Duluth Snow Record of '96, I put on summer wax and put the skis away for another year. Thanks, George, for keeping the trails in great shape this late into spring!
  (Bruce Bauer)
• May 5 - Spirit Mountain downhill area (Duluth):
  Conditions: Dirty corn snow.
  This place has it all....snow, all the traverse and climb you can handle, traverse back down, telemark, or take a screaming downhill challenge. Easy access to snow from any parking lot. A chalet with an open bar with food on Grand Avenue for your finish. It's not trail but we're still skiing!
  (Carolyn Gunderson)
• May 3 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  I don't ever recall skiing here at this time of year before - a-may-zing for sure! There is a 2+K portion of the 5K which is skiable and really not bad. At noon the conditions were softening enough and there were just a few places where there was a limited width of trail to work with. There are some low icy spots but they are navigable. It was enough of a ski to get my heart rate up - hope to go back tomorrow!
  (John Ipsen, Duluth XC Ski Club)
• May 3 - Piedmont Trail (Duluth):
  Conditions: Nice corn snow and mostly connected!
  Skied further than yesterday - did the whole loop and found most of it was connected! There were a few spots I had to walk on and some that were hard with compacted corn snow on top...was snowing hard when we went too! If it was warmer out, many spots that were hard might be water.
  Photos:  
  (Eve Stein)
• May 3 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: 28 deg F early, icy and FAST! Inner loop skiable.
  Thrillseekers can venture out early in Hartley. Very icy and fast. The inner loop is holding up strong, and still 90+ percent snow covered. Skated on the pond, but only a small portion by the cattails is good. Watch out for a few bare spots, and the one big downhill on the inner loop is treacherous but was able to make it down on my skis.
  (Greg Mielke)
• May 2 - Piedmont Trail (Duluth):
  Conditions: More snow than expected.
  Went to Piedmont today not sure what to expect and there was quite a bit of snow left along with disconnected parts. Nice corn snow!
  (Eve Stein)
• May 2 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: 32F early, very fast!, Icy inner loop still mostly snow covered, classical-Swix red stays on a little while.
  I "May"ed it. Conditions on all natural snow incredible for May 2nd classical. A few bare spots but still 90% snow covered and skiable, the inner loop that is. Outer loop less snow, use caution. Skate skied the edge of the pond, found it only good near the edge for a small portion.
  (Greg Mielke)
• May 2 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: Newly groomed corn snow, fast!
  Up early with son and dogs for a beautiful May ski. The trails were groomed last night and the ice rivers were frozen and navigable. I think we'll have several days of good skiing yet.
  (Marty Espe)
• May 1 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: Lots of snow, and also several small ponds and river crossings.
  Yesterday Nikolai said the 5km was good, but when I tried to groom it today, it had new uncrossable streams. We found a 2.5 km loop and got it ready for the May 1 Wednesday Night Race. A great field of skiing die-hards showed up for what must be the latest race ever in Duluth. After the race, I regroomed the loop we used so it should be great tomorrow morning for skating.
  (Bruce Bauer)
• May 1 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: Lots of corn snow, icy sections, mud stretches, and creek crossings.
  Classic skied the 5 and 10 km loops. It's a mix of everything. You can get all the way around on both loops. You can keep your feet dry on the 5k, but virtually impossible on the 10. The 10 k has more nice corn snow and less ice, but more creek crossings. Hovland's Hill I skipped. It's pretty much snow free, but all other hills were in surprising good shape although shovel hill has a huge bare spot. It's an adventure! What a great ski season we've had!
  (Carol Koos)
• May 1 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: Ice, snow, debris, water, mud, grass, leaves, dog poop.
  May and icy and a trail report all in one sentence, yes! Classic skied portions of the inner and outer trail today late morning from the main parking lot. Finally, some outstanding "corn snow" or "mature snow"! All those blizzards kept stopping that perfect spring snow from forming! There was something to glide on for just about everything I skied, either ice or snow. The snow is actually quite deep where it exists and has not been touched yet. Under the trees, the trak skis glided OK over the pine needles, dirt and other tree debris. The ice was a bit challenging and the snow was perfect! Some spots have running water that is easy to get around on snow, very few have just exposed ground of some type! We could have skiing in here at least until next week!
  Photos:  
  (Eve Stein)
• Apr 30 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: 2-3" loose granulated snow on top of 2-3" base. Scattered ice spots, couple low areas with water. Just one ski length bare spot. 39 degrees, foggy. Overall great skiing for last day of April.
  Hooked up with Jake for a last day of April ski at Snowflake. Skied the 5k loop. The rain early morning tightened up the snow nicely. The glide was very good and overall the coverage was very good. The ice sections were actually faster glide and loose enough on top for secure edging. The low areas with water no issue, just step around, no wet feet. Fun ski. With cooler temps on the move and the overall good coverage, should be skiing here through the weekend.
  Photos:  
  (Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)
• Apr 30 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: Inner loop 99% still snow covered, classical.
  Even after a warm day and early morning thunderstorm, the trail is still 99% covered with snow. I am "skiing in" the inner loop, just a few bare spots, but can ski around them. Once past the pine needles and now doggie doodoo emerging, the inner loop with Swix red early in the morning is great for April 30th. Skiing in May looks possible!
  (Greg Mielke)
• Apr 29 - Lester Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: Corn snow, ice, mud, and creek crossings.
  Classic skied the whole loop minus the playground on my waxless. The beginning is a bit icy and you'll need to double pole, but mostly you can find corn snow on the edges that's skiable. Skate skiing seemed doable with a few areas of thicker snow that'll be a good workout. There are spots here and there where you'll need to either walk thru the mud or take off your skis, but not often. The new culverts are fantastic! There are still some creek crossings on the northern unlit part of the trail and on the return trail there are a few spots where the trail has some thick slush you'll need to ski thru. The D side loop on the first down hill there's a section of mud you need to slow down for otherwise fully covered. The J hill has a small section on the down hill where there's just mud and the up hill is disintegrating. Your feet will get wet, but still nice to be in the woods.
  (Carol Koos)
• Apr 29 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: Hartley inner loop classical skiing - plenty of snow still, used Swix Red.
  I went really early and used Swix red, may need to reapply. The whole inner loop can be skied. Of the 2 K loop, only about 30 feet of it is without snow. Once you get past the pine needles and hiker ruts, the "inner" part of the inner loop is awesome for April 29th, all natural snow! Still shooting to ski in May!
  (Greg Mielke)
• Apr 28 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: Inner loop-classical, Hartley pond crust skating.
  What a difference a day makes, snow melting fast! Inner loop can still be skied classical. Thanks to whomever skied it in also, this morning I did the same. You have to go early before hikers walk on it. Skate skied the Pond. The one edge has a great early morning crust ski. You have to ski right on the edge of the cattails on the canoe launch side. It was pretty good for April 28th. Still hoping to ski in to mid-May!
  (Greg Mielke)
• Apr 27 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: Still in great shape, with solid base!
  Lena talked me into one more ski. Shorts and t-shirts only...we had a blast. I'm looking forward to skiing into May!
  (Marty Espe)
• Apr 27 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: Tons of snow! It would be great if someone had a snowmobile groomer. Hoping to set a late ski season record, perhaps mid-May!
  Skied the inner and outer loop. Not tracked, but amazing snow depth for April 27th. The highlight: skate skied on the Hartley pond. Well packed. I was able to ski to the far end to the beaver hut and up the creek as banks were solid. Go early in the morning while still solid. Also saw Canadian geese and a red fox on the far end. What a morning!
  (Greg Mielke)
• Apr 26 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: Still great conditions!
  I was wrong about the report that I submitted yesterday regarding the thought there would probably be one more good day. I skied this morning from 10AM - noon and the trail continues to hold up incredibly well. Now I really think it's going to be good for a while yet. The best time seems to be from 9AM - noonish. It needs a bit of softening up time, but is too soft by afternoon.
  Photos:  
  (Steve Hagedorn)
• Apr 25 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: As good as it gets anywhere anytime.
  Wow. April 25th and still great skiing at Snowflake! The trail is holding on with incredible tenacity. Still a firm skating lane and the track is still set. I'm thinking it's going to be really great for at least one more day.
  Photos:  
  (Steve Hagedorn)
• Apr 25 - Magney-Snively Trail (Duluth):
  Conditions: Pleasant spring touring.
  Firm crust with a granular topping from yesterday's clipper. Starting to get a little mushy by late morning.
  Photos:  
  (John Harris)
• Apr 24 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: Excellent for both classic and skating.
  The 5K is still in great shape with a solid skating lane and classic track. The track is a bit icy though and I would recommend waxless for classic. Also would recommend a bit later in the day for skating to give it a chance to soften up a bit. Excellent conditions though considering it's late April. Thanks for grooming so late in the season!!
  Photos:  
  (Steve Hagedorn)
• Apr 23 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: 8+ inches of new snow freshly groomed today. Excellent track.
  Went out at 7pm on waxless skis. The track was already getting slightly icy but considering it is almost May you can't get too picky.
  Photos:  
  (Gene Karwoski)
• Apr 23 - Lester Park (Duluth):
  Skied-in track around the entire main loop and the D loop. A few trees down here and there.
  (Catherine Winter)
• Apr 23 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: Partially groomed!
  Pretty nice classic ski on my waxless skis around the 5k loop. It was just skied in and tracks were almost a foot deep. Then George and another guy took snowmobiles around the 5k several loops packing it down. It wasn't bad. A guy was out skating and it looked pretty good. It's a bit uneven and you need to be done by late morning or it's too mushy and slow. Pretty awesome for April 23rd!
  (Carol Koos)
• Apr 22 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Some human and animal prints in tracks. A bit soft mid-afternoon, but tracks set by previous skiers worked well.
  (Georgia Skills)
• Apr 22 - Boulder Lake Management Area Ski Trails (Duluth):
  Conditions: Classic: Delightful! Skate: Could not stay on top of crust.
  Took both sets of skis (classic and skate) to Boulder this morning. Not a hard enough freeze last night for crust skiing. Classic was fantastic, and I need to learn to say: "snowmobiles can be my friends". Photo shows the extent of the trail system where a lone snowmobile has been. The snowmobile track is rutted, and makes for a essentially rolled grooming. For the person who wants to try timing a crust ski later this week, the crust is untouched by man or beast 1 km in from the highway.
  Photos:  
  (Rich Hoeg)
• Apr 21 - Seven Bridges Road (Duluth):
  Skied from the Lester Amity Trail Head parking lot up 7 Bridges Road and Skyline Parkway to Hawk's Ridge (and back). Nice crust skiing at 7:30 am, but a little dicey at the first bridge while coming down. Took off my skis for that steep "S" curve. Snowmobile tracks in the middle of the road, but lots of space at the side for skating. Fell twice when the crust failed to support my weight. Based upon ski tracks could tell two other individuals had the same idea even earlier this morning.
  Photos:  
  (Rich Hoeg)
• Apr 20 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: 5km freshly groomed classic track somewhere between s'nice and spectacular.
  I started skiing around 2 pm and the classic tracks were still firm and fast. Atomic multis (hairys) were exceedingly fast with great kick. Tried the Atomic skintechs (waxless mohair) on the second loop - much slower, but the track also started softening. Many happy faces. Thanks George for a fine ski on a beautiful sunny spring day.
  (Ken Borchert)
• Apr 20 - Boulder Lake Management Area Ski Trails (Duluth):
  Conditions: Deep, deep white stuff (ungroomed, parking lot not plowed).
  Had to park on the county highway. Classic skied on a snowshoe path from the road to the trail head. Skied about 1.5 km in on the trails. The path was set by some snowmobiles. From that point on the ski trails are totally untouched or groomed. I did not want to set trail given the 2.5 feet of new snow on the trail, and the fact it was around 32F. Would have been a slog, but should be fantastic crust skiing eventually...
  (Rich Hoeg)
• Apr 20 - Lester Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: Classic: A bit challenging at 7:30 am.
  Hard freeze last night. The skied in classic tracks are deep, but before the snow softened it was like being in a luge run with ice crust grinding against your upper ankle. Once I got off the lower trails, the snowshoe and hiking tracks disappeared. At that point it made sense to pop up on the crust. Still a gorgeous ski. Should be better when things soften up.
  Photos:  
  (Rich Hoeg)
• Apr 20 - Lester Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: Darn good for March, Oh I mean April 20th!
  Wow. Fantasitic skiing at Lester still. I skied on waxless boards and started off a little before noon after the snow started to softened. The snow was just getting soft, but not mushy or slushy like last week. Very solid tracks. I skied most of the course and some of the main loops twice, and found a good solid track on most of the loops. There's some foot and snow shoe damage on the lower part of the course. Watch out for a few small trees and branches in the trail. Sorry about the divet I left in the trail trying to dodge a branch just after the J loop.
  (Mark Elliott)
• Apr 20 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: Amazing. Nice classic track, set this morning in powdery snow.
  It's pretty nice to be able to use waxable skis on April 20th. We didn't see anyone skating this morning, but I'm sure it will be good as well. Thanks for grooming, we really appreciate all of your hard work!
  Photos:  
  (Hannah Panci)
• Apr 20 - Gooseberry Falls State Park (Two Harbors):
  Conditions: The trail is as Mother Nature created it Thursday night into Friday. Lots of heavy snow. No grooming/tracking.
  Another day to ski is a gift. Took my favorite outside loops from west to east. Had to break trail so a 60 minute loop took twice that long. Also took time to stop and drink in the scenery frequently.
  Photos:  
  (Peggy Stone)
• Apr 20 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: Excellent classic track. Groomed this morning. 17 inches of new snow.
  Blue wax on April 20th? Thanks for the memories George.
  Photos:  
  (Gene Karwoski)
• Apr 20 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: Parts of it great, others walked on.
  The great trail I broke yesterday is partially in tact. The inner loop (I believe it is) has a great track, there are other parts that are now a "multi use" trail. Awesome skiing! Very well worth getting out, no clumping on the track I made! There were a few people out there using the track which was nice to see! A few trees fell on the trail since yesterday probably from the wind and snow weight. One interesting thing about skiing on a non-groomed track with deep snow is the height you have to lift your arm to get that initial pole plant, that uses new muscles similar to paddling! I had a bit of a larger basket which made for a non-sinking plant too.
  Photos:  
  (Eve Stein)
• Apr 19 - Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (Duluth):
  Conditions: One to two feet of new snow and drifts. Packed but not groomed or tracked.
  I helped a bit with the snowmobile packing. The 5km is now packed. It should be groomed early tomorrow morning. With the cold overnight temps, classic skiing tomorrow on extra blue will be possible--on April 20th! Scrape off your skis and head up for a memorable spring ski.
  (Bruce Bauer)
• Apr 19 - Hartley Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: We skied in the tracks in the deep snow!
  We were the first to make tracks today and did so on almost the entire system. We were pleasantly surprised that our cheap Trak skis encountered very little if any clumping! The snow is very deep and there is drifting along with snow blowing off of the trees so the tracks may not be perfect or even visible later. The good news is that the "path" necessary to create new tracks will be there and hopefully walkers will find a different one! Very well worth the trip to Hartley, it's beautiful!
  Photos:  
  (Eve Stein)
• Apr 19 - Magney-Snively Trail (Duluth):
  Conditions: 1-2 feet of deep, fresh snow.
  I went and skied in a track at Magney today. It was tough going because of the depth of the snow. Now the track is laid, so it will be better. There is an unreal amount of snow in Duluth right now, I can't believe nobody is grooming. Magney may be skiable into May!
  (Joe Gerard)
• Apr 19 - Brighton Beach (Duluth):
  Conditions: Plenty of snow to ski along the shore early this morning.
  Beautiful views and plenty of fresh snow provided a scenic ski along Brighton Beach. It's not likely to last long with the sun melt.
  Photos:  
  (Molly Hoeg)
• Apr 19 - Lester Park (Duluth):
  Conditions: A winter wonderland! It's backwoods skiing at its best.
  I started around 11:30 this morning from the Lester Playground area. Once at Point A, I found new tracks set by earlier skiers up to Point C, and I broke trail up to F and around. The snow was up to the top of my boots in the untracked area. The trees were gorgeous with deep snow clinging to the branches, but the weight of the snow created a number of low hanging trees over the trail and some downed trees and branches. I was disappointed to find the ski tracks trampled by a group of snowshoers for about 1k above the old Seven Bridges parking lot.
  Photos:  
  (Molly Hoeg)

• May 4 - Sugarbush Trail System (Tofte):
  Conditions: Firmly packed, spring corn snow.
  We found plenty of white on the trails this morning out of the Britton Peak trailhead near Tofte. Liz and I used our waxless skis and had a great time kicking and gliding over the firm corn snow. I would say that 90-95% of the trail had up to a 6" packed base. We had a great time.
  Photos:  
  (Greg Fangel)
• May 3 - Devil Track Lake (Grand Marais):
  Conditions: Crusty snow, 31 degrees and no sign of melting any time soon.
  I skated the lake this morning and it looked and felt like mid winter. There should be good lake skiing for the next few days with predicted overnight temps below freezing and highs around 40 degrees. Ice fishing for the opener!
  Photos:  
  (Tim Kennedy)
• May 2 - Sugarbush Trail System (Tofte):
  Conditions: Remnant April snow; thin in sun-exposed spots and thick elsewhere.
  I skied the Onion River Road after work tonight, just because I could. It was slow and soft (duh), but I made it to the end and back with my first-ever May ski under my fleece. I guess I can cross that off my bucket list now.
  (Bill Lane)
• Apr 20 - Sugarbush Trail System (Tofte):
  Conditions: Excellent, recently groomed and firm.
  I skied the ORR at noon today. It was awesome! The skate deck was firm, a little sticky from the sun, but it's April 20th. The tracks were hard and in great shape. There were many folks out enjoying a spring ski.
  (Mike Crook)
• Apr 19 - Sugarbush Trail System (Tofte):
  Conditions: 15" of new, low moisture snow. Partial grooming in progress.
  Sugarbush Trail Association's official grooming has ended for the season, but a volunteer groomer is picking up the ball and has groomed the Onion River Road (ORR) portion of the trail for skate and classic. Grooming occurred late Friday night.
  Grooming plans: The ORR will be groomed again tonight for the last time this season. We hope you all enjoyed our great trail system.
  (Greg Fangel, Sugarbush Trail Association)

• May 5 - Mount Itasca (Coleraine):
  35 degrees. Still could cobble together about a K of trail. It was dirty but ok skating. Always strange to hear the birds when skiing.
  Photos:  
  (Joe Muller)
• May 1 - Mount Itasca (Coleraine):
  Bit Icy but skiing. Not to bad for May!
  Photos:  
  (Vladimir Cervenka)
• Apr 25 - Big Aspen Recreation Area (Virginia):
  Conditions: 30 degrees cloudy high humidity at 8:30 AM. Tried to go west but it didn't freeze hard enough overnight. Crust and tracks were collapsing under my skis. Power line was firm and good for skate. East loop tracks and crust were also collapsing.
  Very surprised it was that different from yesterday. Too much snow to pack down hard. No freezing nights in sight for a long time, so I'm done for the season.
  Photos:  
  (Ron Kutsi)
• Apr 24 - Big Aspen Recreation Area (Virginia):
  Conditions: East trails had at least a foot or more base. Deep crusted skier tracks from those who skied in warm conditions and semi solid crust along the trails. Very firm smooth crust out on the power line on the east side.
  25 degrees and sunny. It's a shame that it couldn't have been groomed at some time. Plenty of snow. The sides of my feet were dragging through the deep set tracks making it uncomfortable. It was better to be out of the tracks on top of crust in some spots. Hoping for a May ski if temps go low enough at night. Snow is over 3 feet deep off track.
  Photos:  
  (Ron Kutsi)
• Apr 23 - Carey Lake (Hibbing):
  Conditions: Solid coverage, just getting a little soft but not sticky. Sunny 40 degrees.
  Last time? No fresh snow overnight, but the bright sunshine got us out to the trails for another ski. Of course things haven't been groomed in quite a while, but the trails have been user tracked. Thanks Lisa! Just a perfect day to be out in the still snowy woods, even if it's getting on to the end of April!
  Photos:  
  (Craig Holgate)
• Apr 20 - Sugar Hills (Grand Rapids):
  Thanks to Tornado Bob the 10 inches of new snow on the Snag and Long Lake loops were groomed. Beautiful tracks and bright sun. Ski Club President Pete and Boomer the Groomer were out enjoying the day. Fun April skiing.
  Photos:  
  (Joe Muller)

• Apr 23 - Hidden Valley Ski Trails (Ely):
  Conditions: Woo-hoo! Fast!
  First time around the main loops this morning was good, because the (many!) skate ruts were softening. And then arrived the groomer! So then the skating was just about perfect (except that poles with tiny baskets still punch through the deep base often). Classic tracks still intact except for a brief stretch on the power line where the sun has finally hit paydirt.
  (Elton Brown)
• Apr 20 - Hidden Valley Ski Trails (Ely):
  We skated the outer loops this morning. Both the Bombas and Sommer trails were groomed for skate and classic last night. Below zero temps this morning firmed up the skate lane pretty well and the classic track set up hard and is near perfect. Many thanks go out to our groomers who continue to work wonders with the two feet of new snow in the past week. It is beautiful out there. Get out and enjoy.
  (Ron Svatos)
• Apr 19 - Hidden Valley Ski Trails (Ely):
  Conditions: Packed, groomed and track set at 7pm Friday.
  Outer loop (7k) is set for skate and classic. Snow on inner trails too deep to pack right now. Should be great skiing all day Saturday.
  (Scott Quick)

• Apr 23 - Tilson Creek Ski Trail (International Falls):
  Conditions: Awesome...the bit of new snow 2 days ago has completely firmed up.
  At 8:30 this morning Tilson was level and fast, not icy...skied to Black Bay and then out onto the ice for an amazing glide down to the snow mobile shelter at Finger Bay. Trail was just starting to soften at about 11:00 AM. Unbelievable, perfect spring crust skating.
  Photos:  
  (Burgess Eberhardt)
• Apr 20 - Tilson Creek Ski Trail (International Falls):
  Conditions: +14F, sunny, 1-1/2" new fine snow....rolled this morning.
  We got about 1-1/2" of powder yesterday and skating was tough. I went back early today to roll all segments and then pulled the Ginzu back and forth on the Green trail. April 20th! Skating was not speedy today post grooming but was delightful. Lots of folks out.
  Photos:  
  (Burgess Eberhardt)

Minnesota Northwest

• May 4 - Maplelag Resort (Callaway):
  Conditions: Better than May 1st! Dusting of new snow, 31 degrees.
  Didn't expect to wake up to fresh snow today. Went out on the trails with the crowns, skiing on the east side of the inner system liking the sections that are still holding on to some base for a nice ski. For May 4th, it was great. Beautiful early morning in the woods.
  Photos:  
  (Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)
• May 1 - Maplelag Resort (Callaway):
  Conditions: Barely skiable. 33 degrees, windy.
  The warm night on Monday and morning on Tuesday wind wiped out a lot of snow making a May 1 groom not possible. However, there was still enough coverage to log in a desperation May 1st ski. This marked the 8th consecutive month we have skied at Maplelag! A raw day felt good in the woods and lots of sights and sounds of spring including the first loons enjoying the rare spots of open water near inlets and outlets. Suicide hill has good coverage and was good up and down fun. Probably can get another 3-4 days of skiing on the hill before we sign off on winter woods travel. With that said, the trails will be closed until it dries up. Thanks to everyone who patronized Maplelag this past year! Wow an incredible season!
  Photos:  
  (Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)
• Apr 29 - Maplelag Resort (Callaway):
  Conditions: Better than yesterday!
  Froze down hard last night making magic hour skiing possible this morning. The compacted slush areas yesterday were solid ice to begin but slowly softened up making for nice glide. The low areas had drained off for the most part and the trail had a much different look and feel than last night. Skied a 7km "loop" including entire North Loup. NL had excellent coverage on 90% of the loop, thin on 9.5% and three ski lengths where no snow. Skate skiing was much better than expected and had to stop a few times and take in the incredible morning. I could have groomed this loop this morning but holding out until May 1st, hoping the warm night and possible rain doesn't do too much damage!
  Photos:  
  (Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)
• Apr 28 - Maplelag Resort (Callaway):
  Conditions: Skiable. Ice, slush, corn snow. 0-12" base. 47 degrees at sunset.
  Went out for a sunset ski to check the trails after three days of big time warmth. The trails were skiable and found best coverage on Suicide hill, east side of Sukkerbusk and Skaters Waltz. Crossed the road over to North Loup and found even better coverage and 8" base on average. Beautiful balmy evening in the woods. Feel pretty confident of skiing later this week for May skiing!
  Photos:  
  (Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)
• Apr 27 - Maplelag Resort (Callaway):
  Conditions: Very good snow coverage on the trails at Maplelag.
  The snow coverage at Maplelag remains very good, especially for April 27th. There was lots of sunshine with very mild temperatures today. I skied the North Loop on Saturday afternoon, entering off Goat Ranch Road. While the sun may be high and mighty in the spring sky, it has yet to muster the muscle to melt the magic of Maplelag.
  (Glenn Gifford)
• Apr 26 - Maplelag Resort (Callaway):
  Conditions: Frozen/loose granulated 6-20" base. Fresh grooming on 4.2km trail (skate) Morning low 32, sunny. One bare spot on skaters waltz, few low areas pooling. Overall incredible coverage and skiing for April 26th.
  Didn't cool off enough to groom last night so groomed this morning on a 4km loop of Skaters Waltz bypassing Kamikaze hill which had a bare spot open up yesterday and water pooling on the lower side. Trail froze down just enough to work the frozen granulated to a nice texture. Skiing shortly after found amazing fast and fun conditions. Even though the air temp was approaching 50 near the end of the ski, the deck was still solid and glide was good, albeit slower. Tried crust skiing on other trails but wasn't strong enough to support my weight. Overall amazing outing in the woods with swans, geese, cranes, small birds chirping in t-shirt conditions...surreal.
  Grooming plans: This is most likely the last grooming of the year unless there is still workable snow once it cools down again. The trails will remain open for skiing.
  Photos:  
  (Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)
• Apr 24 - Maplelag Resort (Callaway):
  Conditions: Dusting new snow on top of 8" to 2 foot granulated base. Light snow giving way to sun/cloud mix. Morning low of 12 degrees climbing to 38 mid afternoon. Overall amazing skiing for so late in April.
  Went out skate skiing after snow had fallen in the morning. The new snow made for slow going and wish I could of gone out earlier. The base was solid and firm from freezing hard overnight. The sun breaking through after the snow made for a gorgeous outing. Hopped in the tracks and realized this was better skiing so switched to waxables waxed with VR65 and did multiple laps around Mother Hen which was groomed most recent. Other groomed trails were nice but Mother Hen was incredible for April 24th, hard to get off the trail.
  Grooming plans: Planning for one more grooming outing on Skaters Waltz before it warms up this weekend, most likely tomorrow night. Should be nice magic hour skiing the next few mornings from 9:30 to 10:30.
  Photos:  
  (Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)
• Apr 22 - Maplelag Resort (Callaway):
  Conditions: 1-2" new snow past 24 hours on top of 8"-2 foot base. 31 degrees, overcast. Spring conditions. Fresh grooming in the afternoon on 7km. 5km groomed skate only, 2km trackset.
  Great spring conditions entire day with temp right around freezing but enough sun power through the clouds to soften the crust. The new snow yesterday afternoon transformed just the right amount to provide some incredibly fast skiing. Skied North Loup and Skaters Waltz. The coverage/snow depth on North Loup is the deepest on the trail system with 1-2 foot average and showing no signs of deterioration for the most part. Skaters Waltz more firm and faster....amazing fun skiing for April 22nd!
  Grooming plans: More tracksetting planned tomorrow afternoon and skaters waltz will be groomed again Wednesday most likely. This might be the last week of "great" spring skiing!!
  Photos:  
  (Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)
• Apr 21 - Maplelag Resort (Callaway):
  Conditions: We skated on full white coverage, deep solid base on Skaters Waltz, N Loup and every other classic trail without a track set. The freshly groomed classic trails looked in mid-winter shape with everything fully covered solid aprons and perfect depth tracks. We also explored ponds along with some freelance woods skiing all done on a perfectly warming crust surface.
  The slow warming days, cool nights and still accumulating snow could prolong the skiing bliss for a while yet.
  (Denny Barry)
• Apr 19 - Maplelag Resort (Callaway):
  Conditions: Incredible. Sun cloud mix, 26 degrees. Fast and fun snow! 2" new snow past 24 hours. 10km groomed Thursday evening. 5km groomed skate only, 5km groomed with double track. 7km additional recently groomed with double track.
  It is hard to describe in words without going overboard how incredible the skiing was this morning. Last night while grooming the temp was dropping and the snow was drying out, both the old and new. The mixture filtering through the ginzu blades was a material I have not seen before, all under a amazing sunset. Slightly transformed snow with fresh snow and old granular snow at a precise temperature. The trails groomed last night provided absolutely amazing conditions for skiing this morning. Definitely the best of the spring. There was just enough fresh to provide a good edge and the granular pulled up made that had froze hard overnight for super fast and fun skiing. The crust cruising was also awesome and can't ever recall seeing a sundog this late in the year. Good to see some other folks out this morning.
  Grooming plans: Last night's grooming should hold through today for tomorrow morning. Next grooming planned either Sunday night or Monday. Trails are open but no services available.
  Photos:  
  (Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Minnesota Central

• Apr 23 - Graystone Trails (Saint Cloud):
  Conditions: Fresh snow on top of crusty uneven base. North Loop.
  The skiing has turned into a novelty now as each ski will go down in the history books! A little too much snow in the woods so skate skiing was better out in the field. Feels great to be moving in the sun!
  Photos:  
  (Kyia Anderson)

Minnesota Southern

• May 2 - Saint Mary's University (Winona):
  Conditions: Fresh snow sticky.
  May skiing new record for skiing!
  (Anders Braaten)

• May 2 - Carleton College Arboretum (Northfield):
  Conditions: Great for May 2.
  Broke a trail in the open fields to avoid falling branches. Fish scales and boots sprayed with Rain-X worked perfectly with no sticking.
  Photos:  
  (Jeff Pesta)

Wisconsin Northwest

• May 7 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  The last ski was either today or maybe tomorrow morning. Had a nice classic ski on a 3.5k loop on the North half of the trail today. Had to take the skis off twice for water holes. It was probably the last time that I can get a loop in. Patches will survive today, but then....we will wait for December here. Longest season on this trail ever.
  (Bill Pierce, American Birkebeiner)
• May 6 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Getting rough on the loops but good on the north side.
  I started out classic skiing the lighted loops at OO. They were starting to break down with bare spots here and there. I decided to try the classic trail going north. After getting around a huge puddle near the start, I experienced complete coverage from then on. As there were no tracks visible, I'm guessing I was the first to ski that section of trail since the snowfall last week. The snow depth had reduced to about 4-5 inches, so it was easily to get some glide and still safe and fairly slow on the downhills. I think it would have been too soft to skate. Tomorrow may be the last day of coverage for a long ski, we'll see!
  (Connie Meek)
• May 6 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Last few days. Classic skied this morning at "OO". Still have continuous snow from what we last groomed Friday morning. It's soft, but it's skiing. Lots of water from the melting of 18", but it will still hang on a couple of more days.
  Photos:  
  (Bill Pierce, American Birkebeiner)
• May 5 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Good for skating. Still a discernable classic track. It never got below freezing last night so things are plenty soft. But still full coverage when I left at 11:00.
  Hard to believe that one of my highest volume on-snow weekends of the season happened in May.
  (Andy Schwartz)
• May 4 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Good conditions for early summer cross country skiing in the North Country. Snow was soft and smooth as velvet. Fairly firm for the temperatures experienced.
  I had read the recent trail reports for the Birkie Trail from the past few days by other skiers, and I decided when I woke up this morning that I had to make the trek North and see this unique scene for myself and try to ski the trail. I left the Twin Cities in the morning and arrived at the trail about 2:00. I met other skiers that were coming off the trail, and they all were raving about the great skiing and the once in a lifetime experience. I met skiers from Wisconsin and Minnesota and it was so enjoyable to talk with the people and how they all were embracing this unique experience so late in the season. I skied the main Birkie trail and the west loop that was groomed. The conditions were very good for the afternoon. I skied on the main trail to the top of the first big downhill by the picnic table and skied down to find a small lake on the trail a couple of hundred yards ahead. I think there has been several pictures posted by other skiers. I turned around and skied back to the trail head. It was a remarkable day. When I ended my ski at about 4:30, I was the last skier on the trail and the last car in the parking lot. I have skied now in seven different months in this part of the North country. My next objective to do from my 'Bucket List' is to be able to say I skied in June and October. I headed home with a great pleasure in my mind of the fantastic day of skiing on May 4th. This will be something nobody that has come to ski in the past few days will ever forget.
  (Gerry Kummer)
• May 4 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Pretty good for May 4th.
  Perfect no-wax skiing. Drizzled all night and this put a super glide on the tracks, everything was fast. There were a lot of smiles out there today.
  (Dan Murphy)
• May 4 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Really good! Getting soft by noon, but hey, what the heck, it is May 4th.
  Got to OO at 10:00am and the lot was full! Skied up and down the trail to the big lake (water hazard) and also the lighted loop a few times. What can I say, or add to all the raving reports? On May 4? That it was unreal? Fabulous skiing? A great workout? All of the above. Listened to Tom Waits all the way there and all the way back. For variety, took 35W up and 35 on the Wisconsin side down. Glorious day.
  Photos:  
  (Jenneke Oosterhoff)
• May 4 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Fast, ice crust (7 am), changing to somewhat soft but still firm with good glide (10 am).
  Never skied in the rain before, but what a treat it was (minus the wet cloths). Left Spooner at 6:15 am it rained the whole way to OO. What a crazy idea, but I just had to ski on this historic trail on an even more historic date... May 4. Only one other car in the parking lot at 7am. Hit the trail in the rain, but boy was it fast. The downhills were extra thrilling with rain pelting my face and near zero visiblity through steamy glasses. It was truely amazing... pinch me is this really possible? Skied all the groomed trails several times, the rain eventually stopped and more skiers were seen on the trails. Lots of comments, like unreal, amazing, historic and unbelievable were heard. I think everyone had the same idea. I just had to get out for one last time... this is a once in a life-time experience to ski on the Birkie trail on May 4th. I could have skied another hour, but had to get back for other planned activities. When I left the parking lot at 10 am the lot was completely parked full. Thanks Birkie Foundation and Bill for the historic memories.
  (Kevin Schoessow)
• May 4 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Excellent for skating. Classic tracks are getting a little washed out from really heavy use.
  Quatro de Mayo and all the kids are out playing in the snow. It's the winter that just won't end.
  Photos:  
  (Andy Schwartz)
• May 3 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Nice. Skied from 00 south, around the water hazard then busted trail for a few Ks in over a foot of deep snow on the waxless Madshus backcountry boards. Back to Seeley trails for more frozen Zen.
  Photos:  
  (Dale Vaillancourt)
• May 3 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Incredible, awesome, beautiful -- pinch me.
  Drove up to Hwy OO Friday morning to ski with Jason Kask. We didn't see any snow on the ground until near Siren, then it slowly built up. Hayward, especially the Birkie trail, seemed to be the epicenter of the snowfall! It was truly over a foot deep. The Birkie trail had been groomed overnight and there was a fresh inch on top. Temps were in the upper 20s around 8:30 am and the snow was amazingly not sticky - very silky, fast glide. Good skis would have been no problem, as it appears there is upwards of a foot of packed base! The main Birkie trail heading south, as well as the classic trail, were groomed full width, and yes, there was even a classic track set! Shortly south of the classic trail merge with the main trail, there is a huge water hole that prevented any further grooming (and is just daring someone to try to ski through it). The lighted loops were all groomed as well, so you could string together quite a bit of skiing, probably 10K or more. We saw over a dozen cars when were arrived, and about two dozen when we left around 10:30 am. Lots of old friends on the trail, and plenty of smiles. What a fantastic way to wrap the season... Thanks for the grooming, Bill and gang!
  Photos:  
  (Bruce Adelsman)
• May 3 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Awesome. Firm skate lane and classic tracks. Only one major slush puddle on the trail which the groomer avoided. The rest was fluffy snow. Glide was great.
  Skied the lit loops at OO this morning. It was lightly snowing and the trail was firm with both a skate lane and classic tracks. Plenty of snow on the trail and in the trees. Felt like February all over again. Classic skied and it was awesome! If you can't bike, might as well ski.
  (Marcia Engebretson)
• May 3 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  It is Friday morning and I just finished grooming and skiing at 5:30am. It truly is like mid winter conditions. 5"-6" base of clean new snow. Tilled, combed, and track set what we groomed yesterday at "OO". The temp was 28F at the time of grooming and has set up pretty good for May???. It is snowing hard and another 1-2" will fall this morning. I used good, cold skis on nice fresh powder!! The skiing will likely be best in the mornings as it should freeze for the next couple of nights. I'm really sorry for the bikers and lovers of warm temps, but this only happens once in a lifetime in Wisconsin!! AWESOME!!
  Photos:  
  (Bill Pierce, American Birkebeiner)
• May 2 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  31 degree temp with 16 inches of freshly groomed powder on May 2nd. Historic!
  Photos:  
  (Gene Karwoski)
• May 2 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Awesome! 14+ inches of new snow.
  I don't know whether to compliment Bill Pierce more for his grooming, or choice of music (Born in the USA). When we saw Bill's video, we packed up the car and headed over from Duluth. Make sure you put some graphite on your waxless skis to help prevent clumping. The moisture content of the snow is quite high, but both classic and skate were fantastic.
  Photos:  
  (Rich Hoeg)
• May 2 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Fresh grooming after 14" with an additional 3" on top.
  Amazing to have PB grooming in May. OO loops firmed up immediately. I hear it will be tilled again tonight after the snowfall slacks off. With cool nights coming, the fishing opener should be good skiing on Saturday. Lakes are frozen anyway.
  (Scott Wilson)
• May 2 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  We groomed and it is excellent for May 2nd! Check out this report and video! Special video report from the grooming cab.
  Photos:  
  (Bill Pierce, American Birkebeiner)
• Apr 28 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Grooming is over, but you can still ski! Got in a 1.5 hour classic out of Boedecker on a nice 6k loop. Conditions are getting rough as there is some grey ice, bare spots, hill bottoms with water, and some really good snow. Last ski where you won't have to piece together a k or two stretch to find snow. Just a couple more days and it will probably be over.
  Photos:  
  (Bill Pierce, American Birkebeiner)
• Apr 27 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Still hanging on today. The snow was frozen till about 9am and then softened fairly quick. The classic skiing was really good on zero base Atomics from Gear West. After 10am it is too soft and better off to go for a run or road ride.
  Photos:  
  (Bill Pierce, American Birkebeiner)
• Apr 26 - Seeley Ski Trails (Seeley):
  Conditions: Soft and slow but the classic tracks were still there.
  Skied the Seeley trails on Friday morning. After a heavy rain shower on Thursday night I wasn't sure what to expect. Pleased to find skiable classic tracks and while there were some encroaching bare spots I did not have to hike at all. Downhills were no problem coverage is complete. By Saturday morning there may be some larger bare spots but Seeley should be skiable. Go early it gets to be a slog the warmer it gets. Skiing April 26th, who'd a thunk! Thanks groomers!
  (Andy Turnbull, Hoigaard's)
• Apr 26 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions are still very good to excellent. We did not groom last night and the trail did freeze. Still able to get nice stability and edge. The snow softens by 9:30-10am and then you just need to switch to classic equipment. Should be a few more mornings of continuous trail and then we may start seeing k long strips by May 1. The season keeps rolling.
  Photos:  
  (Bill Pierce, American Birkebeiner)
• Apr 25 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Like Bill said, awesome and sweeet this morning. Fast, firm. Nice skate lanes and classic tracks are set. Fast.
  A great morning to be out there.
  (Ron Carlson)
• Apr 25 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Mid-winter (going north).
  When Bill Pierce said yesterday it was going to be "sick" crust skiing on the Birkie Trail today, I left town. This morning, I headed north just before 7 am. The hoar frost and sunrise were beautiful, and the trail was perfectly groomed to Bodecker. It’s shocking the difference between the snow here and the Twin Cities. Then I crust skied all the way to the Powerlines. Really, April 25th! What an incredible early birthday present. For the most part, the track was firm enough for solid footing and pole plants and the lack of grooming gave it a more “hike in the woods” feel. North of Bodecker, I had the trail to myself. Yup, there were a few soft spots were it would help if I was 15 lbs lighter but some of the climbs were so solid I go really dig into the poles. I skied out on the skate and back on the classic trail. There full coverage everywhere except one spot a few km out on the classic trail will probably burn out today. I went over that at about 28 mph on the way back (no problem). So, the skis were super fast on the groomed stuff. Thanks for the grooming and tip Bill!
  (Jay Wenner)
• Apr 24 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Excellent crust skiing, firm tracks.
  Great klister skiing Rode blue multi-grade. Tracks were well set and firm this is a new record for me skiing on April 24th.
  (Jack Zabrowski)
• Apr 24 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Excellent skiing the this morning and tomorrow morning!
  Take the day off, call in sick, just get out and ski on some AWWWWESOME conditions. The crust is sweeet and we groomed the Boedecker and lighted loops at "OO" last night and this morning. The low temp was 12F in one of the frost pockets. There is a track set and the klister skiing will be sick!! Maybe the last grooming with the PB this year (a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01CwFryRh3s">video)! Enjoy this very late Spring skiing!
  (Bill Pierce, American Birkebeiner)
• Apr 23 - Seeley Ski Trails (Seeley):
  Conditions: 8-12" of new snow last night on 6-8" base.
  We track and packed 8-12" of new snow this morning and finished it off with the pan drag.
  Grooming plans: We will return after it cools this evening to buff the skate lane and set new tracks. Skiing should be good today for skating, excellent tomorrow morning, and continue throughout the week except during the heat of the day. Ski 'till it's gone!
  Photos:  
  (Scott Wilson)
• Apr 21 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: Great for skating. No classic track.
  Skied all the lighted loops and the OO to Boedecker loop. Good coverage. Good grooming. Good time was had by all.
  (Andy Schwartz)
• Apr 20 - Seeley Ski Trails (Seeley):
  Conditions: Very well groomed with a deep firm track and a smooth skate deck.
  A group of us skied at 10 AM today with the temperature in the mid 20s. What a pleasure to ski on the best tracks I've seen in a month. It was unbelievably beautiful with the new snow on the trees and the bright blue sky. And one of us remarked, "Can you believe it is 2 months since the Birkie!" Thanks to Scott for the impeccable grooming.
  Photos:  
  (Connie Meek)
• Apr 20 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  Conditions: As good as it can get. Firm, level and fast.
  Best ski of the year. Freshly groomed, temps in the low to mid 20's and blue skies. Anyone who skied on the Birkie trail today will be talking about it for years. This good, this late? Wow! The only thing not perfect was that no classic tracks were set. I counted 22 cars at OO when we left. Thank you groomers for going out one more time!
  Photos:  
  (Paul Schaaf)
• Apr 20 - Seeley Ski Trails (Seeley):
  Conditions: Fresh corduroy and solid full depth tracks. I'm still on good equipment in the middle of April. Nuff said.
  Many thanks to Scott for grooming and& the Seeley ski club for continuing to maintain this delightful frail system.
  (Andy Schwartz)
• Apr 20 - Birkie Trail (Hayward):
  January skied on rock skis, April 20th ski on race skis - Go figure. Hwy OO loop in perfect conditions, parking lot was the biggest challenge.
  (George Larson)
• Apr 19 - Seeley Ski Trails (Seeley):
  Conditions: Excellent. Firm skate lane and perfect classic tracks.
  The Seeley Trails were groomed twice today; this morning to pack the 7" overnight, and this evening to cover the 3" that fell today and to buff the skate lane and set perfect tracks. Skiing should be excellent this weekend. April is the new January! The Birkie trail was also groomed this evening around the lighted loops at OO and the OO to Boedecker loop. Ski 'till it's gone.
  (Scott Wilson)

• May 4 - Superior Municipal Forest (Superior):
  Conditions: Spotty unconnected snow.
  Wondered what was left so I headed to the yellow to ski and ended up having to run. I came in from the blacktop road and the gate is closed as soon as you hit dirt, so it's about a half mile walk to the trail head. The gate is also closed at the multi-use trail part that goes to the yellow. The road and trail beyond there do have some snow, however, the walk to get to it is not worth it because it's too disconnected. If we get another blizzard, there would be better places to play due to the ski to the trail.
  (Eve Stein)
• Apr 22 - After Hours Ski Trail (Brule):
  Conditions: 18+ inches of new snow, ungroomed trails, free skiing.
  18 + inches of snow fell late last week into the weekend. Again...no grooming is going on at the Afterhours, but if you wish to ski, it is free.
  (Catherine Khalar, Wisconsin DNR)
• Apr 20 - Superior Municipal Forest (Superior):
  Conditions: Ungroomed. Deep, dense snow.
  Beautiful sunny day. Temps in the low 20's early yielded excellent crust skiing. Mid-day warmth (mid-30's) provided for a back-country experience. Over two feet of snow in many places, getting a bit thin under the big white pines.
  Photos:  
  (Todd Campbell)

• May 2 - Timberland Hills (Cumberland):
  Conditions: Once in a lifetime May ski!
  We made it! Historic May ski. Got out the old wooden touring skies (complete with cable bindings) and broke trail through roughly 1 foot of heavy wet snow. Trails are not groomed but who can complain when you are skiing in May. Next stop—June. It’s the Fimbelwinter!
  (Pat Heaney)

Wisconsin Northeast

• Apr 24 - Three Eagle Trail (Eagle River):
  Conditions: Skating: Good crust skiing.
  Still skiing! The temp at 8 AM was 18 degrees and the snow set up great overnight for some great crust skiing. The only downside was people had strided down the middle of the skating deck when it was soft, so there were three sets of crust tracks. Amazing to be skiing this late. The window for skiing today was 8-10:30 as the sun was already softening the trail by 10:30 with a temp of 38 degrees. There was a 10 foot dirt opening by the bridge and the trail is getting thin out in the sun by the bridge as well. Sadly to say, the end is near...
  Photos:  
  (Greg Dahl)
• Apr 21 - Anvil National Recreation Trail (Eagle River):
  Conditions: Excellent coverage, no bare spots... 15+" in the woods. Not groomed, but the surface was pretty compact.
  This beautiful trail system is quite shaded, so should hold up for some time yet. Skiing till May 1? It is possible!
  Photos:  
  (Troy Walters)
• Apr 20 - Three Eagle Trail (Eagle River):
  Conditions: Excellent coverage, skied in classic track... amazing mid/late April skiing!
  I skied in from the Clearwater Lake parking lot to the bridge. There was only one low snow spot on one end of one of the boardwalks, otherwise excellent coverage with significant base. Should be very good tomorrow morning. There were river otter tracks all over the place.
  Photos:  
  (Troy Walters)
• Apr 19 - Three Eagle Trail (Eagle River):
  Conditions: Soft and sticky. Fresh 1-2" over a soft, damp base. Not groomed. Skied-in tracks.
  Good coverage throughout with exception of some short, icy stretches north of the bridge and under the power lines. Also, surprisingly, one easily avoidable bare spot just north of the bridge. Otherwise, most of the trail still has more than a foot of base.
  Photos:  
  (Tom Rulseh)

• Apr 21 - Nine Mile County Forest Recreation Area (Wausau):
  Conditions: Good spring skiing.
  Classical skied on no-wax skis for 1.5 hours yesterday and today after the 1/2 inch snow fall. Only occasional waterways (also gardened yesterday - what a spring!).
  (Rachel Kresse)
• Apr 20 - Iola Winter Sports Club Trails (Iola):
  Conditions: Skiable for skating, no tracks.
  Got a call from Phil Friday afternoon: They had gotten a dusting of snow on top of icy base with 90 percent coverage. There was a handful of us that were able to piece together 10k. Beats the gym or riding outdoors today. Spectacular, may be it, see you next year.
  Photos:  
  (Tracy Piontkowski)

• Apr 22 - Reforestation Camp (Green Bay):
  Conditions: The 1k band along the rifle range road was some continuous with slush, some corn...grey and white and some grey ice. I "skied" about 1/2 hour and then switched to running shoes.
  The bike trail was still 30% ice covered and 10% puddles but I ran about a half hour to check them out. Stick a fork my Green Bay ski season as of Monday April 22nd.
  (Scott Putman)

• Apr 24 - Lakewood XC Ski Trails (Lakewood):
  Conditions: Skied from 3:30 to 6 pm. Continuous for most of the trail between Sulli springs and Smythe. I found two 4" wide slush bridges and numerous 3' wide slush bridges where flat and south and west tilted trail ski surface was in the process of burning off in the April weather.
  A mix of spring ski surfaces. Fast and slow. 45F and dropping when I skied. Although I found a continuous 5k on Wednesday afternoon, I am sure the skiable sections are shorter today.
  (Scott Putman)

Michigan Upper Peninsula

• May 10 - Wolverine Ski Trail (Ironwood):
  Conditions: Variable. The Cliffs Trail, Stairway to Heaven, and a few other connecting trails remain fully snow covered. Cliff Hanger is not skiable without crossing a few sections of bare ground. Some of the snow is getting quite dirty, and a little lumpy.
  Hard, crusty, and icey this morning with temperatures just below freezing. Probably a lot better/safer/quieter later in the day when the sun softens things up. It might not look inviting from the trailhead, but there's still a lot of snow back there! Ski it 'til it's gone, it won't last long...
  Photos:  
  (Jonathon Rulseh)
• May 6 - Wolverine Ski Trail (Ironwood):
  Conditions: Not groomed, but skier tracked. Two inches of corn on top of a firm 6-12 inch base on and off the trail. No dirt, no debris, just pure white snow. Very fun classic touring.
  Good to see a few other people out enjoying the sun. Who knows how much longer this will last... Last fall, we had skiable snow the first week in October. That's only 5 months away!
  (Jonathon Rulseh)
• May 3 - Wolverine Ski Trail (Ironwood):
  Conditions: 15 plus inches of new heavier snow ready for some trail blazing. Skier tracked and everything was covered. 4-wheel drive into parking lot.
  Awesome late winter ski. Purchase next years Wolverine trail pass by June 30th and be entered into early bird drawing for prizes.
  Photos:  
  (Deborah Leonard-Polich)
• Apr 27 - Wolverine Ski Trail (Ironwood):
  A good 18" plus trail base. Skier tracked with fast downhills in the morning. Very minimal sinking. One small spot that water was breaking thru and you had to side step off the trail into snow but that was very doable. The sun was brightly shining and many robins singing along the trail.
  Photos:  
  (Deborah Leonard-Polich)
• Apr 20 - Wolverine Ski Trail (Ironwood):
  The day was picture perfect and had to get outside and take in this beautiful bright sunny day. Very good skier tracked striding, waxless. Thank you Jonathon for the great trailblazing. Snowshoing was pristine. Driveway plowed, thank you Scott.
  Photos:  
  (Deborah Leonard-Polich)
• Apr 20 - Wolverine Ski Trail (Ironwood):
  Conditions: Deep powder on a deeper base (40 inches in the woods). Not groomed. 10 degrees at 8am, great hardwax kicking until 10am, then waxless was the ski of choice. Broke trail on Wolverine, Cliff Trail, and for the adventerous, part of the snowshoe trail... Fun! No debris.
  Perfect weather, with blazing sun, and a blue sky. Heavy hearts from the lack of machine grooming, were quickly lightened by the beautiful day. Saw only 2 other skiers in 3.5 hours of skiing. Where is everybody? No wonder they stopped grooming... It's been a great season, and it's certainly not over. Ski it until it's gone!
  Photos:  
  (Jonathon Rulseh)
• Apr 20 - Wolverine Ski Trail (Ironwood):
  Conditions: The 18 inches of new snow over the last 2 days on top of a firm base 1.5 ft base will not be groomed.
  The cost of grooming and parking lot maintenance is exceeding public interest; so, with a heavy heart the organization leadership has decided to halt grooming and get out their back country skis. I will post if this changes. Thanks.
  (Rob Gardner)

• May 4 - Valley Spur (Munising):
  Conditions: 37F in the early morning. Fresh cut track.
  Good turn out of folks from Marquette, Grand Marais and Iron Mountain.
  Photos:  
  (John Gierke)
• May 1 - Valley Spur (Munising):
  Conditions: Corn snow. 45F, full sun. Fresh tracks cut by Swanny. 8" plus base.
  Judy, Debbie, Scott, John and John skied the 15K on the first of May. The freshly turned up snow provided good kick and glide with no-wax classic. We will re-do this Saturday a.m. if conditions hold.
  Photos:  
  (John Gierke)
• Apr 27 - Valley Spur (Munising):
  Conditions: Full sun, temps 30F rising during the morning. Plenty of base.
  I skated starting at 7:30 a.m. By 8am it was great, and did not get soft before 11am. The open fields on top were fantastic skate skiing. Scott H. showed up around 9am and classic skied. We have enough base for a while yet. The plan is to ski early May 1st so show for that. Also Scott H. says his previous record was May 3rd, so he hopes to break that easily.
  Photos:  
  (John Gierke)
• Apr 27 - Blueberry Ridge Trail (Sands):
  Conditions: Nice classic and skating at 65 degrees!
  Former Minnesotan Eli Brown with dad and kids, enjoying soft but very pleasant skiing at Marquette.
  Photos:  
  (Elton Brown)
• Apr 26 - Valley Spur (Munising):
  Skied from mid morning to mid afternoon. The morning was rainy and cold; temp 37F, the afternoon warmer and windy with temps around 50F. The trail was ungroomed but pretty level. In the morning, it was pretty fast skating with solid pole plants. The afternoon was bit slower and I had occasional post holes pole plants. E, F and G and eastern Z had tree branch slalom courses from downed branches (which I picked up). 99.99% coverage with only a partial burn off on Z under a canopy. I switches to waxless classic near the end of the day which were fine. Tomorrow morning should be OK. The trail base is maybe 15 or more inches. Last day on this trail last year was March 18. We may ski in May if we get a cold night next week.
  (Scott Putman)

• May 14 - Keweenaw Peninsula backcountry (Central):
  Conditions: 38F at 8:00AM, 45F at noon. 0-20+" corn snow base. A few washouts, brown outs, and swamps opening up.
  I backcountry skated up in the high country along the Gratiot Lake Road this morning. Lots of tracks in the snow today: bear, wolf, deer, sandhill crane, snowmachine, and (now) skinny ski thanks to me. Offically in Keweenaw County this season: 314" of snow with 8" on the ground as of today. Since October 6th, I've managed to ski 528 hours in 172 days including every day in May (so far). Epic.
  Photos:  
  (Ken Wikgren)
• May 13 - Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park (Ontonagon):
  Conditions: South Boundary Road from the West side to Summit Peak. Good spring touring. Variable packed base on the road, with 3 short bare sections less than 75' each. A lot of debris on the snow.
  An evening ski from near the Little Carp River trail head, 7 miles one way to Summmit Peak and back. The road/trail/snow east of the Summit Peak turn-off looked to be in fine condition as well. Crust skiing would have been fantastic this morning! Was anyone there to enjoy it? With highs in the 60's, and lows in the 40's, it won't be long now...
  Photos:  
  (Jonathon Rulseh)
• May 10 - Keweenaw Peninsula backcountry (Delaware):
  Conditions: 30F at 6:30AM, 41F at noon. 4-24" base. Solid crust with a few washouts, some sun cupping, and uneven snowmachine ruts.
  Awesome Keweenaw crust skiing this morning. The best skiing is in the hardwoods at higher elevation north facing slopes. The trick is to "ski the tightest of trees with the greatest of ease".
  Photos:  
  (Ken Wikgren)
• May 6 - Swedetown Trails (Calumet):
  Conditions: Firm early this morning. No classic track, but still fun on classic no-wax skis. A set of deep, frozen skate ruts might have made skating a challenge.
  No step-across bare spots this morning, but one area opened up by the time my wife went out late this afternoon. She also came across some very fresh bear tracks--on the home of the Great Bear Chase, of course!
  Photos:  
  (Peter Vorhes)
• May 6 - Lac La Belle area backcountry (Lac La Belle):
  Conditions: 31F at 7, 50 at 11. 8-24" base. Mix of solid crust, breakable crust, and soft corn. Some sun cupping up high.
  Spring skiing at it's peak today. I skated and bushwhacked a 4 hour loop including the summits of Mt. Bohemia and Mt. Houghton, and the Mandan loop. It looks like skiing possibilites will continue for a while up here, but it won't likely be as good as today.
  Photos:  
  (Ken Wikgren)
• May 5 - Michigan Tech University Ski Trails (Houghton):
  Conditions: Fully covered and soft.
  My son and I went on his college graduation ski (he wore his cap and gown). Cross two items off the bucket list this weekend - got my son graduated and skied in May! Wasn't a fast ski but was certainly uplifting for the soul.
  (Richard Enz)
• May 3 - Swedetown Trails (Calumet):
  A-May-zingly good skating at Swedetown today. Big snow stayed west of us, but an inch or two of fresh snow, topped by freezing rain, smoothed things out. No bare spots, even at the bottom of Papa Bear. No pictures; they can't compare to the current Birkie winter wonderland!
  (Peter Vorhes)
• May 3 - Michigan Tech University Ski Trails (Houghton):
  Conditions: Decent although not groomed since last Friday. 2" new sleet/snow over about 1-1/2 feet of season-long groomed base. A little rutted and a few sets of footprints sunk deep into the snow (inconsideratti).
  Kinda weird, after an uber weird winter/first half of spring: it's like skiing on one continuous snow bridge, except where it isn't, i.e. broken by nano-canyons 2 to 2-1/2 feet deep, easily crossed. But, hey, it's May 3rd!
  (Geoff Harrison)
• May 2 - Delaware - High Rock Bay Trail (Delaware):
  Conditions: 30-32F. Freezing rain. Solid 10-20" base on snowmachine trail.
  This morning I skated and double poled from Delaware to the High Rock Bay trail and back, 60km in 4 hours. I opted not to ski down to the lake because of washouts and I needed to keep my cadence up to stay warm on a day like this.
  Photos:  
  (Ken Wikgren)
• May 1 - Lac La Belle area backcountry (Lac La Belle):
  Conditions: 37-43F. Solid 8-18" base on snowmachine trail, 0-24" of corn snow in the woods. A few washouts to circumnavigate and a couple precarious snow bridges to cross.
  I skated across the Keweenaw Peninsula this morning from Lac La Belle up to Delaware and down almost to Eagle Harbor where I ran out of snow (46km round trip), a particularly gnarly route for so late in the season, but I pulled it off. "Ski high, stay dry. Not yet, get wet!".
  Photos:  
  (Ken Wikgren)
• May 1 - Michigan Tech University Ski Trails (Houghton):
  Conditions: Skiing in May! Who cares about conditions?
  The snow is still thick in the UP as students head home for the summer. A little soft, a lot of debris, but still skiable. We skated but fishscales were probably the way to go.
  (John Kendrick)
• Apr 29 - Brockway Mountain Drive (Copper Harbor):
  Conditions: 36F at 7:30AM, 50F at 11:00AM. Well packed snowmachine trail with 0-2' base ranging from clean corn to gray ice, with a few easily negotiated burn outs in exposed wind-swept areas.
  The sounds of fog horns, robins, and geese in Copper Harbor this morning as I skated one of my all-time favorite ski routes up and over Brockway Mountain and back.
  Photos:  
  (Ken Wikgren)
• Apr 26 - Mount Bohemia (Lac La Belle):
  Conditions: 23F at 7:00AM, 39F at noon. Awesome crust skiing today on solid 2-4' base, up to 5 feet of snow cover in drifted areas. Exposed cliffs are melting out, and streams are getting ready to open up.
  I crust skated from Lac La Belle up Gratiot Mountain and up, down, and all around Mt. Bohemia. Many miles of untouched crust, one road crossing, and lots of snowmachine tracks to ski on and around today.
  Photos:  
  (Ken Wikgren)
• Apr 25 - Michigan Tech University Ski Trails (Houghton):
  Another 1.5" last night with 8.5" in the last two days. 29" in the woods. Groomed this morning. Skate lanes firm and tracks perfect.
  (Eric Brown)
• Apr 24 - Lac La Belle area backcountry (Lac La Belle):
  Conditions: 17F at 7:15AM, 42F in the sun at noon. Solid, silky smooth crust down at lake elevation; 4" of fresh, dry powder over a solid 2-4 foot base at the summit of Gratiot Mountain with a zone of challenging, breakable crust at intermediate elevations.
  Good backcountry skate skiing around Lac La Belle. 308" of snow this season in the Keweenaw. 447 hours of skinnyskiing for me so far this season. Now the big thaw begins...
  Photos:  
  (Ken Wikgren)
• Apr 23 - Michigan Tech University Ski Trails (Houghton):
  7" fresh, 31" in the woods. 19K groomed and tracked. Excellent classic. A bit soft for skating. Most snow I have ever seen this late in the season.
  (Eric Brown)
• Apr 21 - Michigan Tech University Ski Trails (Houghton):
  Conditions: Little everything, but great.
  Phenomenal weekend. Bluebird powder day at Mount Bohemia after 16 of gitcheegumee snow fell Friday. Knew tech would work magic with what they got. Today was awesome. Skated all over and classical'ed at nara later on. I was wondering if everyone had given up from lack of posts, but I know its been a wonder! Last of three weekends like this in a row. Trifecta! Not the triple nipple, yet, but still pretty good.
  (Tim Willard)
• Apr 20 - Swedetown Trails (Calumet):
  Beautiful Saturday morning on freshly groomed trails after yesterday's blizzard. Lots of sunshine, temperature in the low 20s.
  Photos:  
  (Peter Vorhes)
• Apr 20 - Michigan Tech University Ski Trails (Houghton):
  Conditions: Incredible late-season conditions!
  6-12 inches of fresh snow the last few days, plus clear blue skies and highs in the 20s. Perfect conditions!
  Photos:  
  (Dan Wood)

• May 10 - Tri Mountain area (Trimountain):
  Conditions: Keweenaw crust: uneven, but not rutted, from old 4 wheeler tracks.
  Our old stand-bye for spring Keweenaw crust skiing. Hadn't been up here (7 miles SW of Houghton on M26) in a couple of years. On snow bridge and two thinly ice covered puddles to go around, otherwise contiguous skiing, starting before 8:00 AM. Tricky, but fun. Drive to the end of 7th Ave where there's a small parking area.
  (Geoff Harrison)

Canada

• Apr 20 - Kamview Nordic Centre (Thunder Bay):
  15km groomed this morning with PB skate/classic! 30 cm new snow but lots of trees down. Believe we will ski in May!
  (Peter Crooks)

• May 14 - Porcupine Ski Runners Trails (Timmins):
  Conditions: Still pretty good...typical spring skiing. Temps during my 12km this morning between -2C and 0C.
  Good classic tracks on most of the trails now. Crust skiing is excellent. Long daylight hours and some rain in the forecast means that unless you're one of those diehards with a penchant for slab ice, slush, and spruce needles...Ontario's season will be over by the end of the week. I don't do rock skis, so until next fall I'm done. Maybe.
  Photos:  
  (Dan Horihan)
• May 12 - Porcupine Ski Runners Trails (Timmins):
  Conditions: Knee deep fresh snow over discontinuous, crusty base. Skier tracked or fresh backcountry, depending on the trail.
  As of 8pm, Mother's Day storm has dropped over a foot of heavy wet snow, and it is still coming down. Chalet closed for the season yesterday, but there will probably be decent late spring skiing for a number of days. Trails are not groomed and there are some trees down.
  Photos:  
  (Dan Horihan)
• Apr 20 - Porcupine Ski Runners Trails (Timmins):
  Conditions: Perfect mid-winter conditions today.
  Daily grooming continues. Packed powder over bullet-proof 50-90cm base. Conditions at 11am today...Light snow, -12C (-21C WC).
  Photos:  
  (Dan Horihan)

North Dakota

• Apr 25 - Lindenwood Park Ski Trails (Fargo):
  The Red River reached flood stage this morning and the groomed ski trails started going under water and will be covered by Friday morning.
  Photos:  
  (Gary Brekke)
• Apr 20 - Edgewood Golf Course Ski Trail (Fargo):
  Conditions: Crust skiing is great anywhere on the course. Classic trail has some bare spots.
  Could ski anywhere on the course this morning. Transformed snow set up rock solid and smooth for great skating.
  (John Pfund)

United States

• May 3 - Snow Mountain Ranch (Granby, CO):
  Conditions: With 8-10 inches of new snow this past week, Snow Mountains Blue Ridge Trail is once again pristine.
  We don't have any grooming like the Birke Trail, but the backcountry skiing was fantastic today. Skied up early in the morning on firm crust and then sailed down on soft snow. Temp was 12 degrees in the valleys this morning, almost 50 this afternoon. Skiing should be good for a while yet...
  Photos:  
  (Stephen Lee)
• Apr 25 - Snow Mountain Ranch (Granby, CO):
  Conditions: Even though Snow Mt. Nordic closed over 2 weeks ago, the backcountry skiing is epic on Blue Ridge Rd.
  We have had at least 4 feet of new snow over the last week. Temps are in the teens and twenties and night and 40's to 50's during the day. Perfect spring skiing.
  Photos:  
  (Stephen Lee)