Conditions: Excellent this morning.
Freshly groomed and tracks set. Firm and fast this morning but it's warming up. Get out and enjoy!

(Carolyn Senty)

We survived Thursday with very little rain (although we heard some thunder!), no direct sunlight, and temperatures didn't climb above the mid 30s, so there was minimal snow loss on the substantial trail base. As of Thursday night, winds were cooling the trail providing a very fast surface. Current plan remains mostly unchanged: We'll fire up five PistenBullys on Friday evening, starting from different points along the trail and should be able to groom up the entire trail length in under six hours. If the snow appears to be sticky/clumping, we'll delay the start of grooming or switch to lighter weight equipment as needed. We still expect very good conditions for the races on Saturday! Note: Remember, the Birkie trail is now closed for skiing until race start Saturday morning.

(Chris Campbell, American Birkebeiner)

As most of you know, in anticipation of the warm wet weather forecast coming into our area on Thursday afternoon, we will be closing the courses at midnight on Wednesday. There are many skiing options available in the area for training, including at Birkie Ridge, Telemark Trails, North end Trails, and Hayward Hospital Trails. We received 2-5 inches of snow overnight on Monday and we will not groom the course until Friday evening. This is our best strategy to keep the snow cold underneath (new snow is a great insulator) and manage the moisture when it comes (will absorb). We will however groom the Birkie Ridge Trail on Wednesday overnight and again on Thursday overnight. As it is forecast now, we may have a brief period of sub-freezing temperatures overnight on Friday. We will target our grooming time schedule based on the coldest temperatures with the goal of producing the firmest possible tracks for Saturday morning.

(Chris Campbell, American Birkebeiner)

Conditions: A mixed bag. At least 2" of new snow on the trail where I was. Deep enough in some places that I had to exaggerate lifting my trailing ski to keep from dragging it in the snow. No sign of grooming anywhere but it was pretty early so none was really expected.
Not sure this report will do anyone any good but I skied the Northern most part of the course for a little bit this morning. I gave up early because it's tough to ski easy in loose snow. Right now there is a lot of snow on the course. Plenty deep and solid underneath a fresh blanket.

(Andy Schwartz)

Conditions: New snow over night, temps in mid 20's.
Birkie Trail got 2"(north) - 5" (south) depending on location last night. Birkie Ridge was groomed last night and is the best skiing for today. Race course prep continues so standard grooming timing and amounts won't be happening the same this week. Bridge erection and snow install has begun in downtown and compaction of new snow is underway on the lake.

(Chris Campbell, American Birkebeiner)

The course is in great condition right now. The weather forecast is on our side for the early part of the week, then gets a little less favorable - so the Birkie skate and classic trails will close starting at 11:59PM Wednesday night (closed Thursday/Friday). Please be respective of your fellow skiers - this is for the benefit of making Saturday the best possible experience. Skiing at Birkie Ridge is still open. Thanks for your cooperation.

(Chris Campbell, American Birkebeiner)

Conditions: Excellent for skating and classic. A little leaf litter starting to collect in places where the tree line is right on top of the course.
Completed my weekend tour of the trail by skiing from OO to hwy 77. Firm skate deck with no thin spots anywhere I could see. Of course that could all change when they throw 10,000 skiers on the course but right now the skiing is awesome.

(Andy Schwartz)

Conditions: Excellent for skate and classic. Consecutive nights of near minus 20 temps have really hardened the course up. Super cold wind blown snow is lots of work even with plenty of green wax in my skis.
Skied from McNaught road to OO today. Hard work but a good day on skis. There's some snowmobile damage early in the power lines that should get fixed easily once they get in there again with the Piston Bully. Otherwise, the trail is in great shape.

(Andy Schwartz)

Conditions: In a word, wonderful. Recently groomed. Looks like they're widening the trail to full race day width now.
Skied from OO south to Gravel Pit late this afternoon. Trail has firmed up nicely since Tuesday when I skied it last. So it's skiing much faster despite the cold. Also groomed to it's full race width. So they're deep into race day course prep at this point.

(Andy Schwartz)

Conditions: Excellent for both classic and skate. Fresh corduroy as far as the eye could see and a solid full depth classic track.
Fresh, cold snow made pushing the skis a little work but the trail is in about as good a condition as I've ever seen it right now. Well worth skipping out of adult responsibilities for a few hours in the middle of the day.

(Andy Schwartz)