Classic skied the Tram Lake and North Loop today. Freshly groomed with a set track on all the trail I skied. Beautiful day. Trail is in great shape. Enjoy.

(Norman Ninneman)

After approximately 3" of new snow, the entire trail system was rolled yesterday. An additional inch or so of snow fell on that. The groomers are out today to re-set track and lay down the skate deck. Conditions are and will continue to be very good. The Dog-Island loop is open as is the warming house.

(Mike Dahlby)

Hickory is in pretty great shape for skating especially given the obvious warm spell. Went out just before 8:30 this morning. It was freshly combed from the night before or right away in the morning. That little bit of snow may be our favorite local hilly course - safe enough on the downhills. Easily caught an edge. Tram look was in really good shape. Generally speaking the further north it was a bit better. No bare spots that I saw and only one small ice spot from an area that always seems to be wet all year on the south loop. Speaking of the south loop, the 1k on the north side of that loop wasn't groomed, but all other trails were. Personally I love these conditions firm, fast, but able to be safe and keep control. I used my A skis without getting any scratches but would recommend B skis just in case. An observation on the classic track...on the south side of Hickory it looked a bit icy. I do know that it was skied today by at least one person. I'm not an expert but would guess the use of rock classic skis. I would also recommend classic skiers use the parking lot on the north side by the dog island loop. Tracks looked like they were groomed on the trails but looked a lot more white and freshly set on the north side.
One other hearsay...sounds like another comb over was going to happen on the skate deck Sat evening. Happy skiing.

(Brady Zwiefelhofer)

Skied the North and South loops on Saturday. Parking lot was packed, but I did not see another skier on the trails. Overall conditions were great! Track set well for classic. Tracks were in place even on the bottom of hills. There were some oak leaves on the track but it was minor. Hope to ski it again in a couple weeks.

(Terrie Cummings)

Hickory Hills never disappoints! Started from the North cabin and did the south loop and Highland Lakes. Great firm, clean classic track. Had a nice visit with Mr. Landgraf, boy, the skiing community sure misses him.

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(Mark Sproul)

We skied Hickory on Wednesday when they had rolled it between snowfalls so we broke trail through 2-3 inches. As we were leaving the groomer met us, setting a track. That was all the motivation I needed to go back yesterday. The track was sure and solid. The skate lane had been skated on. It looked like the skier broke through here and there. It was a bluebird day for skiing.

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(Karen Possley)

Absolutely perfect skiing today. Classic and skating trails in excellent shape. Classic skied the 10k north and south loops. Windy on the open logged portions of the trail.

(Diane Harp)

The entire system was groomed and tracks set (I did not ski Dog island). The tracks were very good.

(Colleen Duffy)

Conditions are not bad. Skied South, North, and Tram Lake loops. Tracks are solid. Skate deck is firm and allows a good edge. Still a fair amount of tree liter remaining from the Christmas ice storm. South loop is the cleanest, Tram Lake is the most cluttered.

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(Bob Schwartz)

Near nirvana compared to the conditions back in the Cities. 26 degrees and partly cloudy. Inch or so of fluff on top of firm base had been skier-packed. Moderately heavy leaf and twig litter in spots but was not enough to cause any problems. I covered just shy of 11 K on the south and north loop in 1:17. I used Fastwax Pink (old color scheme) LF. There was no classic track. My skis/wax seemed a little slow but I got in a few sustained skates on the west side of the north loop and on the entry leg on my return. Unfortunately, the area adjacent to the outward bound portion of the south loop and the first portion of the return on it after exiting the north loop has been clear cut. The north loop was unaffected as well as most of the south loop (that are also the most scenic sections.) It was more than worth the drive.

(Keith Carlson)