Conditions: Perfect conditions.
There is SO much snow in NE Minnesota! We skied all of the western trails in the Sugarbush system and found them to be in excellent shape. If you plant your pole even a few inches off the groomed trail it will sink down 3+ feet. So the system had a lot of snow to work with and it shows.

Photos:

(Jim Carlen)

Conditions: Cold, low single digits, bullet proof tracks, great kick and glide. Some of the best classic conditions of the year. A few soft pole plants on the woods side of the track.
Skied from Briton Peak thru Hogback, Homestead, ski thru to Oberg, around picnic loop and back. Just a wonderful day with great kick from Rode special green and great glide with fast wax LF teal. Great omen for tomorrow's race at Pincushion. Super grooming job SBTA!

(Tim Nelson)

Conditions: Very good; groomed with ~1" new snow on top.
Classic skied the Picnic Loop counter clockwise on Friday. Good coverage and grooming throughout, fun hills and excellent views! The tracks were in good shape though there were lots of soft pole plants on the woods side of the trail. The skate deck was a little soft and had a fresh dusting of snow.

(Beth Bernhardt)

Fair. Trail is a bit icy following the thaw. Very difficult to get grip classic skiing. Probably skating would be better. Or wait for a bit of new snow later this week.

(Wanda Davies)

Conditions: Excellent classic skiing conditions! The skate deck had about 1/2" of powdery snow on it. More snow started to fall at the end of our outing.
Classic skied from Onion River road parking lot to and around the Homestead loop and back. Beautiful views! Then did a portion of the Onion River Road trail. Recommend to ski Homestead counter-clockwise to enjoy a fun downhill.

(Michelle Eul)

Conditions: Firm skate deck, with soft snow on top for great glide. Some wind debris but really minimal. Classic tracks looked deep and firm. Recently groomed and not heavily used. Best conditions of the year so far.
Skied from Oberg lot thru to Homestead, Hogback, Picnic loop and Oberg loop. Conditions for all were about the same and skiing was wonderful.

(Tim Nelson)

Conditions: Skate deck good to excellent except the Oberg loop (X-Y-W) is fair.
Started skating at Oberg on a perfect sunny winter morning. I made for the Picnic loop straight away. It has firmed up beautifully! Then back via Hogback and upper Homestead. The groomer was out again this morning and I had maybe 10km of virgin corduroy to skate on. I got back to the trailhead and had to ski a bit more, so I added the Oberg loop. The X-Y-W section had some footprints and was uneven. Had to ski with care on the steeper downhills. Saw several others out enjoying this great day. If you're in the neighborhood, you really should give Sugarbush a try, it's awesome!

Photos:

(Mike Kosloski)

Conditions: Good to excellent deck. A little fluff in track, but otherwise deep and decent.
Skated from Britton to Oberg and back via Hogback and Homestead. Recent grooming has improved the trails greatly. Wind debris from last weekend is mostly covered up. Trails are skiing faster, firmer, and smoother. Be careful of one water bar on Bridge Run downhill... could be trouble if not paying attention. Thanks to the Sugarbush groomers for all their great work!

(Mike Kosloski)

Conditions: Good base, but only fair due to lots of debris from wind last couple days.
Skated the Onion River Road and Oberg loop. Footprints for ~3km from trailhead...glad I went CCW around loop. The trails could stand a touch up grooming to firm them up and reduce the debris issue. Saw about 10 other hardy souls out braving the cold and howing wind. Regardless, it's super great to be back up here this winter, love this system.

(Mike Kosloski)

Conditions: Good: groomed with spots of light litter and some isolated light drifting (only a few spots with buried track and then just a few meters). Only saw a couple of places with shallow snow above ice.
From Onion River Road trailhead, I skied the Onion River Road and the Oberg Loop. Far fewer people out today than yesterday. The wind gusts (40 mph+) have brought down a few things (needles and twigs mostly), but the track is holding up well. Somebody did walk in the skate lane for the first 3 km or so on the Oberg Loop--from intersection W to Y to a bit past the second snowmoblile trail crossing). It may cause problems for skaters or those skiing in a clockwise direction if out of track for the downhills. I thought I was well sheltered from the wind on the Onion River Valley leg (M to L) but it was that the wind was at my back. In places without drifting, the track is a bit faster than I had anticipated.

(Erik Larson)