The entire trail system is in very good shape with good snow coverage and little debris. Yesterday's 3/4 in of snow made for nice control in the skating lane, although some of the flats and downhills on the lighted loop are hard pack. If they groom for tonight's races the conditions should be great. Pretty nice track on most of the trails.

(Paul Keber)

Conditions: Very good skate. 1 inch of Ungroomed fresh snow covered hard packed trails. Saw tracks of striders in upper area but they were "strider made" and in center of trail.
Skied 10 am to 1 pm. One inch of fresh snow and 32F = slow for "breaking trail" but got faster as sections were skied in. Noon freezing drizzle on third blue loop actually made trails just a bit faster. Used B skis since it is hard to see stones with fresh snow. Could have used A skis as it turned out. All in all great Birkie training! Upper area saw less skiers and more deer. Great Day.

(Theo Abrahamson)

Conditions: Good for skate, poor tracks for classic.
The man-made loop is almost complete with tail end and magic carpet being the only areas not groomed/covered. Coverage is still 100% on the lighted loop, except two-tier, where the erosion boards are quite visible. The classic tracks are in poor condition on the outer loops.

(Brad Baas)

Conditions: Fair to poor classic.
Skied the blue loop at Lapham this morning, classic. Very icy tracks, nonexistent in some places. Lots of debris once you are back in the woods. Depressing. An A for the groomers for trying, but an F for Mother Nature. This isn't worth skiing, IMO, until we get more snow. Felt like I was skiing in late Spring. Stay to man-made loop. Skate deck looked average, but lots of debris in places there as well.

(Dana Jones)

Conditions: Mostly very good!
Classic skiing was very good and skating looked like it was closer to excellent! Big slide was in good condition; fast, fun and controllable.

(Jim Bolton)

Conditions: Freshly groomed, snow falling as we skied. Excellent ski.
Skated Black loop Wednesday morning, groomed and full coverage. 2 degrees made for somewhat limited glide but overall very good conditions. No ice, everything was safe.

(Robert Garner)

Conditions: Good to excellent.
The snow last night helped greatly; no ice and complete coverage today. Big snow piles on about half of the man-made loop.

(Brad Baas)

Conditions: Fair to good, B skis recommended.
The snow survived the rain very well on most of the lighted loop. There were a couple of icy areas in the prairie/on magic carpet and areas of thin coverage at the Evergreen trailhead (rocks). All other areas in good condition. About five snow machines were running tonight.

(Brad Baas)

Conditions: Good to Very good.
They are making snow on the man made loop by Evergreen and the lower trails have icy areas so better to park at Homestead Hollow and ski the upper trails which are in very good condition. Thank you LP groomers!

(Joel Smith)

Conditions: Lapham Peak received about 2" of snow Saturday evening. All trails were groomed again Sunday night. Skate and classic conditions will vary from good to great. There are some icy spots most notably in the South Field area and the one at the top of Magic Carpet Ride, all can be skied around. A track was set on the entire system Saturday with some sections (man-made and purple prairie loop) drifted in from blowing snow and worn from use. More snow is needed before a new track can be set.
Snowmaking has begun with great success and should last through the entire week. There are a few piles from the Evergreen trailhead up to SummerStage that can be skied around but not very easily. These piles must sit for a few days so any extra water may drain out and the piles can "cure" therefore your patience and understanding is appreciated until they can be spread. At this time things look promising for a full race course during the annual Lapham Loppet on Saturday, January 16th starting around 10am. Please consider signing up for this fundraising event put on by the Friends of Lapham Peak. It looks like winter has finally arrived, let's hope it sticks around.

(Brett Johanen, Wisconsin DNR)