Pistenbully groomed the biathlon/5K loop (including Bittersweet loop up top), and groomed the rest of the grant-in-aid with the Alpine II and Tidd-Tech. Set track on all trails. I'd rate it at the top rating (no damage to skis), but there are a couple bare spots to watch out for: down the hill prior to the Wall, on a tiny segment of Bittersweet (neither covers the entire width of the trail), and the northwestern entrance behind the swamp on the Grant-In-Aid is closed. Otherwise, the trails are in great shape for the last day of March. Enjoy a nice Easter Sunday ski!

Photos:

(Bob Conzemius)

Skated at about 2pm what the Piston Bully had groomed. They made several passes on the 5k Race Loop and service road. Snow was soft, wet, and slow. Two spots off to the side of the trail where ground was showing, but easily avoidable. The rest of the loop was in very good shape.

(Alex Kelling)

Fabulous skiing this afternoon when temps were about 40 degrees. Upper trails were firmly set, but soft enough for control on downhills. No ruts despite recent warm temps. Stadium and entrance seemed icy this morning but was very skiable by noon. Tracks set up well in the new snow earlier this week.

(Catherine McLynn)

I got out and groomed the 5k loop and biathlon stadium with the Pistenbully, but it's still soft after 20" new snow over the past week. I skied it with Minnesota Youth Ski League this afternoon, and it was soft. Better day for classic skiing. Grant-in-Aid side (below Bittersweet) has not been groomed yet. We will either take the Pistenbully through or wait until the snow firms up a bit. The snowmobile groomer is having a tough time with the soft base. Either way, wow! The deep snow is beautiful!

Photos:

(Bob Conzemius)

15" new snow this week. Pistenbully grooming where the trails are wide enough. Elsewhere, we are grooming with the snowmobile and Tidd-Tech. All the new snow is softening the base a bit, causing some difficulty for the snowmobile going uphill with the track setter on the groomer. Please be careful going down the upper portion of Otter Slide because the snowmobile got stuck several times on that section (I tried to repair as well as I could). Otherwise, trails are in excellent shape! Enjoy all the new snow!

(Bob Conzemius)

Probably best skiing of this season at Mt. Itasca. 20 degrees F, perfectly groomed trails. Huge thanks to Bob the groomer!

Photos:

(Vladimir Cervenka)

10" new snow over the past three days. We hosted the JNQ over the weekend and are now busy trying to keep up with the snowy weather. Pistenbully groomed all the biathlon trails and the top loop. The rest of the trails were groomed with the Tidd-Tech. Tracks have been set on all trails. Have made multiple passes, and hopefully, it will firm up again.

(Bob Conzemius)

Groomed the whole trail system and reset track on biathlon trails. On the Grant-In-Aid trails, groomed the skate lane only because the base is firm, and the track setter on the Tidd Tech does not set a great track in a firm base. The old tracks are still in good shape. Conditions are excellent!

(Bob Conzemius)

Couple of inches of new snow provided nice cover over previously groomed and tracked trails. Level trails accessed by going up gradual ascent/descent Service Road and enjoying upper Grant in Aid public trail systems for beginners and intermediate. No need to venture onto more challenging terrain like Widow's Run or Otter Slide or Water Fall.
Some of the lower loops were groomed, but the snow cover was easily skated or packed into classic track.

(Catherine McLynn)

Visiting Grand Rapids area and first time at the trails. Very nice facilities to change in and heated bathrooms. Trail fee paid honor system. Weather in the upper 20's with low cloud cover. We skate skied into the biathlon arena area on perfectly groomed wide trail. With no sun and limited signage, we were a bit confused as to the trail system. We started in and began to climb, names like Triple Twister and Roller Coaster. :-) We were looking for something a little more flat so were probably in the wrong place. However, all trails again perfectly groomed with a very level deck and wide. Skied past the ski jumps and trying to stay left to make the longest loop possible. Due to the fog/low cloud cover and multiple junctions we moved a bit slow. This looks like a great place to have some fun on hills and a really well utilized area. Would categorize what we skied as a more advanced to expert terrain. Thank you!

(Jason Sannes-Venhuizen)