Trail are starting to take shape nicely. Sun came out today and provided some amazing scenes in the woods today. Tracking on the outer loops and skate lanes polished. More of the same on tap for Wednesday.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Soft powder, roll packed, 3 trails trackset. Off and on snow, blowing snow.
The wind didn't settle down much today so we mostly packed and combed today. Mid afternoon we tracked three trails for afternoon skiers with the Pisten Bully. We will be back out in the morning tracking than packing on outer trails in the afternoon.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Winter wonderland!
Intense winter storm dropping 5-8" of snow on the Maplelag trail system today with some scattered pillows of 10-12". It was blizzard like in the open areas near town but in the woods it wasn't too bad. Regardless, pretty quiet day on the trails skier wise. Lots of branches etc. to clear and some hangovers to try and spring back. We aren't aggressive on our branch cutting as part of our forest management plan....heads up when skiing! Daily grooming planned up to Presidents weekend.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: The tracks are firm and fresh with plenty of snow.
Maplelag has good snow coverage, and the trails are in great shape. Very enjoyable day of skiing.

(Glenn Gifford)

Conditions: Skate deck is firm with a top layer of fresh mixed in snow today, giving it a top score for conditions. With the two HS ski meets being over, North Loup has been skate groomed again. The warmer temps actually seemed to have helped firm the base with the cooler temps now with the newly added snow making it almost perfect. The classic tracks looked really nice, solid, full depth with just a dusting of fluff. They kept me wondering why I didn't bring the other skis and shoes.
The snow levels around the city of Detroit lakes as seen from one's car look less than adequate for top notch xc skiing. As one drives north and gets to Richwood the depth of the snow becomes exponentially greater. As one turns onto Goat Ranch Road and into the driveway, the anticipation of skiing on all the white stuff is difficult to contain!

(Denny Barry)

Conditions: Fresh dusting of new snow on top of frozen granulated base. Excellent coverage and conditions, about as good as it gets.
The coating of new snow was groomed in to all the skate trails this morning, mixing old fast snow with the new. New track also cut on Sukkerbusk with the same process. All other trails skiing really nice with the new dusting on top of well defined and placed tracks. We will be back out in the morning grooming and cutting more track and touching up skate lanes as needed. The transformed snow really makes for nice skiing this time of year when the sun and warmer temps can be a threat. We have good lodging openings the rest of the season. Come on up!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Frozen granulated. Frosty conditions on Friday, high temp of 30.
Skiing was little bit faster today with temps staying below 30. Beautiful frost and the morning groomed skied nice. The inner trails will be closed Monday the 1st and Tuesday the 2nd for the Section 8 Nordic Ski Championships. The western and northern trails will be open for recreational/day skiing.

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Set up perfect and fast.
Skied classic today in nice set up tracks and firm apron. Despite the warmer temps the past few days the trails have been basically unaffected. Skate deck looked amazing but didn't have time for both. Can't wait to get back!

(Ben Olson)

Conditions: Excellent, great base, fast.
Excellent conditions with a great base. Wavy Gravy in great condition with the cool down later today was very fast.

(Brent Hitterdal)

Conditions: Excellent coverage.
On Saturday at Maplelag the trails I skied were in fabulous shape. In skiing the trails, you would never guess the temps in the region had been in the 30's last week with rain. There was a fresh track on the North Loup. Roy's Run had excellent coverage and a good track. Twin Lakes was in great shape, as was Jib Fly, Wavy Gravy, and Rootin Tootin. As anyone who has skied Maplelag knows, the trails are impeccably maintained. If you are looking for great ski conditions, check out Maplelag.

(Glenn Gifford)