I skied Knob, Kettle and part of Razorback this afternoon. First of all, I forgot how much work Murphy is! Second, the classic tracks were quite rough on 50% of the trails I skied today. Even the skate deck is starting to get a bit uneven in places which definitely makes things "interesting" on the downhills. Overall, I had a good time, but we could use some more fresh snow or a really detailed groom.

(Tim Dunklee)

Skied all of Razorback and the parts of Kettle and Knob connecting to the main trailhead. Tracks are in good shape over most of the trails, though they are accumulating a lot more oak leaves in some places. Some of the steeper downhills are getting more scraped and packed. Still plenty of snow on them, but the scraped uneven surfaces make for a pretty exciting ride! I saw a deer on the trail in front of me at four different places. One of them ran across very close in front of me. Quite a few hiker tracks, especially on the first mile and a half of trail.

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(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Freshly groomed today. Tracks variable in quality, sometimes good, sometimes shallow or washed out from multiple grooming passes. Skate deck uneven in some spots, especially on some of the steep downhills, which presented a challenge for snowplowing and controlling speed to prevent crashing. Recommend being cautious on downhills. Lots of herringbone up the hills. New bridge (see photo) across swamp on Razorback trail is very nice. Nice to be able to ski at Murphy as many years there is insufficient snow to cover all the rocks.

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(Ken Kuznia)

First time in a long time for me that all the trails were open and groomed! Great to finally have lots of snow out there! I skied all of Razorback plus the trails connecting it to the main trailhead twice. Tracks were set pretty well and pretty firm over most of the course, but there were a few places where the outermost track dropped off the side of the trail. The skate deck appeared fair most of the way but was in poor condition over several scattered segments where there were gullies and depressions and humps in the middle. Also seemed pretty soft in a few places. It's great that they finally finished the new wider bridge across the marsh where there used to be a very narrow bridge. The narrow bridge wasn't a problem for skiing but it wasn't big enough to allow the groomers to get across and I think that impeded grooming in warmer wetter years.

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(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Knob and Kettle are in fair shape. They need more grooming to firm and flatten things but skated okay. Razorback on the other hand was in pretty rough shape with varying levels of grooming. If you are desperate for some harrowing downhills, I would recommend taking Kettle up to intersection 9 and skiing the north loop of Razorback, returning to intersection 9. This area seemed to have the most grooming passes and fewest ruts.

(Spencer Davis)

Pretty terrible. All trails soft. Inner small loop was ok, but not great. Razorback outer look was terrible. Huge ruts from grooming make skating almost impossible. Dangerous downhills as it's soft. I might be babied by all the great grooming at Hyland, baker, carver, elm, and french.

(Blake Bristow)

The local high schools had a skate skiing meet out at Murphy so the trails had been packed and groomed and looked to be in nice shape. Snow was really nice. Main complaint from skiers was about leaves on trail, and the challenging nature of the trails themselves -- "lots of hills!" Yes, if you are training for races in the east coast, and used to the wide expanses of the trails here, the narrower hilly trails of Murphy-Hanrehan would be the place to train. Made for some exciting racing!

(Robert Sullivan)

Skied Murphy this morning. Knob was icy with boot prints. Kettle was in better condition. All trails had some twigs and occasional leaves. Razorback had been recently groomed but is still somewhat soft. Downhills on Razorback were more challenging than normal with some ruts and bumps adding to the excitement. I would not recommend Razorback in these conditions for anyone who hasn't skied it before.

(David Potasek)

Skied all trails at Murphy on Sunday morning. Coverage was good and grooming was okay except on Razorback. It seems like Razorback has been rolled once and there is a small roughly 3 foot wide loosely packed path to ski. Skating was hard because there's no room for the ski to glide and our tips got caught on the sides every few steps. The downhills were fun, if not a bit exciting for a group of advanced skiers. Unless you're looking for an adventure I don't think I recommend skiing here until it's groomed again.

(Laura Cattaneo)

Lots of snow but the trail conditions were really rough. The blue loops had been groomed but very uneven skate deck. The razor back black loop only had a 4' section packed and it made everything pretty awful to try to skate. Classic might have been better but the fast downhills with such a narrow trail would still be a challenge. Not worth the trip in my opinion until it's groomed again.

(Scott Lyon)