Conditions: Icy and fast. Tracks were put down just the previous day but snow has turned to ice (not just ice covered snow but hard ice).
Skied dusk to dark in the area West of Pilot Knob (center section of park). Conditions poor at best due to ice. Freeze thaw and refreeze cycle has turned recently groomed trails into hard packed ice. I should have used my ice hockey skates, pads and helmet instead of traditional cross country skis. First hill into area is steep and due to ice, dangerous.

Photos:

(John Gamlin)

Conditions: Fairly good condition for the limited amount of snow we have had.
I skied around the outer trails of the east section of the park late this morning. The tracks were thin in spots, with some dirty areas, but it was beautiful in the woods. I met the snowmobile groomer along the Southern Voyager Trek, so the trails are getting refreshed today.

(Karen Landin)

Conditions: Tracked on Tuesday. Classic ski mostly good, some areas very good once you get away from visitor center.
Classic skied dusk to dark from visitor center East and South then West to Jensen Lake and back to visitor center along Northern border. Most classic tracks fresh and firm except around high traffic areas such as visitor center. Some footprints by Holland Lake even tho xC Ski only signs up. Overall a very good ski.

(John Gamlin)

Skied the eastern outer trail after dark. Good to excellent all the way around with only a few thin spots. Kudos to the trail groomers. Now if only they could keep those pesky walkers off the trails.

(Rick Vatsaas)

Conditions: Center Section (West of Pilot Knob) was very good.
Good deep tracks, good snow cover, very little leaf litter. Saw a large buck in southwest corner of park. Great day to be out before the thaw hits us.

(Paul Kraus)

Conditions: Good to very good. Freshly groomed in many spots, but track is shallow in well-traveled sections.
Conditions a bit slow with warm snow, but glad I went. Very few leaves on the trail!

(Bob Hartzler)

Conditions: Still holding up well, but walkers are finding there way onto the trails.
Used my waxless Grip 9 skis today with some pretty old warm weather skate wax. This made for some slow going. only encountered a couple pairs of skiers.

(Rick Vatsaas)

Conditions: West of Pilot Knob Road - Very good classic conditions with deep track and great grip and glide.
Minimal debris and great coverage. Still using grip tape from last season with a little glide wax and worked very well. Disappointed in myself as only the 4th time out this year mainly due to the poor snow coverage around the metro area. There is definitely more snow in the southeast and this is an easy drive from 35E. Well worth the drive.

Photos:

(Scott Ford)

Conditions: The trail was fair at best. There was debris, (leaves, twigs, branches) in the trail. Also the trail was washed out in many areas making it tough to maintain speed, balance and momentum.
The trail has not been tracked in awhile, there needs to be more snow to improve the conditions and cover the debris.

(Tim Piepho)

Conditions: Good to excellent conditions on the classic trails west of Pilot Knob Rd. Grooves were unspoiled by walkers. occasional leaf litter, and thin spot otherwise great shape throughout.
Swix Blue kick wax did the trick. Best ski I have had this winter.

(Rick Vatsaas)