I classic skied this afternoon. That ended quickly with little control on a slippery deck. Tonight, with snow in progress, it was much better. I skied with Ride and Glide. I chose the wood skis based on the flopping around earlier on modern skis. It was fast on the wood and still squirrely at times. The little dusting of snow had bonded. The grip wax (Toko Binder green) bit in well. This was a training session so there was not much distance due to repeats. We were primarily on the Green trail. Back at the Nordic Center, many skiers commented about how well the trails skied tonight. Skaters have a good surface. Classic skiers, it will still be a challenge for you. By not rushing to cut track, the Lake Elmo team has made exactly the right decision.

(Jeff Bolte)

Skate skied all of the trails at Lake Elmo. A tale of two trails systems. The trails on the east side originating at the Nordic Center (brown, green, yellow, orange) were all firm and relatively even. The few spots where the snow coverage was a bit light were easily avoided, and B-skis would probably be okay. Across the road on the west side, the red trail was not well packed and suitable only for true rock skis. The blue multi-use trail on that side, trampled down by fat tire bikes, hikers, snow-shoes and dogs, was far more enjoyable than the red trail. Rock skis for both, and be particularly careful of the scree field that is the short climb to the red trail/blue trail split.

(William Sikorski)

Skated for an hour in the early afternoon. Better conditions than expected; skied all the trails on the east side (brown/green/yellow/orange) and only came across two rough spots, both avoidable (one of the brown loop uphills and the small uphill when you begin the orange). Still would use rock skis/B skis, but a few more inches and you can bring out A skis. Yellow trail skate deck has good coverage but fairly uneven. No classic tracks yet, but skate deck is very nice on most trails. Best bets are green and yellow trails. Nice to have a natural snow option in the east metro!

(Seth Cattanach)

New snow from yesterday, and today's grooming helped smooth outer loop and made inner loops smooth. Just a couple avoidable dirty patches. It's great to have an option to ski in NE metro.

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(Ben Creagh)

There is maybe two inches of fluff down in the early afternoon. It stuck. Today was just a short classic trip on wood first, then on modern skis. No track. Use was light. The wood skis tracked solid straight without track but snail slow. The glide zones need attention... The modern skis ran reasonably well on the new snow, near normal speed for the condition. Technique was rusty with several days off repairing damage from a prior crash. Skate marks were about as expected as well; obviously shorter than on a prepped surface but not stubby. The deck will improve with use. Traffic was increasing as I left around 2:30 pm.

(Jeff Bolte)

Bring the rock skis for a few bare patches on the south-facing hills but overall very skiable. They were doing a little re-grooming this afternoon. Red loop not rolled yet but packed down by the fat tire bikes, lots of bare spots there too but also skateable on rock skis if you're really desperate for a few more Ks.

(Tony Hoff)

A novice skier but will do my best to interpret the trails from my point of view :) Skate deck really "fast?" Still learning what "fast" means, but I interpret that has being really slick, not much to grip on to, which leaves a beginner skier like me skiing more cautiously. But enough snow to ski on and get a good workout in. Decent coverage on the open prairie sections, some exposed dirt/gravel on the hills and in the wooded areas, a lot of leaves and twigs in the way. Could use another few inches of fresh snow! We'll get there! But still not a bad ski at Lake Elmo!

(Liz Westerhaus)

1-2" fresh powder. Not groomed yet for either. Good condition. Should be much better once groomed. All trails open, B skis needed. Beautiful morning. Worth the trip out here.

(John Whitt)

Be careful out there, especially at night. Trails were better than expected but still quite variable. Coverage is uneven as expected, given the amount of snow. I took the classic B skis after dark, skiing with Ride and Glide. We saw most of the Brown trail. No track, but no problem for experienced classic skiers. Some or all of us in the group had something drag under the skis on various downhills. We were skiing different lines. The snow was fast. Given the scarcity of ski time here last season, this evening was a really fun time. Beware of the horse manure on the Brown trail.

(Jeff Bolte)

Thanks to Washington County Parks for grooming the trails after two minimal snowfalls. I broke through to the frozen ground on a few occasions during my hour long ski on Monday, so I suggest bringing the rock skis. But there was enough snow to finish a solid interval workout. It felt great to be skiing on natural snowfall so close to home.

Photos:

(Blaze Fugina)