Conditions: Mainly soft deck with scattered less-soft spots. Down to a 2k loop. The SW loop is closed.
I forgot to set my alarm for this morning, but was optimistic seeing 31F at my house. The groomers were out when I arrived at 7am and did a great job, but it wasn't cold long enough to firm things up. The deck is mainly soft, the donut is probably in the best shape of all areas. While there is not any ground poking through yet, there is a lot of dirty snow and several spots that may not make it through the weekend. The park personnel I spoke with today said they hope to groom through Saturday.

Photos:

(Brad Johnson)

Conditions: Skied the Valley Trail at 9:30 a.m. The trail still has enough snow to ski. It appeared they did some grooming. Tracks were in better shape than I expected. The skate lane was soft. A few dirty spots to go around and a couple slushy places.
I was surprised it was as good as it was after 70 degrees yesterday. I skied classic using waxless skis. Had a good ski. The base is getting thin in places.

(Mark Basiletti)

Conditions: Blazing fast, mostly solid skate deck - beginning to soften at parts.
Skied from about 10-11:30 this morning on the man-made loop before temperatures were supposed to rise. It was relatively quiet out there despite the fantastic condition of the trail. For the most part, the trail was nice and solid, although by the end snow on the few big uphills and some other parts began to soften a bit. However, still not bad at all, especially being almost a week into March.

(Melissa Berman)

Conditions: Couldn't be better. Fast, good control, light traffic, perfect grooming.
Been skiing the Valley Trail every morning this week and it's been fantastic. Great grooming, nice thin soft surface, hard base, easy control. Today was the best snow, very little traffic, some of the pioneers and a few newbies. The dirt that covered a lot of the trail for a month is almost gone; maybe the groomers tilled it under, not sure, but only the launching area is still a bit grungy, the trail itself is very clean. I hope the snow holds out for a week or so, we'll see, but this week has been a great wind down to a frustrating hurry up and wait season. I've been using Purl Blue wax this week, great glide, lasts forever. The kids and I are very appreciative of Valley, their ski league depended on it this year and it's always there when natural snow isn't! Nice to live a short drive away.

(Steve Evans)

Conditions: Trail is still in great shape.
Timing is everything. I had planned on a nice fast spring ski skate. Lo and behold it started snowing... and slowing. Oh well, good workout but not quite as much fun.

(Mark Lahtinen)

Conditions: 1+" of new and accumulating wet snow on Valley, all other closed.
Plenty of snow on the Valley loop for classic and skating. 1+" of new heavy wet snow made for a slow workout over lunch today. It was still snowing when I left at 2pm. Good power-building workout opportunity though!

Photos:

(Brad Johnson)

Conditions: Excellent, considering it hasn't really snowed in weeks.
Skated a few snowmaking loops mid morning. Still lots of fresh corduroy. Snow was softer and less icy than Hyland was yesterday evening. Downhills were fast but not icy or sugary. Actually some of the best fake-snow conditions of the season.

(Devlin MacGregor)

Conditions: Excellent skiing...fast and firm.
I know the season is winding down with no natural snow left in the Metro area but there's something to be said for spring skiing. We're generally in pretty good shape after a winter of skiing and the snow conditions can be fast. Today was one of those days. Not much better than a fast track and the right klister on. Get out and enjoy. PS - skate lane looked great too.

(Mark Lahtinen)

Conditions: The valley trail was nicely groomed this morning. The track was in good condition and not icy but fast. There is still plenty of base left.
Classic skied about 10 a.m. Used waxless skis. Only a few out on a beautiful sunny morning.

(Mark Basiletti)

Conditions: Hard and fast with complete coverage and minimal ruts at 7:00pm.
Some really nice skiing out there last night. Thank you to the awesome groomers working their magic.

(Cory Kending)