Lots of mash potatoes, but excellent coverage for several loops in the light mist. Could use a freeze up to regain firmer trail surface for groomers.

(Dean Kleinhans)

Hit the trails with friend Jody Quesnell. A little mash potato'y....but overall very nice. Only skied the man-made snow area (over and over). Still a lot of fun.

(Jim Cloutier)

It was a fairly quiet at Elm Creek this morning. It appears that the manmade loop had been groomed overnight to smooth out rough areas. Yes, it is a somewhat soft skate deck with some dirt spots and mushy areas. However, there was good glide and ski control. After all the warm weather and rain, I would have to give kudos to the groomers.

(Mike Flynn)

Great conditions on the manmade snow from 5-6 pm, temps 37 degrees from start to finish. High school racers were off the trails by 5 and only a few skaters had the whole 2.5k loop. Conditions very manageable for all ski levels with some enough loose "snow" for comfortable balance and yet enough ice crystals to make it fast and fun. Well worth the trip.

(Marian Meyer)

Skied one gerbil track loop (man-made) and it is great conditions, mix icy crystals well groomed for both skating and diagonal. But I got antsy for more diversity so skied Northern Lights to connection of Creek and Lake loops. Northern lights not the best, but skiable with light ice crust on top since it hasn't been groomed. Creek and Lake are closer to "accident waiting to happen". Of course it is good balance work to trust skiing on one ski on this surface. And with temps above freezing you could get an edge. But best to wait for more snow before venturing out to dark side again. Pics are from Creek trails. More than just a few puddles you have to ski through. Wouldn't want to be out there after it freezes again.

Photos:

(Dean Kleinhans)

Skied the outer loop (natural snow): eagle and creek trails. Trail is deteriorating in dots and some debris in tracks. Bare spots can be easily avoided. Overall a nice ski although a bit slow.

(Mary Luoma)

Classic skied on the manmade only today. Track was good and faster than I thought it would be. First real test of the Madshus Nano-skins which worked real fine. Was warm enough to ski in shorts and a T-shirt which is bad news for the natural snow.

(Mark Lahtinen)

I skied the Lake Trail with a headlamp to see the condition of the trail and try to vary my workout a bit. Definitely B ski, (possibly rock ski), conditions depending on how good you are at avoiding bare spots. Trail was also fairly hard to maneuver with only a head lamp and somewhat icy conditions with bare spots on the tops and bottoms of some hills. The man-made loop was awesome skiing with a nice firm skate deck. Very, very fast conditions last night which made it super fun to ski. I also skied the Northern Lights loop a few times and the conditions on that trail were also very good. A few spots were a tad icy, but I was still able to get a good edge. The classic tracks looked a bit washed out on NL, but looked firm and fast on the man-made loop. Overall I would say that as far as nighttime/early morning skiing goes, the 5K lighted loop is still in great shape. Lets hope that the warm weather doesn't destroy the trails too much. Get out and ski while it's still great conditions!

(Emily Muellner)

Skated the man-made loop. It was 37 F when I arrived at 6:30 pm so I was expecting mush after today's sunshine and warm temperatures. Instead, I found the skate deck to be very firm and fast, bordering on icy in a few places (I was turning in laps 1:00 - 1:30 min faster than what is typical for me). I did some double poling in the classic tracks along the flats and coasted a few downhills and found the tracks to be icy and very fast. By the time I left at 9:15 pm, it was down to 32 F and the skate deck was becoming increasingly icy in several places. There was still plenty of base though, no signs of thin snow or bare ground anywhere on the man-made loop yet.

(Leif Irgens)

Good skating today on the Valley and Thicket/Northern Lights. Glide was good in both skate and classic tracks. Classic tracks great on the manmade...a little wavey gravy wide and washed out on the rest of the lighted trail. Classic tracks were great yesterday on the classic only trails - Eagle and Creek. Ski it before it's back to the manmade.

(Mark Lahtinen)