I skied around 7-8am this morning, Valley was in great condition for skating. Firm deck with good edge. Very soft were snowcat drove the loop from the practice area to the tubing hill, but other than that it was very good conditions. Just a few areas with debris, which is very surprising given the time of year and lack of new snow this month. The tracks appeared to be well-formed and looked to be pretty fast.

(Brad Johnson)

I skated the Valley Trail from 8:00-9:30 this morning. Surprisingly, I was the first one on the fresh corduroy, and most of that time I was the only skier on the trail. The skate deck was in excellent condition, nearly perfect for my "intermediate" skating skills. The base was quite hard, topped with firm, but "softish" corduroy that provided nice speed and glide with confident edging. The only downside was the extra grooming done by the PistenBully on an out-and-back from the maintenance area to the top of the tubing hill. Those extra trips over-groomed that stretch in both directions, producing instant deep sugar for about 250 meters, in stark contrast to the excellent grooming elsewhere. The classic tracks were freshly set, but the walls and bases looked pretty chunky and probably hard to wax for. The tracks were quite fast where I used them to double-pole around the over-groomed area.

(Ron Refsnider)

Valley was in pretty good shape this morning given the recent 60s. It is getting that ICU gray look. Deck was mostly firm with good edge on the frozen but not crazy fast grooming.

(Brad Johnson)

I classic skiied the Valley Trail at 9:30 a.m. The tracks were icy and fast. A good double poling workout day. The skate deck was hard. There a few dirty areas that you can easily go around.

(Mark Basiletti)

Classic skied at 8:00am this morning. Valley Trail is packed and tracked and in good condition. The track was "icy" and "fast". Almost too icy and fast. It should "soften" as the day warms up.

Photos:

(Mark Skinner)

Skied at 7:45. Snow was quite dirty in places, icy in a few, and sticky in others. Not too bad before the Bottineau House, and even better around the donut, but probably my last day skiing until we get more snow.

Photos:

(Andor Langski)

Already soft and turning to mashed potatoes at 9:30 a.m. Thought I would have had a bit more time to get some laps in without slipping through the soft stuff. The skate lane was not very fast, and it was hard not to overdress in the warmth. The classic tracks were soft sided and soft ice base. Still an incredible base.

(Dean Kleinhans)

Some of the best conditions of the year at 7:15 this morning. Fast and firm, but not icy. Just enough skiers before be to break up the corduroy a little.

(Andor Langski)

The track was pretty good but deteriorating in the sun. The skating was also kind of mushy in the sunny areas. Low 50s when I skied in shorts and a T-shirt.

(Mark Lahtinen)

The classic track was pretty good for the most part except from the chalet to the practice area as there was a school group learning how to ski. The upper donut also got a lot of learning use. Warming fast and breaking down. Skins were working pretty good. Skate lane looked soft.

(Mark Lahtinen)