We got 3-4" of snow in the last ~30 hours here in Maple Grove. Valley was recently groomed with a 2nd set of classic tracks for the high school race this afternoon. The barricade to the outer loops was moved, but the trails were not groomed as of about 4pm. The deck was mixed with firm/slightly icy conditions where the wind cleared the trail, soft-groomed where it didn't, and scattered drifts where it made deposits. The classic tracks look fairly decent but were subject to drifting.

(Brad Johnson)

Excellent skiing this afternoon. Conditions were pretty good. Firm classic track. I skied the 2.5k Valley Trail.

(Mark Skinner)

The tracks were in great shape but what a difference a day makes with glide. Yesterday there was very fast glide in the tracks (which you don't necessarily want when the wind chill is in the -20 range). With just the hint of a dusting of fine-grained cold snow last night the glide was very slow today.

(Mark Lahtinen)

Not much company out there at 10:00 am. Two skaters were there when I arrived, and no other classic skiers. The classic track was hard and reasonably fast. Hard wax gave great kick. The skate lane was hardly used, hard and also reasonably fast. It was as much fun as you can expect to have going around the same 2.5 k loop again and again in -35 windchill conditions. What a winter!

(Ken Tobacman)

No surprise, only the 2.5k Valley Loop is open. The deck was very firm and fast, but still plenty of edge to be found for skating. The classic tracks are in great condition and fast also. The wind is wicked so do dress for the windchill not the air temp. Hoping for snow this weekend!

(Brad Johnson)

Fast skating surface, call it icy. Grooming for high school meet had rock solid classic tracks. Skate deck in exposed areas had all loose snow blowing off by late afternoon. Kudos to the high school teams for pushing through in the cold and windy conditions.

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(Dean Kleinhans)

Classic skied the Valley Trail this afternoon. Nice set of firm tracks set. The skate deck was icy. Saw several high school skiers slip and fall on the skate deck.

Photos:

(Mark Skinner)

Only thing that seems open is the 2.5km man made loop. Northern lights was blocked off - cannot imagine the other trails were skiable either (it was dark out). The man made loop was in excellent condition - freshly groomed. Nice change of pace from Hyland - being well maintained.

(Scott Greymont)

Only the man-made loop is open. Even fairly early in the morning the course was already getting quite soft and the uphills were like skiing in "sugar". Lots of traffic coming into the park as I was leaving. I only skated but the tracks looked quite good.

(Don Callander)

The snowmaking loops at Elm Creek were in great shape on New Year's Day. The classic track was very firm and Powergrip blue had great kick and glide on the granular snow. The skate deck looked pretty good too with only a few areas getting sugar on top.

(Mark Schulte)