Went to Elm late this afternoon with my B-skis and a tentative plan to scout the natural snow trails. High school meet on the man-made loop forced my hand. Had to park in the overflow lot so I went ahead and hopped onto the Northern Lights Loop from there. This 1.7 km loop (turning right and going down the hill at the last intersection before reaching the man-made loop) was snow covered to the point I didn't see anything I didn't want to ski over with my B-skis. The surface had been rolled and was also somewhat packed down from some traffic. Overall, though, being a balance-challenged skier, the surface was still uneven enough to make it hard for me to ride a gliding ski before loosing my balance to the uneven surface. Better skiers probably won't have much trouble though. No classic tracks, the snow was not nearly deep enough. I noticed a few a few hand-sized patches of pavement showing through on that last stretch to the man-made loop as I transitioned over there after the meet. The base seems to be about 1/2" - 1" through there. Man-made loop was in great shape in spite of the heavy traffic from the race. Surface was fairly hard packed but soft enough to hold an edge. I wouldn't call the conditions fast but they certainly weren't slow either.

(Leif Irgens)

I skied the outermost loop this morning as that was the only natural snow trail rolled for skating other than northern lights. The snow was soft but very delightful and it was fun to get out off the regular loop! The man made tracks were very slow due to the nasty winds blowing snow around, but I stayed in the woods and the wind wasn't a problem. Overall, very good conditions and a nice time to get out and enjoy the new snow!

(Diane Thompson)

Classic skied the outer trails early afternoon today. No tracks set on Eagle, Nature Center or Creek trails. Snowshoe tracks on the Nature Center trails.

Photos:

(Mark Skinner)

Waited until this afternoon to ski, hoping the fresh snow might bring the natural snow trails to conditions that worked for me. After an hour on the man made loop, I took a left at the top of the keyhole hill and ventured about 100 yards down the trail. I found it to be snow covered but unstable, uneven and unpredictable. I turned around just short of the first intersection and went back to the hamster wheel. I saw several others either going out the Northern Lights trail at the bottom of the Keyhole or coming back in at the top so others seemed to make it around but I'll need them to be groomed and evened out before I try again. The skate deck on the man made loop was hard packed, a little slippery and reasonably fast before the snow started to build up. My fasted laps were my first two with lap times slowing by 1-2 minutes as the snow fell. Slow snow aside, it was great to be out in a winter wonderland again.

(Leif Irgens)

Holy Moley.....the skate deck was.....let's put it this way. This evening, I had the highest average heart rate of any ski I've done so far this year. I also had the slowest pace of any ski (classic or skate) that I've done this year. I was on my A-skis, waxed with -30 to +8 F glide wax and yet glide was minimal. I suspect going herringbone up the wall would have been faster than trying to find some glide. Spent most of the ski doing diagonal stride and offset. Nowhere near enough glide for me to get up to one-skate or two-skate speed except on some of the downhills. I coasted some of the downhills in the classic tracks and found them to be in excellent shape. Would have preferred to be skiing classic today but it just wasn't an option.

(Leif Irgens)

Having arrived in time for the HS racing to be just about to get underway, I ventured off onto the Northern Lights loop with my rock skis to see what I could find and avoid being in the way of the racers. I would definitely call it rock ski conditions, but there were stretches that were surprisingly good. If you stick to the eastern portion of the loop closest to James Deane Parkway, that was probably 90% really good skating. That other 10% though was a couple of short stretches that were half snow/half rock. The western portion including the big hill (both up and down) and the farthest north end before you turn around were really thin and strewn with rocks and debris with vegetation poking up through the snow. All in all, for my first ski on non-man-made snow for the season it was actually really pleasant and I don't think I made my rock skis any more rock worthy than they were to begin with.

(Ben Mullin)

Just skied the manmade. No lightning, rain and wind like in Germany for the TdS and no La Bomba storm like out east... just your standard issue cold (but not so much). And, hey.... pssssst.... there was some glide - don't tell anyone-....( or some/most of the 2 layers of kick wax I had on for NYD wore off - could've actually used a little more kick).

(Mark Lahtinen)

Skied classic mid afternoon. Classic tracks were pretty good overall but had an odd ridge along the inner edge of the right track. So, be careful not to catch a ski when stepping back into the tracks. Snow was expectedly slow but the plus side to that was the kick was great with cold kick wax of the day. I took a few skating strides on the skate deck and found it to be not as miserable as I expected. I also saw ski tracks down the Northern Lights loop and down towards the boardwalk but make no claim as to the conditions of the snow past the viewing window from the man-made loop. Clearly thought from the tracks present, several have ventured out onto those trails. Wind was noticeable but quite tolerable. I was a little too conservative with one too many base layers, resulting in several laps of unzipping jackets and jerseys in an attempt to equilibrate my excess body heat with the outside temperatures. A beautiful day overall, confirming that old Norwegian saying: "There's such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing".

(Leif Irgens)

Skied the man made snow loop again with community group taking lessons. What a cold night to be out! Snow was slow for skating (didn't wax specially for this so uphills were great workout). The beginner skiers were real troopers out there spending over an hour working on skills and trying to keep warm. It is a challenge getting out, but beautiful moon and great snow coverage make getting a little exercise a great time with friends.

(Dean Kleinhans)

Conditions were good as to be expected on the man-made. What a difference a day makes without the wind and minus 20 wind chill (my limit). No problem with kick but glide was hard to find in spots...skate lane seemed faster today when I got out of the track.

(Mark Lahtinen)