It is amazing what you can do with some extra snow and a couple of Pisten Bullies! Tom Straka and his skilled grooming crew moved mountains of snow today to expand the stadium and build the base on any thin spots on the Spirit Mt Trails. They were hard at work getting everything ready for the upcoming Super Tour / Spring US Nationals to be held this week. The first race kicks off on Thursday March 21st with the SuperTour Final, Classic Individual Start 10km. The course will be in great shape but it will be just for the skiers competing in this weeks events. Spirit Mt Nordic and Downhill is closed to recreation skiing for the season.

Photos:

(Dave Johnson)

I went on a walk around the Spirit Mt Nordic Center trails to have a look and see what will need to be done to prepare them for the upcoming Super Tour Finals and US Spring National Championships. Thanks to Tom Straka and his Spirit Mt snowmaking and grooming crew there is still excellent coverage on 95% or more of the snowmaking loop despite the unprecedented warm up here in early March. Tom's plan is to harvest snow from the nearby downhill runs starting on Sunday or Monday. (The last day of downhill skiing for the year is this Saturday, March 16). Whatever thin spots there are on the trails will be easy for Tom and his crew to cover. Looking ahead the temperatures return to more March like ranges for the week of racing. I have every confidence that the organizing committee and Spirit Mt will be able to set up a great course in this most challenging of ski seasons.

Photos:

(Dave Johnson)

Its been a week since I have been here and was surprised to see how well the trail was holding up. The base is still substantial and it appeared the trails were freshly groomed today. The temp was 44 degrees when I skied at 2pm. The snow had softened making for a very good classic ski with my skins on the rollercoaster loop. Thank you Spirit Mtn for continuing to groom these fun trails.

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(Gene Karwoski)

Took a break from the spirit downhill runs to check out the snowmaking course and thoroughly enjoyed it. Base seems pretty deep yet, good coverage and not much debris - mostly just the mud tracked in by mountain bikers. It is icy in spots and I was glad that sections were softening up in the mid afternoon to make for better control. The iciest part is the wide area down by the chalet. It seems like it is being groomed regularly yet but the person I asked in the chalet didn't have any information about grooming. Like most spring skiing, it's probably going to be best if you can hit the part of the day when it starts to soften so you don't have to deal with icy ruts.

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(Peter Aggen)

Conditions fantastic for skating at 8:00am today. Freshly groomed and fast. What an enjoyable trail -- first time here.

(Bonnie Handmacher)

Still winter conditions on this last day of February with a temp of 25 degrees at 3 pm. It looked like the trails were freshly groomed today. The classic track was shallow and a little icy but I had decent grip and glide with skin skis. The skate deck was firm and fast according to reports from the St Scholastica ski team who were out training.

Photos:

(Gene Karwoski)

Roller Coaster is closed with snow guns in place and piles of snow ready to be groomed out. Stadium is ungroomed. Hopefully all back fully open by Saturday morning. The higher up loops (Black Bear and Overlook?) were great skiing. Violet Klister worked wonderfully.

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(Brian Markes)

Pristine, albeit cold, conditions at GANC this morning. They are blowing more snow now in the Stadium and on RollerCoaster- the latter was closed. The rest is open and wonderful. Thanks Spirit for giving us consistently great conditions in this decidedly un-winter winter.

(Tom Heinitz)

Spirit Mountain Nordic Center will be hosting the CCSA (Central Collegiate Ski Association) Conference meet on Saturday, February 10th and Sunday, February 11th. On Saturday, February 10th the Nordic Center trails will also be hosting the Duluth Area JH and JV Season Ender. The ski trails will be closed until the completion of races each day. Saturday, February 10th opening time will be 2:30PM and no classic tracks will be set. Sunday, February 11th opening time will be 1PM and classic tracks will be set best line. Trails are in good condition.

(Siiri Morse)

Mashed potatoes on top, ice underneath. Uphill sections are soft; downhills are fast and very icy in the corners where the trail has been scraped clean.

(Quentin Tschofen)