Conditions: Very good. All trails freshly groomed for race Saturday.
The groomers at After Hours always do a great job. They haven't had as much snow as usual, but no problems using good skis. Some debris, but easily avoidable. Always enjoy these scenic trails in a diverse forest along the Brule River.

(Sue Schroeder)

Conditions: Fluffy new powder over recently groomed trails.
I was one of the first out on the trails this morning, skate skiing. It was easy to ski through the new snow and I had good glide on the firm skate deck below. As more skiers came out, the fresh snow became thicker and made skiing slower. But it was still great skiing!

Photos:

(Molly Hoeg)

Conditions: Good to fair for classic.
Good base and recently groomed. The big problem (at least using waxable skis) was debris on the trail from the winds on Friday night and Saturday morning. There was quite a bit of it, to the extent that it was impractical to ski in the tracks in places. This did not seem to be a problem for skate skiers, who were doing fine.

(Len Crowley)

Conditions: Good to great. White Pine and River were a bit soft. Tree debris on trails from high winds.
More classic than skate skiers. Good tracks set for classic. I skated the outside trails: Entry, Maple, Oak, White Pine, East Loop, Joe's Hill (?), River, and Difficult Return. Good to see people out enduring the cold and wind. First time on the trails there...thank you, RNdy Back, for recommending I stop there.

(Bill Barthen)

Conditions: Excellent, freshly groomed.
skied classic, the classic loop was skied in, but noticed that the groomers were setting new track on the trail system as I came out. Very nice conditions after getting new snow. Most of the leaves and pine needles are now covered. Looked the like skate lanes were getting groomed as well.

(Scott Toshner)

Conditions: Very good. 3.5 inch base, 10 inches in the woods.
All trails were groomed and track was reset on Wednesday after 1.5 inches of new snow. Conditions are very good with a base of about 3.5 inches and 10 inches in the woods.

(Dan Kephart)

Conditions: Ungroomed, 1/2 inch of fresh snow on top of skate deck and some tree debris.
We were disappointed to see the skate lane had not been touched up since the fresh snow. The skate deck was fast and fun yet compacting into a harder unpleasant surface with all the use it was getting. The classic tracks are in need of a touch up, yet remain ok throughout except for the turns and some downhills. We skied a variety of the trails and found this to be consistent. We did classic ski after our skate and found the classic only trails to be very peaceful, yet ungroomed. It's still the closest best snow to Duluth!

(Eve Graves)

Conditions: Nice tracks for classic skiing, solid skate deck with a light fluff of snow on top. Best skiing I've seen in weeks...(coming from Duluth area).
After waiting for things to improve in the Duluth area and it just not getting any better, a drive to Brule was all it took thoroughly enjoy a fantastic morning of classic skiing. There was a little debris in the tracks, but hey, there were tracks! And the skate deck looked great, not like the concrete and ice pack in Duluth. Was worth the drive, beautiful morning ski!

(Sarah Murray)

Skate lanes groomed Monday morning and skating is excellent on 95%+ of the system, I was out just after noon. Only a few spots on skate lanes with quite a bit of debris, but I used my good skate skis and I was not sad I did. Classic another story. The groomer tried to put down new classic tracks on Entry, Easy Return, and about the first half of Maple. Everywhere else the classic tracks are about a week old (they were great last Wednesday, not quite as good Thursday). The issue is not the shape of the tracks, but debris. Where there is no debris (maybe 65% - 75% of the system) the classic skiing is still very good to excellent. But now the debris is really frustrating, grabbing skis quite a bit, I just started skiing alongside the tracks for quite a number of stretches, but in some places the debris is bad there too. Still and all, I'm glad I strided today as well, a beautiful day in the woods, and thanks groomers for your efforts!

(Tim Holst)

Conditions: Spectacular, excellent, pick your superlative.
Skated the whole system this morning and had recent grooming. Nice coverage, even deck, solid push off and pole plants. The best conditions I have skied this year! Some tree debris and scattered thin areas under the majestic white pines but 95% of the trail was near perfect. Classic tracks were great as well. Thank you Brule groomers! Well worth the short drive from Duluth.

(Tom Heinitz)