Skate skied over the weekend from OO to Timber Trail and back on Sunday and OO to Wheeler Road today. The inch or two of fresh dense snow received Saturday made for amazing conditions the past couple of days. Hoping the warm weather is short lived and trail gets more fresh snow before the Birkie.

(Mike Maiers)

I skated northbound from the Hwy OO trailhead, on the classic trail. It had been groomed yesterday after 1.5 inches of new snow and this morning there has been continuing very light snow. The skate deck was a bit soft and slow. The classic tracks on both sides looked great. I give it a 9.

(Don Quick)

Sort of a tour de north today, in large part to check trail conditions. Started at OO, skied the skate trail north, took a lap of the north end trail, continued on to the birkie start. Skied a lap of manmade, then back to OO via the classic trail. Super variable conditions:
Skate trail, OO to Timber Trail: ungroomed for 4-5 days by the looks of it. Thinning, rock hard track with 1/8th inch of dust over it. Ground showing in places, lots of dirt/debris. Be careful if you're using good skis. Where there are classic tracks, they're shallow and breaking down. There's just not a lot of snow to work with.
North end trail: Magnificent. Really great conditions, groomed and only the usually debris under the conifers, especially after the first road crossing.
Timber trail to the power lines: Had just been groomed before I got there. The groomers must have a bit of a conundrum - the trail needs some tilling, but the base is too thin in places to do that without churning up dirt. But the grooming made a difference; it was much better and generally there was more snow as I headed north.
Powerlines/Start/Manmade: all good.
Classic trail, powerline to timber trail: Good, newly groomed, but there are places on the northern edge of the trail with some large rocks. Keep your eyes open.
Classic trail south of timber trail: ungroomed, hard, and deteriorating as you go south. Some of the open/logged areas have a lot of dirt coming though the snow.
Tracks exist on the classic trail (one, occasionally two sets), but I would recommend having expectations similar to when a friend of a friend sets you up on a blind date.
Be extra cautious at snowmobile crossings! There are no shortage of rocks exposed.
tl;dr: Stay north of timber trail, take your skis off at snowmobile crossings.

(Nick Ross)

It's probably been a good month since we've gotten any decent snow and it's beginning to show. Skied the classic trail from Gravel Pit to Timber Trail. More and more dirt is beginning to show especially in the segment from Gravel Pit to a couple kilometers north of OO. North of that to Timber Trail was in pretty good condition with only occasional dirt showing. Can use good skis if you pay attention and move to avoid the rough spots. We've had quite of bit of wind around here as well so you need to remain cognizant of the forest debris that accumulates in the tracks. Kudos to the groomers that have done a great job even though they have little to work with. Snow dances encouraged!

(Geary Searfoss)

The trail is thin. Saturday's classic tracks had a number of leafy sections and some exposed dirt. A half inch of new snow overnight made the skate deck look better for Sunday's skate, but the north of OO the skate trail still had a couple sections of exposed dirt and a number of dark sections. I tossed some 1" and 2" diameter rocks off the trail and avoided the dirty sections. Also watch the snowmobile crossings as a friend saw some fist sized rocks during the Saturday race. The classic trail is quite a bit better. You can get around the problems, but I'd leave the race skis behind.

(Jay Wenner)

Great day on the Birkie trail. Skied everything between Mosquito Brook and Lake Hayward. Trail clearly hadn't seen the groomer for a few days, but the skate deck was holding up well, and it looked like the tracks were as well. A thin layer of fresh powder made things a bit prettier and a bit slower this morning, also hid a few sketchier spots with leaf litter / twigs. These spots are few and far between as well as being easy to avoid, but they are there.

(Mitchell Campbell)

Classic skied 46 km from Birkie start to Fish Hatchery on the Classic trail to OO, then combo to Fish Hatchery, 3:35. Conditions were snowed in tracks to Fire Tower, skied in tracks to OO, then met the groomers after OO and had a freshened up skate deck and tracks. No complaints. Phenomenal ski! Thank you Birkie groomers.

(Kevin Grand)

With a break in the cold spell, I skated the loops south of Hwy OO. The skate deck was very firm and pretty clean. The loops had classic tracks on at least one side and they looked pretty good.

(Don Quick)

Great for bushwacking! Several snowfalls last couple days, no groomed skate or tracks from Gravel Pit to Lake Hayward.

Photos:

(Audun Mikkelson)

Skied OO to fire tower and back on the skate trail. Overall trail was in good shape, but a few thin spots are evident. I used my good skis without worry as the thin spots were easy to see and not very common. Overall great skiing on the Birkie trail!

(Erik Erickson)