Not touched up for the weekend or events happening at OO on Friday. Classic tracks washed out with trenches on either side from poles. Good coverage but the further out from the trailhead you get, there's more icy chunks and warping. Nice and fast because of the ice though!

(Erin Matula)

I love the Birkie trails, and was so excited to spend New Years with the family skiing on some of the best trails in the world. But I have to say, I was pretty disappointed by the grooming conditions today. Started at 00 and skied south for about 5km, then turned around in hopes that north would be better. It wasn't. Certainly there's been some less-than-ideal precipitation and wind to go with it, but the trails had obviously not been groomed or maintained for many days. The classic trails do not have any tracks set and the skate deck was poor at best. The skate trail did have classic tracks, but full of debris and had not been groomed recently. Not to say the trails wouldn't benefit from some fresh snow, but it's been a good snow year so far and just needs some grooming and attention. Mostly it's ice, pine cones, leaves and sticks; nothing that will permanently damage your skis, but certainly enough to leave marks on your bases and make classic skiing nearly impossible. Crossing my fingers for some grooming tonight.

(Marit Ross-Sonnesyn)

Had a nice ski, both skate and classic, from OO trailhead South to Gravel Pit (and back). Trail is in good shape, even if some offshoots are not groomed (e.g., easy strider). Skate deck is well packed, and southbound tracks were better than Northbound (from OO trailhead)- deep enough toward gravel pit. Some spots of sticks and pine needles, and periodic acorn caps, which is why B instead of good skis. Classic required popping out of the tracks occasionally to avoid debris and low-hanging branches. Temps were cool enough for good glide and trail hadn't filled up yet in the morning, but definitely people pouring in as the temps were rising while leaving near midday. All in all, a fantastic time on this ski highway.

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(Pieter DeHart)

Somewhat mixed conditions, mostly good to excellent. Started at the north end and headed south on the skate trail to the OO system which was listed as groomed Saturday. Smooth and firm with two sets of classic tracks on one side. Clean in the open areas, with quite a lot of pine debris in the wooded areas. The OO trails were groomed today and were clean and silky smooth. Heading back north, we jumped on the classic trail at the first sign of grooming, which was at Fire Tower. From this point back to the Birkie start area was all freshly groomed, clean and smooth (no tracks yet on most of the classic trail). Quite a few skiers enjoying the OO area trails, far less traffic further north. Beautiful winter wonderland scenery, with ample snow. Temps inching into the double digits and very little breeze. Good skis are fine if you don't mind running over sticks, needles and pine cones, which is unavoidable. Fantastic day overall.

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(Todd Campbell)

Traveled north from OO to Timber Ridge on the skate trail using classic technique. Plowed snow out of fresh tracks all the way north. Trip back in same tracks was very nice trip. Surprise when got to Boedecker - more folks had made the trip and tracks were very hard and fast even at zero degree.

(George Larson)

This afternoon, I classic skied the Birkie Trail from Hatchery Creek T.H. to Mosquito Brook T.H. The base was very good. The tracks were good with some new snow blown off the overhanging branches. The tracks also had some debris from the strong winds. The skate lane was firm and appeared to be in good shape as well with some debris from the winds. There were a few other bundled-up skiers out on the trails. Stay warm, and Merry Christmas!

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(David Martin)

Was a great morning to ski from OO South to Gravel Pit. Big shout out to the trail crew - great tracks. Temperature probably had nothing to do with traffic at 10 below.

(George Larson)

Lots of snow on the Birkie trails, but grooming appears to have been deferred until debris clearing is complete. I saw no grooming north from OO. The loops at the Korteloppet were groomed, and quite soft. Heading south, grooming was good from OO south to about 20k, then softens after that. Lots of debris in the trail, not necessarily easy to avoid, so use B skis if you want to keep your bases pristine. Hopefully any new snow won't result in too many more downed trees and branches.

(Adrian Swanson)

Due to all the downed trees and branches not much of the Birkie trail has been groomed yet. But this afternoon I followed the groomer south from OO. The most snow I've seen here before Xmas.

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(Rick Budde)

Skied the Birkie trails around the start line. Beautiful day to ski with all the fresh snow. The groomers did a great job removing down trees from the trail and grooming the trails. The trails are soft from all the new snow but over all great skiing.

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(Charlie Rietschel)