We enjoyed a blue bird afternoon skiing the classic trails that had been groomed earlier in the day. No ice, a few leaves, but no branches. The groomers have done an excellent job with the amount of snow available. Conditions were good to very good.

(Rob Wixson)

Robert groomed the skate side loops last night. He feels they are mostly decent for skiing, but if doing Long Rider and Bruce's Roundabout he advises B skis due to stretches where there is stubble sticking up along with new fallen oak leaves and occasional dirt patches. I groomed most of the classic loops this morning. With less and less snow to work with the tracks for the most part are holding up well, with good coverage almost all the time. The exceptions would be Oak Ridge and Lions Pride where extensive clearcut logging was carried out on Northern Highland State Forest land last summer. About 2 or 3 kilometers on those two loops, along with a similarly exposed piece of clearcut along Hair Raiser have left some stretches blown almost clean of snow down to hard ice underneath. It's a very short patch on Hair Raiser that has iffy tracks. I skied Doug's Folly, Short Cut and Wild Thing this afternoon on my good skis and found mostly good tracks.

(Will Maines)

Recently groomed skate deck, thin but not enough to hold you back. Attached pic is of the worst spot (was on Long Rider). Occasional leaves and leaves from todays strong wind but not bad. Some areas of single pieces of brush poking through. Tracks looked mostly good, a little dirty here and there.

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(Brian Ciske)

First one out. Conditions were great, there were a few spots with branches down but beautiful trail otherwise. I did 5.8 Miles total and completed lions pride.

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(Maggie Carter)

Skied almost all the skating segments - 11 miles total - and had a great time. Groomers have done an admirable job with meager snow. There are widely scattered lumpy stretches and dirty patches, but mostly it's good- to very good-skiing. A little soft and kinda slow today, but it should set up nicely over time.

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(Rick Bie)

Finished grooming all trails yesterday afternoon and evening. Classic loops for the most part are good to very good with decent track set on all of them. Finished grooming skate loops in the evening. They vary from mediocre to very good. There are patches here and there of stubble still sticking up or a little bare ground with leaf litter, but a couple skiers I talked to said overall it wasn't bad. Wouldn't you know it, after all that grooming I woke up Saturday morning to a fresh half-inch or so of snow on the ground with very light snow continuing. Overall conditions should provide for quality ski outings.

(Will Maines)

Just finished grooming all but Long Rider and Bruce's Roundabout on the skate loops side of the system. Those two are planned for tomorrow. Also, finished this afternoon grooming and setting track on all classic loops. I tend to be a tough grader when it comes to ski conditions, but today I can thankfully say that the classic loops can be considered very good to excellent with tracks set on all loops. Very little litter. The skate loops I finished I would rate from fairly good to very good. Some loops have a high rise in the center of the trail left behind by logging projects last summer. The loggers graded most of it when logging was completed, but in some places it will take more snow to level things out. Overall, skiers of both methods should find good to great skiing now.

(Will Maines)

I arrived mid-afternoon just as a band of heavy snow came through. The inner loops had just been rolled - I believe out to Mary's Frolic - but I went ahead and plowed through Long Rider/Bruce's Roundabout, 3-4 inches not yet tilled, with my best skis. Dry, buoyant snow made for pleasantly fast conditions. Very little remaining stubble although the narrow course and minimal base using the available grooming equipment results in a significant crown.

(Duane Jacobson)

I arrived around noon with the temperature around 34 degrees. I skied Long Rider and Bruce's Roundabout. The skate deck was not particularly firm but not soft either. Control on the steep downhills with sharp turns at the bottom was poor. I crashed on four of them. The deck slowed down considerably about an hour into ski. There was a lot of stubble showing through the deck. The skate deck was shallow with turf showing through in a number of spots but it was easy to navigate around them. All things considered, I would rate conditions as fair. It ended up being more of a workout than normal on a course that is a workout in even the best conditions.

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(Jim Gantz)

With about four inches of fresh powder on the trails this morning I was able to roll all loops with the panning bar down behind the roller. Rock hard ice underneath but decent coverage of snow. Not enough to set track but mostly fair to good skiing for both skate and classic. There are patches here and there with stubble sticking up due to not being able to mow until early December when extensive logging operations were completed. Until I can set tracks, classic and skate skiers are welcome to ski all loops even though the system is normally split with skate loops to the west and classic groomed loops to the east.

(Will Maines)