Man-made snow trails are still in good shape, but heavily packed and icy in places after Friday's ski invitational traffic. Seeing that this is the only snow in Rochester, it would be great if the trails could be groomed for the weekends!

(Luke Cossette)

Machine made loops were all groomed and tracked this morning. Excellent conditions. The Rochester Invitational high school race will be taking place tomorrow from 3-6 pm.

(Jim Bennett)

After no grooming on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, all machine made snow trails were groomed and tracked today. There is a track around the entire system, in both directions on the two-way areas. The track is not perfect everywhere, but skis really nice. Skate deck is flat and firm.

(Jim Bennett)

The man made loop was in good condition. The tracks were well set in some places absolutely missing in others (mainly around the bi-directional section). The tracks, in my opinion, were groomed a bit close to the edge of the trail in places. Nice to have a place with snow in southern MN. [ Winona also has snowmaking trails open -- Ed. ]

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(Scott Greymont)

Great skiing today, machine made trail groomed and mostly tracked. The final loop was opened today, plus another wide, teaching/ staging area; those are kind of soft and lumpy bumpy until the trail gets regroomed in cold temps. Strava says the trail is 2.8Km if skied as designed, though you can ski it in multiple ways. There will be no additional machine made sections this season. Enjoy!

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(Jim Bennett)

Groomer was out today pushing more snow around and widening the trail in a few places. Skiing was quite good with decent skier traffic for late morning on a Thursday. Used my good skis as entire trail is artificial snow with good depth. Trail length is probably a little over 2 km and you can get close to 2.5 km if an up and down of the big hill is included.

(Robb Welch)

Conditions are never perfect, but today's are pretty close. Solid, deep track, flat and firm skate deck. The snow bridge has been partially covered and groomed, so one can ski down Storebakken with abandon. I was the first to ski over the new connector to the south. Enjoy!

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(Jim Bennett)

Fresh snow on top of previous grooming made for mixed conditions, with some fast flats, deeper snow on curves, and boilerplate at the base of the sledding hill. The wind was fierce this morning, and only picking up, but that didn't seem to affect the trails too much. Uphill on the sledding hill was pretty good, without too much sugar buildup yet. Looking forward to some remaining loop connections. All told, a chilly but worthwhile exploration today.

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(Pieter DeHart)

Best ski trails in town! Well covered trails for skating from the lower section to the top of the hill. The classic tracks appear well set even with the thin layer of new snow. Thanks to groomers and park & rec! The mixed use and intertwined areas with sledders and even snowboarders could be a bit worrisome for potential collision. Sledders had a hard time stopping before heading past into the grass area. The Nordic trails cross over the main maintenance road four times I believe, and some hikers walk across the snow bridges probably because there's no other obvious way around. Hopefully the trails can be fine tuned in the following years.

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(Ian Chang)

It's so great to have some connected loops now! With a light snow falling at midday, a few folks were in the classic tracks meandering around on the fantastic base. While there is still some connectivity needed/yet to happen, one can get in plenty of either skate or classic without worrying about your skis on most of the trail. I say B skis mainly because of the narrower passage from the bottom of the sledding hill to the lower loop/closest to the lower road, as well as the snow at the top of the hill is getting a bit gritty. All told, though, there's lots of snow, wide lanes, and now some creative ways one can work on their technique and get in quite a few miles. Huge thanks to the snowmakers and groomers - what an asset!

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(Pieter DeHart)