The trails were groomed and a classic track was set this morning. There were additional trail segments open. Just one word for the trail conditions: Fantastic! Many thanks to the groomer (John) and to Rochester Park and Rec.

(David Greymont)

The snowmakers are closing up the loops! Really nice to get some speed up and do multiple variations of a figure 8 around the trail. Great snow conditions. Freshly groomed this morning. Thank you, snowmakers and RASC!

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(Melissa Broski)

Great for having no natural snow! It is so nice to have this option in Rochester— big thank you to everyone who worked to make the snow happen! I used good skis but there were some thinner areas at the road. Classic tracks were present essentially throughout the groomed areas. Good number of people out today. Connections will make it even better!

(Jennifer Dens Higano)

Trail conditions continue to be quite good, with a very nice base of snow and classic tracks set. No snowmaking today, but they were pushing the existing snow around, looks like the loops will be connected soon. Definitely the best skiing in the area! :-P.

(Amy Hocraffer)

Conditions are excellent at Gamehaven, thanks to our fantastic groomers and many others who have helped to make this XC skiing park a reality! I classic skied laps on the 0.75 km cross-country loop today. The skate deck also appeared to be in excellent condition. The section that I skied is amenable to your best skis, as long as you stay in the human-made tracks.

(James Martenson)

Machine made trail is now an honest 2km, but the footprint is not what the final trail will be. Classic track was only on about 1/2 Km today. Tilled and groomed. Excellent skiing. Grooming plans: The snow guns will be pulled out on Wednesday morning. Once the equipment is out the road crossings will be groomed and we should almost immediately have more trail open, and there will be loops instead of just out and back. After that the crews will work on the snowy mountains to the south. Thank you for your patience. The best thing you could do to support this project is get out and ski. Second best is give feedback to City Park and Rec, who have spent a lot of time and money to make this happen. We need continued support to make this work.

(Jim Bennett)

Very nice trails with great grooming and well set classic tracks! They were making snow while I was out today and have almost connected the loop. Right now there are two segments, each shaped like an "e" so you only have to do a turn around once per lap, which is a nice improvement. You can ski across the road that separates the two segments, but it's just a small bridge of snow and they are driving equipment across it throughout the day, hence why I recommend B skis (everything else is beautiful). If you park at the lower parking lot, you can avoid the giant hill, though that hill is also groomed and looks quite nice now that kids are back in school again and not sledding on it all day.

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(Amy Hocraffer)

Roughly 75% of snow-making loop is open and beautiful! Tracks are stellar for the classically oriented skier and the skate deck, though slightly chopped after ski team practice today, is equally good. Why drive to Winona or Hyland when the skiing is this good locally?

(Joey Furst)

Enjoyed getting out on the only snow in Rochester! Managed to get in 5+ miles going back and forth on the man-made snow, so definitely looking forward to some loops being formed: and that could be soon, based on the progress the snow movers were making this afternoon. Since I don't enjoy the fast downhill adjacent the sledding hill, I was happy to learn there's a lower gravel parking lot off of 45th St SE (shows up in Google maps as "Gamehaven Lake Access") that I'll use next time to access the trails.

(Luke Cossette)

Pros: The snow that has been made is nicely groomed and in good condition. Fresh corduroy around 9:30 this morning. A whole team of snowmakers and Roch Parks employees were out working this morning making snow and moving snow. Cons: The trail is like a series of cul-de-sacs- no continuous loop. Hopefully they are working to improve this as no one likes to do 180 degree turns in the middle of their ski. Lots of good quality groomed snow is all the way across the sled hill. Kids can't stop their sleds on such a steep downhill and could cross into "skiing" areas, which is a hazard to both skier and sledder. Long walk on gravel from lower parking lot, not great for ski boots.

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(Melissa Broski)