Snowmaking loop is partially open, between 1 and 2k of rolled gold! The trails that are open are fabulous, but there is a snow-bridge at the end of the hill runout that's worth riding B skis for instead of your best.

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(Joey Furst)

The grooming on the man made snow was great today. I was skating but the tracks looked nice for classic as well. The ski bridge over the road is still thin with some rocks so recommend B/rock skis if you plan to ski over that. The groomed trail mostly consisted of the big hill and a couple out and backs, it would be nice if it became a full loop at some point. There were two snow guns running this afternoon so hopefully the trails get expanded in the future!

(Scott Foley)

Came back to the car for my classic skis: freshly tilled, groomed, tracked, think about 1.5 km total now. Only place B skis are needed is the temporary snow bridge we built over the road. Great skiing.

Photos:

(Jim Bennett)

The hill and runout area are frozen granular but recently groomed - fast conditions. The park dept. has pushed out some of the new snow in the valley. Although you have to take your skis off to cross the access road, there is an out-and-back segment of new packed snow where a loop is about a 1/4 mile. Four complete laps was 1.07 miles. It isn't the most level but quite skiable. The guns were running when I arrived around noon and were later shut down to move them to different locations. It's the best skiing in town and you can spend an hour or more - worth the drive to the south of town.

(Bruce Walk)

Machine made snow was tilled and groomed last night, very nice today. No track. The only sugar snow was at the end of the runout below Storebakken. Crews were pushing and packing the next trail section. Nice to see others out skiing. My loop was 1.5 to 2Km, depending on the degree of creativity.

Photos:

(Jim Bennett)

Only Storebakken (the big sledding hill) has snow, though they're making snow now. Tried to ski the top/bottom of Storebakken but it was very icy and beat up.

(Amy Hocraffer)

Not groomed, but actually pretty good skiing. Colder temps made a breakable crust, and the fresh dusting of snow did not hurt either. Did not ski continuously down Storebakken, still pretty fast and a little tough at the runout. Did various loops above and below. Was good enough for an enjoyable three hour ski though. Grooming plans: Snow guns are going and the City plans on flattening and grooming the existing snow piles Thursday. No classic track at this time.

Photos:

(Jim Bennett)

Snowmaking trail was not groomed last night. Somewhat icy and rutted in places. Going up and down the hill was a little too exciting for me, so mostly skied around on top.

(Jim Bennett)

Santa came late but he finally got Google Maps to work, located Gamehaven, and left a nicely groomed trail on machine made snow. If one just goes straight, out and back, it's about 0.7km, though I inserted some loopys and zig zags and managed a 1.4km "loop". Was getting snow cone like on Storebakken runout when I left. Overall nice skiing, certainly best ever in Rochester after a week of 30s and 40s plus an inch of rain. BTW, would encourage other skiers to offer respectful feedback, good or bad, frequently. It's necessary to make this project successful.

Photos:

(Jim Bennett)

Took a chance and went out late morning when I thought the snow might soften up. Did hill repeats on Storbakken, starting about 2/3 of the way up until the snow got softer and I felt safe to do the whole distance. Actually not bad skiing. Yesterday the City provided some concrete, portable sign bases that I used to place temporary signage on the sledding hill. Today, it seemed like the signage helped, but it will only be satisfactory once the ski trail gets a lot of use, which in turn is not likely to happen until we get regular grooming (and some more length). I do not have any knowledge, at this point, regarding grooming plans.

(Jim Bennett)