I finally skied the yellow loop for the first time in two years! What a blast that trail is, lots of hills and incredible, silent scenery. The snow is holding up great on the yellow loop. The skate deck is crunchy and fast. It was hard for me to get traction on my kick, but it made it that much more challenging. The track for classic is non-existent on the yellow loop: don't let the first 100 feet of track make you think otherwise; it disappears quickly! Under some of the pines, there are some icy spots, but I think if you've skied the Muni before, you have come to expect this in the spring. However, these icy spots are easily passable and shouldn't prevent you from getting out there and enjoying this excellent trail segment.

Photos:

(Richard Kaufman)

I finally skied the purple loop! It was the first time all season, sadly. I skied the big purple loop and the snow was soft, wet, and very fast for skate. I loved it! Underneath the pine trees there's variable conditions: sometimes it's icy, sometimes it's soft snow that you'll sink up to your ankle in, and sometimes it's a puddle. All of these spots underneath the pine trees can easily be passed. I love this type of snow for cross country skiing because you can take big long strides and glide for quite a distance. The purple loop is in great shape, and unless there's a ridiculous amount of warming up all at once, it's going to last for a while longer in this state!

Photos:

(Richard Kaufman)

The red trail was in good condition. A few spots were water is coming through but easy to get around. Was out around noon and the skate deck was in great condition for this time of year. The sunny spots were slower but the trail was fast. I could hear the groomer on a different trail. Thanks for the great grooming!

(Deb Bergstrom)

We skated all except most of the outer yellow loop from about 10:15 to 12:15 on Sunday. Snow was definitely starting to soften already upon our arrival, but some fast skiing for the first 75 min or so. Everything in the system but the outer yellow loop appeared to have at least been touched up by the groomer, some apparently saw multiple groomer passes. The outer yellow loop was still good, though. The base is so firm that our noontime skating tracks were not particularly deep even in the slow sunny spots. I think that the afternoon sun will smooth them out. Nothing was icy. Seepage puddles on all loops were apparent but still largely frozen and easy to navigate around. Classic tracks all appeared sun-wilted to greater and lesser extents but there were still folks out enjoying them. Not sure how often they groom during the week here, but it's a nice choice for weekend spring skate skiing, as evidenced by a busy parking lot.

(Sara Zimmer)

I classic skied this morning in Superior. I skied from the 42nd St. parking lot and did outer purple and all of yellow and then came back on outer purple. The road, Billings Drive, which goes from the 42nd St. parking lot to the yellow, is not worth skiing on. It's always rough from the snowmobile's and ATVs. Everything was groomed and tracked and the skiing was wonderful. The tracks were firm and fast and it was amazing to be the first classic skier on the tracks, so they were intact, and not blown out like the red and green trails can be. It definitely pays to go out earlier in the morning or the evening, when the snow is firm and fast. Mid day skiing isn't worth it, because of the warm temperatures and soft snow conditions.

(Randy Johnson)

Groomers re-tracked all but the blue trail and groomed all but the inner purple and blue trails today.

(Jodi Saylor)

I skate skied the Superior Municipal Forest trails this afternoon on the Outer Purple and Yellow trails. They were both groomed today. The skate decks were firm and fast, but mostly uneven throughout. Drifting has been an issue on those trails lately and the 30+ mph winds today didn't help. It was still fun to ski today and fly around the trails! Classic tracks weren't redone on either trail. Whatever tracks were already in place haven't changed.

(Randy Johnson)

Skied the red and most of the blue loops this afternoon. The groomers had made it out and the snow was soft and fast. The people that passed me on the skate deck all made remarks at how good the snow was today. I have to agree with them. It was really fun on my skate skis. There's one icy spot on the red loop but it can easily be passed. Other than that, plenty of great snow.

(Richard Kaufman)

Red, Green and Blue trails were groomed today and tracked yesterday. Grooming plans: The Yellow and Purple trails were done on Friday and will be groomed again tomorrow.

(Jodi Saylor)

We classic skied the green and red in Superior today. The skate deck had been redone and was mostly ice free except for a few downhills which were not the scary kind of ice. The classic tracks have not been redone since the last snowfall from what I can tell. They are 90% ice, fun double pole derby for experienced skiers, terrifying for timid skiers. The tracks were also skied on before things firmed up so they are uneven width wise and some in our group had issues with the track catching the boot and stopping them. Tracks are 90% debris free with most of the junk being under the pines. Only 1 % of the debris stops skis and my skins glided right over it. They are about 99% intact throughout what I skied.

Photos:

(Eve Graves)