All the main trails in Superior have now been groomed for skate and classic. Yellow was groomed and tracked yesterday and was a bit soft last evening, but it had firmed up nicely by this afternoon. The purple trail through the woods was groomed and tracked today and is a little soft, but like the yellow will likely be firm tomorrow. The purple does, however, have quite a bit of white pine debris here and there, some of which was stuck fast into the base and couldn't be removed by our scratching and pulling (thus the "B" ski rating). Red and green trails are smooth and firm after several days of grooming. Not exactly fast conditions at -7 and snowing, but enjoyable nonetheless.

(Todd Campbell)

We skated and classic skied the SMF green trails today and they were in great shape! This was our first time on a groomed trail this year, what a treat! The skate deck was fresh cord, the tracks were about 2 inches deep and solid. There were two or three areas of ice but easy to avoid. Talked to groomer who closed the warming shack early today, he said it will normally be open until 2 or so and they are working on something that will allow it to be open until around 8pm. There are lots of lights, it will be very bright at night! He said they are also figuring out how they will keep the snow off of the solar part as it was covered. Well worth the price of the pass and the drive over because they groom daily and you know what you will get!

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(Eve Graves)

SMF's red, green and inner purple trails were classic tracked and rolled for skating today. Amazing corduroy! Skating was a real pleasure. I double poled in the classic tracks and the tracks were firm and fast. I spoke with the groomer and he said they will try and get to the outer purple and yellow trails tomorrow. Wonderful trail conditions for this early in the season for Superior. There were a couple of frozen spots and soft spots, but easily avoided.

(Randy Johnson)

Pretty good conditions for skate skiing. Last week's storm, which dumped 24" of snow on Duluth, resulted in about 8" of an incredibly dense, wet, snow/slush mix in Superior. This was followed by 3 or 4 inches of light powder the past couple of days. Consequently, we have a very solid compacted base of about 4" on our trails, topped with an inch or so of packed powder. The red, green, blue (partial), and "flat" parts of the purple trail were groomed today (about 12 km) with no classic track set. Conditions are variable, including a mix of firm, soft, smooth, rolling, flat, and uneven surfaces. There are a few patches of frozen slush. The groomed trails are relatively clean, with the exception of the blue trail, which, being narrower and deeper in the woods, is rougher and dirtier. The yellow trail was cleared yesterday and will hopefully be groomed Monday. All things considered, quite nice for mid-December.

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(Todd Campbell)

Superior received a decent amount of snow allowing for the trails to now have around 10" of base. However, what we did get is very wet and the trails have a lot of standing water on the flats as well as flowing water in the drainages. Snow is quite soft and although crews are actively packing and grooming the wet conditions are hindering our efforts to get trails to firm up. This combined with a significant amount of debris on the trails has the overall ranking of our system at poor conditions for now and skiing not really being advised. Cooler temps are expected and weekend grooming operations are planned for Sunday.

(Russ Behlings)

Base snow is around 3" but there are several wet spots in the low areas and drainages. Lots of debris showing through and a decent amount of sticks down from the winds. Overall the snow we received is very wet and will need time to set up. Crews worked on grooming the Red and Green trails today and plan to be out the rest of the week continuing to groom. No track at this time and conditions are still poor until we receive more snow.

(Jodi Saylor)

I skate skied tonight! Yes, under the new lights! Technically, SMF is not officially open yet. It looks like the groomers rolled the trails this afternoon and the snow set up beautifully for a night ski. Yes, we do need more snow, but all the trails have enough snow to ski on for now. There are some "rough" areas under the pine trees, as would be expected, but I could fly down the trails without any issues. It was a balmy 32°.

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(Randy Johnson)

Not groomed for classic. Dirt, roots and pine needles in several areas. Good time to bounce pole. Skiable but not great.

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(Meghann Jones)

Initial trail rolling is taking place but base snow amounts are still minimal and lots of debris still showing through, so no grooming at this time.

(Jodi Saylor)