Trails 100% open again today with 95 km groomed. The weather sure has been cooperating. Five groomers out this morning taking care of the trails. We are 100 % open with very good conditions. Early morning groom crew of Pig Heart, Crasher, Wide Track, Wully Bully and Patner took care of grooming this morning. All skate lanes regroomed and all classic tracks reset. A few thin spots under the Christmas Trees or steeper downhills but not many. Grooming plans: We will be back out in the early morning doing it again since it is snow again!
Note: The owner of Windy Ridge Nature Preserve was very disappointed on Dec 25 when Ridge Runner was closed (trail closed sign in the center of trail facing forward) and several skiers skied past the trail closed sign. He turned a few of the younger skiers back and shared a picture of an adult skier passing one of his trail cams. When a trail is closed, it is closed for a reason (mainly safety). Do not ski on closed trails, please.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

What a difference a day makes. Five inches of fresh snow saved the day for classic skiing at ABR. Snow in the trees provided a scenic background for nicely groomed classic trails. Temps in high 20s made for a comfortable day. Lots of Twin Cities high school teams enjoying the day.

Photos:

(Chip Treen)

We received 6-7 inches of new snow last night, starting at midnight and ending at 8 AM. Full crew of five groomers were out at 6 AM getting the trails ready. After several passes, 90% of classic only trails were tracked and combination trails groomed for skating and classic. At noon, the groomers were done with their shift. All trails are open except Ridge Runner. 87 km open for skiing today. Grooming plans: Full groom crew is planned again early morning to reset tracks and regroom skate lanes on all 95 km of trails.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Only a few flakes of new snow fell overnight, I am not sure it was visible on the webcams. Widetrack and Pig Heart headed out grooming the skate lanes again early morning and all but Ridge Runner was groomed with two groomers renovating skate lanes of about 45 km of skating. Meanwhile, Crasher reset classic track on Tamarack 2 track, the Highlands and Deer trail. 21 km of new classic track. The new set classic was highly rated as cold dry powder. The skating was highly rated 9 AM to about 2 PM. The trail deteriorated with skier traffic as the day went on, but morning skiers were very pleased. Yes, there are some very thin areas under the Christmas trees and on the hills. Grooming plans: Pig Heart, Widetrack, Crasher, Wully Bully and even Honey Badger signed up for a groom routine at 6 AM. We will post pictures again when the conditions are more consistent. With 95 km of trails it is easy to post a misleading picture. I hope our reports are enough to make your travel and ski decisions (I see I need to reset the web cams).

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

A big thank you to Widetrack who came in on Christmas morning to groom with Pig Heart. We groomed about 37 km of skate lanes and they turned out much better than we both expected and better than skiers expected. The thin glaze from last night churned up into fine powder and provided a fast surface butwas very skiable. Classic skiers opted for the groomed skate lanes as opposed to the glazed track except on the flats where they enjoyed double poling with little effort. Grooming plans: We plan to have three groomers out early morning regrooming. We will redo some classic tracks, if we get new snowfall. If we don't get new snow, we will retrack Tamarack one side.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Merry Christmas! Today's temps warmed up to 36F. Skiing was super in the morning but got slow in the afternoon. We did not receive any rain, thank you. I did touch up grooming this morning on 15km of trails, the trails were looking good, Tracks were looking good. Grooming plans: Wide Track and Pig Heart are heading out in the morning to groom Christmas day. Not sure if we will reset classic tracks unless we get new snow, but we will give it our best for making a day of skiing on Christmas. Open 9-4:30 for skiing. Forecast is very favorable.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Skate-skied River, Memory Lane, Popple Flats, and Pit Point combo trails. Used my good skate skis on the wider combo trails. Good snow coverage. Good skiing where it was rolled with fresh corduroy. Getting warm and slow at end of ski with temps in upper 30s.

Photos:

(Ken Kuznia)

Classic skied Wolf Tracks, Otter Slide, Tamarack Two Track, Bard's Bump, and part of Sunrise. New snow from a couple days ago and grooming/tracking thereafter helped make trails much more skiable. There are many tracks that are good skis worthy, but there are some tracks that are still thin like under pine trees or some single track, so I would use B skis for classic.

Photos:

(Ken Kuznia)

Just a few flakes of new snow today, however with the temps and humidity, skiing was rated very favorably. I plan to do some touch up grooming in the early morning and maybe a bit of shoveling on the Highlands exit hill. Lots of kilometers open for skiing, most is quite good. A few disappointed customers this week bringing coolers in the ski shop. The lunchroom is not open, the heated change room building is open (please check our web site for COVID plans for more details). Sorry if we are erroring on the conservative side with our COVID rules. You need a face mask to enter our ski shop, three people at a time. You need a mask to enter the rental shop, three people at a time. The heated wax room is closed but there is a wax bench in the unheated barn with porta potties and cabin supplies. Drinking water faucet is on the wax barn labeled with reflective sign. If you have a season pass or the driveway ticket booth is open, stay in your car and drive by at the drive thru. Purchase your ticket, show your multi day pass or season pass and go enjoy 85-95 km of trails!

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

The new snow groomed up well this morning. We groomed all 95 km and have 87 km open for skiing. We were able to set new tracks on all trails except we elected to not set classic track on the combo Highlands Trails until we finish shoveling in the exit hill and we did not set track on Darla’s Diversion. There are a few spots here and there where the groomer brought up some leaves or grass (under the conifers) but skiers were quite happy with the conditions. We are open 9-4 in the ski shop Christmas day and New Years day; ski trails open 9-dark every day. A few cancellations on Rustics and Houses rentals. For the busy Holidays, check our website or call for dates.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)