Magical. Deep tracks with snow frosting the trees. I skied classic-only trails. Combi trails also looked great. There were two places in low-lying areas where there was frozen slush, but the new snow has brought midwinter conditions. Wish I had brought good skis up, but sadly I have to return to MSP tomorrow... So I guess I will prep the good skis.

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(Sue Schroeder)

What a great snowstorm ("Blizzard" is what we called them in the old days). We received 10 inches by 6 AM and another 4-6 inches during the day. We groomed with a 5 person crew from 6 till noon; then went back out till 3 with 2 groomers. We groomed 82 km today and tracked 25 km. Tomorrow we plan to regroom and retrack and will have all 94 km open for skiing. Conditions are very good for your best skis and for the recreational skier.

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(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Trails improved as groomers and skiers battled through today’s 12 inches. I’m predicting 94k of good ski skiing tomorrow!

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(Will Andresen)

Awesome conditions and they're still grooming the fresh snow down. Classic skied three hours on freshly set tracks with the 12+ inches of new snow. Skied loops in the River Trail area and Highlands area. Only saw one other skier. Conditions were a little soft and slow at first due to the amount of snow and lake effect texture. But, after skiing over areas once the tracks gained speed on the next loops. No bare spots or dirty snow observed. Great day on the trails!

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(Kevin Grand)

Snow, glorious snow! Took a quick ski later in the afternoon and the snow had covered all the thin spots on the trails I skied. It was luxurious to feel the powder fluffing over my boots in the classic tracks. By the time I went skiing, most of the out-of-town visitors were gone, and I had the trails pretty much to myself. Very peaceful.

(Sue Schroeder)

Even with just the first couple inches of today’s anticipated snowfall I was skiing comfortably on B classic skis, looks like skate deck is back to good skis, early season bumps going away.

(Will Andresen)

We had a great day of skiing today. The base is holding up fine. We groomed about 60 km of skate lanes this morning, and we skied on 30 km of skate trails and had 47 km of classic tracks set. With the snow forecast for Sunday I hope we can open all 94 km for skiing next week. Groomers are coming in at 6 AM and we will continue grooming until noon.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Conditions were great for the amount of snow in the area. Lots of variety in terrain and more than 45 km open to ski. All natural snow. Few thin spots here and there, but trails I skied were good for early conditions. Skied 29 km classic, with set tracks on all the trails that I skied. Definitely coming back. Thank you to the awesome grooming team!

(Kevin Grand)

Good News: The warm temps did not melt the base! The main trails were very skiable today. It is 30 degrees and the base is freezing. We have a three person groomer team lined up for early morning grooming. Flat trails with limited hills are listed in order: Deer Trail, Jacks Flats, Cherry, Blueberry 2 way, Warm up Loop. River Trail w bypass, PitPoint with bypass, Memory Lane, Jack Pine. That is about 45 km.
Bad news: I do not see us opening the Highlands for the weekend. We are closing the Peltonen Passout expert trail and we are closing the Blueberry big downhill until we get more snow. We will not be resetting tracks until we get more snow. Tracks could get slick without resetting them. I will report back about 10 AM after we return from grooming.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)

Four groomers in early morning groomed 52 k of skate lanes and set another 15 km of classic tracks on combi trails. Tracks reset on Pelty, Dog Trails, and Jacks Flats. We are skiing are on 55 -65 km of trails. We still hope to groom the Highlands this weekend and Puumala Trails to get all 94 km open.
I am just checking trail conditions in a few spots tonight. The base held up well today even with temps above 32 F. Groomers are on call for Thursday morning, looks like a good forecast for the weekend.

(Eric Anderson, ABR Trails)