Lilly's remains good for skate/classic, good or B skis. We skipped Eagle and lake today due to a few icy spots, B or rock skis. Grooming plans: Grooming planned to fluff up any ice tomorrow, but minimal base in sunny spots may make that difficult. Hoping for snow. Photo: the new Lilly's hill.

Photos:

(Deane Johnson)

Snow depth 6", no new snow, 2-3" hard groomed base. All trails are groomed for skating, and Lilly's, Eagle, and Lake also for classic. Lilly's is good, Eagle fair with some icy patches on south exposed hills after a high of 40 yesterday. Clockwise is better on Eagle. Photos are Lilly's (clean) and Eagle, with the spot covered in fir cones, probably cut down by a red squirrel.

Photos:

(Deane Johnson)

Conditions are good to fair, with some twigs and debris, especially under trees. New snow is coming down, probably an inch. Snow depth is 6" with a firm base of 2". All trails are open and were groomed today. Lilly's beginner loop has a classic track, others DIY till we get more snow. Sunday open house from 1-3 is going again, with free ski rental that day. Hikers and dogs are welcome on snowshoe trails but please not on ski trails.

Photos:

(Deane Johnson)

I arrived half an hour before sunset on Friday just as the friendly groomers were completing the job. They had regroomed all trails for skating except Troll, which they only groomed up to the base of the hilly portion on both ends. Only Lilly was tracked for classic. Conditions were much better than I expected, given the thin snow. I ended up skating all trails Friday evening, and had a blast, even though the brutal wind was bringing down twigs and cones as I went. On Saturday I returned with three others. Initially I did classic, but I got frustrated with the debris grabbing my kick wax so I switched to skate, which was slow due to the intense cold, but still very enjoyable. The un-regroomed hilly portions of Troll were more challenging, but still doable. Two of my friends were satisfied with classic, even on the untracked trails. I presume they had waxless skis. Thanks groomers! You rescued my weekend, since I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get in any skiing at all on this long-planned trip up north.

(Lois Braun)

Good conditions again this week, and into the weekend if you're quite hardy and love subzero temps. No new snow, but total snow depth about 6" and packed 2-3" base on trails. All trails are groomed for skating, Lily's has a classic track. Some windblown seeds, etc. on the trail and expect more of this, otherwise snow is really nice. Good skis on Lily's, not sure about Lake and Troll.

(Deane Johnson)

We have 4" new snow on a 1" icy base. All trails have been rolled and packed, not enough snow to groom tracks. Lilly's loop beginner trail is good, others fair for skating. Lake is a little rough. Classic skiers have been out, DIY tracks. Lilly's hill has been redone to avoid private land, and the result is a wide, fun hill that leads to a long downhill cruise.

Photos:

(Deane Johnson)

We have 2-3" snow on the ground, with no new snowfall this weekend. Trails have been rolled and Lilly's (easy) is marginally skiable, with leaves and grass poking through. They were cleaned and mowed fairly closely in the fall, which is the only reason they are open at all! The hillier trails are not recommended, and full grooming with tracks will require more snow. Lilly's was redesigned to relocate trail off the edge of some private land, and in the process, the hill was widened and other segments moved into a long downhill cruise that should be loads of fun. We're also working on a new groomer, which should be fully operational in a couple weeks. Snowshoe trails have all been cleared and marked, so those are usable for hikers/shoers right now. Hikers should stay off the ski trails at this point, through ski season. MN Ski pass required on ski trails, not needed on snowshoe trails.

Photos:

(Deane Johnson)