A light dusting of snow yesterday and fresh corduroy made for the best ski of the season so far. Summit, Bronze, Biwabik Spur, Laurentian and Northern Lights all groomed overnight. Summit/Bronze have gotten the most TLC and have really smoothed out by the consistent grooming over the past week . Cedar and Gold also have a nice skate deck, although I wasn't on them today. Bring your B skis and be watchful for the occasional debris/rocks until we get more snow.

Photos:

(Shawn Callahan)

Giants Ridge continues to do a commendable job maintaining their ski trails under very difficult conditions. I went out early afternoon, and it looked as though they had done some touch-up grooming - corduroy was apparent to some degree everywhere I skied (parts of Northern Lights and Summit trails), but it was necessarily thin over hardpack and scraped away under anything harder than a moderate skate stride. Hill tops and bottoms were getting down to bare hardpack with some spots down to ground and others showing brown. There were also spots where the grooming had broken through and churned up soil and leaves. Sticking to the flats and gentle slopes, I was able to get in a good 15 km at a moderate (for me) pace, pretty easily avoiding the thin/bare areas. The groomers are magicians to have kept the trails this good for so long without any significant snowfall lately.

(David Sonnenberg)

Thanks to the Giants Ridge crew for consistent grooming - conditions are very good and the xc network is almost entirely open despite the limited snow (everything except Oslo and Wynne Creek trails are being groomed). Skated Silver and Northern Lights late morning, both were groomed last night along with Gold Trail. Skate deck has smoothed out over the past week, but watch out for occasional bumps, occasional icy spots and easily avoidable debris. Grateful for 40km of variety right now!

Photos:

(Shawn Callahan)

The skiing is really great considering the general lack of snow this year. All trail segments are open and tracks set. There were light snow falls the past two nights. Saw a couple rocks on Bronze and with lack of snow depth the trail is bumpy at points but overall it's skiing paradise up here. I've skied Silver, Bronze, Summit, Laurentian, Wynne creek, Biwabik spur and Gold. Cedar is also groomed just haven't gotten there yet.

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(Cheryl DuBois)

First time on snow this season, and Giants Ridge did not disappoint. Some trail segments were a little beat up from the races yesterday, but the trails on which we skied all had good coverage, with only a couple spots with brown showing through (not bare) and a few leaves/tree debris here and there over the 11+ kilometers I skied. The groomers have done an excellent job of developing a reasonably stable base, given the minimal snowfall, and have managed the grooming to create good skating (visible corduroy to some extent almost everywhere I skied) and decent classic tracks in most places. I've seen Giants Ridge better when we've had more snow on a regular basis, but I was able to easily manage the trails without risk to my good skis.

(David Sonnenberg)

The Nordic scene is coming together at Giant's Ridge, one little snowfall at a time! All the trails were covered in a fresh dusting of snow so some tracks were well loved, while others were waiting for a fresh groom by Ginzu guy TR. Really decently good skiing all around!

Photos:

(Cheri Johnson)

Summit, Bronze, and Northern Lights trails are groomed and in good shape. Over 14km of skiable trails, B skis are a safe bet.

(Lisa Weidemann)

While the Nordic network is closed, Giants Ridge is grooming a 1.5k loop around stadium, south to Helsinki lift and back. Skate deck and classic tracks. With colder temps overnight and a fresh inch or two of natural snow (!) on top of the 12+" man-made base, it's a nice winter oasis. Note the full loop is only open mornings 7:30-9AM...once the alpine lifts open, xc is confined to stadium area only.

Photos:

(Shawn Callahan)

Only the stadium was open (absolute bare ground on trails) but it was a long and wide enough area for an hour and a half of drills. The day use fee was reduced to $7.

(Amy Brooks)