Still 100% coverage and a deep base! This morning we groomed the 6K skate deck, three passes with a little knife, and it is pretty nice. The 6K classic track is rock-solid and the icy glaze should soften by mid morning. After that I used the Perimeter Loop cut-thru at the 2K marker to get on the 8K and skate groomed about 4 km of the 8K trail. Follow the grooming and you'll finish-up on the 8K return segment to the trailhead! We are open til 9pm. No dogs, please.

Photos:

(John Graham)

I skated the 6km loop late afternoon and found it in excellent condition. It is chopped up enough on the surface to give glide stability but the base remained firm enough to keep your ski/pole from sinking. A few south facing slopes are softening but the one bare patch by the exit of the 6k is the only one on the entire trail. Thanks for keeping the trail in spectacular shape! Snowflake seems to always be the best trail to ski in Duluth this time of year.

(Chandra Shoberg)

Groomed! It was great skiing this morning and afternoon. Conditions should be very nice again Sunday when the sun gets out. Thanks so much for keeping the season going as long as there is good snow!

(Bruce Bauer)

All trails open, but only 6 k is groomed. John and Jim got out late Friday night as it froze and groomed and set classic track on the 6 k loop. It froze hard after they groomed and the classic tracks were rock hard, but not glazed ice. Swix green gave plenty of kick, and the tracks were rocket fast, except where blown over in a very few spots, mostly on the last half of Special K, and after the first time around, those areas were reasonably fast as well. I got out of the tracks on some downhills and corners, especially the first time around, to make sure I had control, and the skate lane was very fast, but had sufficient surface from the grooming to let you feel in control. Only problem for me was that in my excitement to get out there, I did not dress warmly enough for the 16 F (at 8:30 AM), and quite strong north wind. After about 10 km, I was sufficiently warm to take a couple of pics out on Special K. So great to be striding on hard wax this late in the season!

Photos:

(Tim Holst)

As soon as the temp dropped to 32F we commenced compacting the 6K trail. Very soft base despite the three day hiatus, but six passes with the compactor and three passes with the Ginzu, yielded a decent, if soft, skate deck. We then set a classic track, not beautiful but decent. Softening on the trail-sides required moving the track about a foot to the center, so skaters, please be mindful of your strider friends. With only one sled in operation, grooming the 6K took 6 hours so we did not get on to the 8K, but it is open to skiers, and a classic track skied into the right side would be welcomed! We are open to skiers, but closed to dogs due to soft conditions. Trails and chalet are open 8am-9pm this weekend.

Photos:

(John Graham)

Snowflake is closed to all activity, again, on Friday. Today's temps and forecast precip and temps tomorrow will keep us off the trails until the temps drop tomorrow night. We'll begin restoring the 6K once temps drop to 32. Our plan is to have a classic track set and a groomed skate deck by Saturday morning. I'll post weekend hours and restrictions as soon as we see how it turns out.

(John Graham)

Snowflake will be closed to all activity, again, on Thursday. Today we took a sled onto the hill and the tracks immediately went dark as the water in the base percolated up; if we compact now, we will wind-up with wet compacted snow which will go to a sheet of ice when temps go sub-32. So, we continue to drain and dry. The Friday forecast is warm, so we anticipate being closed again, grooming Friday night, and being open all day on the weekend. Trail opening will be complicated because we have only one operating sled; our priority is to groom and open the 6K, then groom and open some of the loops on the 8K around Fisketti (Spaghetti) Junction. The photo shows moisture rising in a bootprint, the dark areas being saturated from below.

Photos:

(John Graham)

The rain, wintery mix, and ice that we got starting last night have soaked our base. This afternoon, the mix switched-over to snow, which is forecast to continue thru Wednesday. This fresh snow is falling on a very wet and soft base, and if you walk/ski on it the water immediately comes to the surface. We need that base to drain and/or dry-out before we use the trails. Our plan is to be closed to all activity on Wednesday. If the base improves, we will begin compacting and grooming on Wednesday night as temps head below freezing. Right now we only have 1 operating sled. That will slow-down trail work. I will update SkinnySki and our phone message as we make progress. The good news is that Winter temperatures forecast for Friday! We are patient, and hope to restore the trails tomorrow and Thursday, we can likely return to normal, all-day hours through the end of the month.

(John Graham)

Jim groomed, so I thought I'd add comments and pictures from after grooming. 9 AM, 30 F. As if perfectly blue skies and perfectly groomed corn snow (on the 6 K loop) weren't sufficient, Mother Nature added hoar frost on the trees with the hard freeze last night. The sparkle in my soul matched the sparkle in the tops of the birches as I enjoyed yet another "best skate ski of the year" at Snowflake. Made me feel young again to ski like that, like maybe 65 or something.

Photos:

(Tim Holst)

Temps in the high 20s at 7 AM, hit the 8K. Nice hard crust not much iciness. The main issue was that it had been skied by only a few skiers since grooming, and these skiers were out in warmer conditions. So there were some deep enough tracks that I skated off to the far left on the broad skate lane. That went OK. I chose to check my speed on downhillls so my ski wouldn't wind up in a rut, which is sort of disappointing considering that the point of spring skiing is fast fast fast. Around Shovel Hill, a snowshoer used the trail for a short distance. There are tracks from this, but at least it's off to the side and doesn't last too long. I checked out the 5 K before leaving and it has had much more skating use. Enough so that ruts are probably not an issue. I would have skied it had I had the time.

(Sara Zimmer)