Calling all classic skiers: the tracks are an absolute gift during this otherwise extremely frustrating winter so far. Fast and really clear of debris. Did not skate but the deck was quite firm/frozen in places. Grateful for the tracks. Get there before the Loppet tomorrow and enjoy while its cold.

(Erin Wichtoski)

Corduroy groomed on a hard packed skate deck. With the colder temperatures it was much different than skiing in the 1"+ sugar snow on Tuesday. After adjusting to the conditions I was able to ski the 1.1 mile loop 2 minutes faster in the faster conditions. The magic carpet was controllable. Hopefully with good grooming like today, the ski conditions should be OK for the Lapham Loppet Saturday.

(Don Howell)

Firm base and stiff corduroy that's slowly breaking down into a fine powder as it gets skied over. Fast and flat skate deck. Great for intermediate and above skiers. A bit of a challenge for the less experienced and the timid.

(John McCarthy)

The man made loop was groomed by the Piston Bully Thursday night. A new classic track was set and the skate deck was tilled. Expect soft sugary snow again tomorrow. Our poor trail system keeps getting beat down by the warm weather. It's getting thin in areas. Thanks to the trail gnomes who shoveled snow onto a few of the thin spots, that was greatly appreciated.

(Mark Janis)

Warm Temperatures on Wednesday have softened the man-made snow. Grooming was not possible overnight. The trail surface will be loose sugar snow today. Grooming will continue when temperatures allow. Lights will continue to be on Monday through Saturday until 9pm. The Lapham Loppet will take place on Saturday, the Evergreen Parking lot will be full with participants until the afternoon. Please plan accordingly.

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(Colton Kelly)

At 8:30 it was 33 degrees and cloudy and the skating deck was ok on the 1.1 mile loop. The magic carpet was good with a little rutty at the bottom which was not a problem. It was amazing how the groomers were able to restore the trails after 46 degrees yesterday and not any colder than 31 degrees last night. We left at 10am after skiing 8 enjoyable miles as it was getting slower with 42 degrees and sun.

(Don Howell)

I was out again with our sweet Pisten Bully early this morning. I tilled, groomed, and reset tracks on our entire 2.4 k man-made snow trail system. I also re-groomed and set tracks in Marks park and Beatles loop. The 46° weather and sunshine yesterday was not kind to our trails, we lost more snow again. I think skiing will be OK today, and then we start our Wednesday night race series tonight.

(Beattle Adelmeyer)

I had the Pisten Bully out early this morning, and our whole two point 4K man-made snow trail system is open and skiable. I also groomed and set tracks at Marks park in Beatles Loop. The snowmakers, the DNR, and the groomers have really been busy since last Friday evening. We have re-made snow for the third time on our 2.4K man-made snow trails. Our man-made snow trails are completely open, including parts of Marks Park and Beatles loop. Because of the warm temps, grooming has really been challenging. We are experiencing lots of sugar snow or ice crystals on much of our trail system. We are hopeful that sometime soon mother nature will cooperate and give us some of her sweet snow. Until then, please enjoy what we have. Peter Jenik and his grandson Bryce were out making the snow castles for this weekend's Lapham Loppet and ski fest weekend yesterday afternoon. The trails should be in somewhat decent condition for tomorrow nights ski league race and this Saturday's Lapham Loppet.

Photos:

(Beattle Adelmeyer)

The man-made snow loop was groomed early this morning with new tracks set. Conditions should be good. A portion of the "Warm-Up Loop" is closed, but there is a full loop open.

(Collin Bergholz)

I would describe the conditions overall as good to, in some places, very good. Only a portion of the manmade snow loop was open this morning. They were making snow out on the prairie. There's a sufficient amount of snow on the roughly 1 mile loop that is open. Deck is in reasonably good shape. Hard, flat deck, covered in most places by a couple of inches of granular snow. The volume of the granular snow made it challenging to work on good skate technique. One small frozen pond area on a downhill, but does not cause any problems. One area at the top of the hill that is the remainder of a whale, that needs compression and smoothing out, but again, not a major challenge. Tracks are set for classic, but I don't know their quality. Nice to see all the kids and first time skiers out there today. I expect good to excellent trail conditions on Sunday. With the sun and nice temps forecast for Sunday, those training may want to come early if they want to avoid crowded trails.

(Sandie Pendleton)