Good, but very slow conditions on the groomed trails this afternoon. Cold and windy. Lots of tracks from vehicles being used for snowmaking operations. Plenty of trails available for skiing. Be prepared to climb Two Tier as the Middle School Cutoff and the Green Cutoff are closed for snowmaking. Also Tail End.

(John McCarthy)

The skate deck of the lighted loop and the purple trail were groomed with the ginzu this morning. The tracks were left as is, and are mostly in great shape. There are still a few spot in the classic tracks that are thin or washed out on the purple trail. Please be aware that we are making snow starting this afternoon so some portions of the man-made loop will be closed over the next few days. There will still be alternate loops open to get around the snow guns. Please just avoid the closed sections while the snow guns are running.

(Collin Bergholz)

Excellent conditions for skate and stride on the groomed trails - lighted loops and the Purple trail, up top. Firm, flat corduroy on the skate deck, solid, straight tracks. Slow and squeaky from the cold, but no problems from blowing-drifting snow. Dress right, set a comfortable pace, and you will stay plenty warm.

(John McCarthy)

Mike and I had the Pisten Bully out today grooming and setting tracks on Beatles loop and Mark's park is open to play on. All the man-made and entire green and lighted loop trails are open for skating and classic. The purple is also open at the Homestead parking lot. Grooming plans: Collin from the DNR plans to be out in the morning to groom the skate deck on all the open trails. Mark plans to be out with the Pisten Bully Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning grooming up the entire trail system that is currently open. All of us who race on Wednesday afternoon or evening should have the entire 5K lighted loop. Snowmaking plans going forward, starting Tuesday morning through Friday the SnowMakers plan on making snow as the weather permits. There will be trail closures and the Pisten Bully will be out during daylight hours. Please give the SnowMakers and groomers room to operate safely. Come on out enjoy and enjoy the beautiful great outdoors at Lapham. Happy skiing!

(Beattle Adelmeyer)

It was cold but I still was sweating. Very nice ski. Few twigs and leaves out there. Gravel exposed in a couple spots (E33 area). A number of invasive buckthorn with branches over the trails. Blue and Black not all groomed. Stopped being groomed around E7 so we had to cut north to E29. Purple Trail was great but no grooming of black and blue near it that we could see. Some folks have tried to break trail, but it still looks rough. Skate skiers looked like they were doing well.

(Michael Engel)

The skate deck of the lighted loop and the purple trail were groomed this morning with the ginzu. Conditions should be pretty good. The tracks were left as is, and they are in very good shape. There are a couple thin spots in the tracks on the purple loop.

(Collin Bergholz)

Excellent conditions for skate and stride on the groomed trails this morning. These include the snowmaking loops, the Green Trail, the including the two big hills, and the Putple Trail, up top. Firm corduroy on the skate deck, solid tracks for stride. A bit slow due to the cold, with some wind-blown areas. The great conditions are the result of the Pisten Bully and it's highly competent operators, supported by the incredible park staff.

(John McCarthy)

The Piston Bully was out at night grooming the light loop, the man made loop and the upper purple trail. The skate deck was tilled and is in great condition. New classic track was set and is also in great condition. It was snowing and blowing so there may be some drifting but over all should be great skiing.

(Mark Janis)

The green (lighted) trail and purple loop were groomed for both striding and skating. That adds up to about 7.1K. Very good overall. You can access the purple trail from the green loop by taking a right at E 34 and taking the short spur to the road crossing at the Homestead Hollow lot. The blue and black sections that connect the two trailheads still have many downed trees limbs etc. The DNR person on-site said they hope to have everything groomed by early next week.

(Patrick Doornek)

Awesome morning on the upper loop! Upper Blue/ Black is ungroomed, very deep, and has low tree branches from what we could see. Single classic tracks were good, skate deck was great but a little soft. Best snowscape in years! Come and enjoy!

Photos:

(Dave Loescher)