Excellent conditions on the manmade snow loops this morning. The trails were a beehive of activity, with lessons by the Lapham Peak Ski club, snowmaking volunteers and DNR staff working on various snowmaking tasks, and the snowcat out on the trail south of Summerstage Hill doing the final leveling of the snow whales. The current trail surface is a several inch layer of snow over a firm base -- great for skating and striding. Tracks - sometimes double - have been set around the various loops. The climb up Tail End is back in good shape. Some of the best conditions of the season.

(John McCarthy)

The core snowmaking loops were in good condition this morning. Only a small amount of grooming had been done, as the plan is for the snowcat to level the piles of manmade snow from last week. That work was in process when I left. The trail surface has improved significantly from early last week, and is much more snow-like than the crushed ice we had after the rain and warm temps. There was a track left over from the weekend. I expect a new track will be set after the snowcat work is done and the trail is groomed.

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(John McCarthy)

Skied the man made loop today. That's the only snow there is around here! They spread new snow over the trail and it is in very good shape. Used my good skis. They have snow on the newest extension of the trail but it's not open yet as ice and snow chunks are falling out of the trees where they had the snow guns. Would have loved some of that snow they got south of here but this will have to do. Great job groomers!

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(Tom Davenport)

ski conditions were ok. There was a 50 yard section at the top of summer stage hill that had 4" sugar snow that required lifting ski when skating which is good practice for the Birkie later waves with the deep mush on the hill climbs. The only icy area was the sharp right turn up to magic carpet. The magic had also deep sugar snow. Most of my laps were on the 1.1k loop which had good glide and edging and enjoyable.

(Don Howell)

The manmade snow loops improved through the day, today, after the tilling and grooming and especially this evening with the skier-grooming. The skate surface is essentially crushed ice that will get rounder and finer with more grooming. The tracks seemed firm but icy and fast. You should expect to ski through ongoing snowmaking operations on the core loops. You can also expect that it won't be long before we're skiing on the new manmade snow through the woods. Stay tuned.

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(John McCarthy)

The man-made ski loop was groomed this morning, after rain most of yesterday. The entire trail is still snow covered, however there are some icy areas and the trail is quite dirty with leaves, needles and soil. We were able to break up the icy crust and make it skiable. The conditions could be considered poor, but the entire trail is skiable. No track was set. The trail will be groomed again tonight. Lights will be on until 9:00 pm. Snowmaking will resume Wednesday to build up thin areas and complete the loop through the woods.

(Anne Korman)

As of 10:00am it is has been actively raining for several hours at Lapham Peak with temperatures hovering in the mid 40's. The man-made snow loop is deteriorating quickly much to our dismay. Once the colder weather returns, we will be out working on grooming or tilling what's left of the snow and possibly making additional new snow. Thanks for your patience as we do our best with what Mother Nature is giving us this year.

(Anne Korman)

The core manmade snow loops are still fully covered, with a couple of minor trouble spots. The surface, which changes daily, is currently a zero to two-inch layer of ground-up ice on a firm ice base. There are two sets of tracks, which are shallow and look icy. There are good and bad segments, but overall, a fair to decent skating experience can be had. The base should be deep enough to withstand unfavorable weather.

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(John McCarthy)

At 9am 32 degrees, it was wonderful skiing that was fast. By 11am, it was 40 degrees and a little slower but still enjoyable.

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(Don Howell)

I skied this morning and it was amazingly grand. Nice flat deck with great edging snow. Was very fast when I started (about 9am) like skiing on BBs. The tracks looked excellent and there were many classical skiers taking advantage of them. As it warmed the trail was slowing but still in great shape. Hope it can survive a heat wave.

(Tom Davenport)