What a beautiful ski at Hartley today. Freshly groomed and great conditions. I wasn't sure how conditions were today because I hadn't seen any postings since the ice up, but it looks like the groomers were out today after that bit of fresh snow. So grateful for those who set the tracks and to live in such a beautiful place. Get out and enjoy!

(Nathan Holst)

A little soft, but the most recent grooming has held up reasonably well at Hartley. The inner loop is in better shape than the outer.

(Dylan Chernov)

Hartley is in amazing shape. The city groomed the trail on Thursday and the tracks were firm with almost no debris. Fast skiing!

(Drew Guttormson)

Lovely late afternoon ski in gently falling snow, about 34F. Looks like the trail had been groomed today. I skied on 20+ yr old Fischer Crowns but I think warm hard wax would work. Lots of folks out: little kids, UMD students, etc.

(Anne Flueckiger)

The easy loop is fully set and beautiful! Scant amount of pine needles, but not an issue!

(Renee Allen)

Hartley was freshly groomed this morning and freshly tracked. All trails were open, and most of the trail was free of debris and good skiing. Still enough debris that I wouldn't recommend using good skis, but most people can use their B skis. Ran into a skier who was skating over both classic tracks. [ Hartley Park is designated as a classic only ski trail -- Ed. ]

(Gabriel Ehlers-Nelson)

Hartley is a bit rough. A lot of pine needles in the snow in the sections with evergreens. This makes it tough to ski through. Other sections have tracks that are washed out. It appears a tracked vehicle drove in to do some tree clearing on the inner loops which damaged some of the tracks. Inner loop not open. I'm going to hold off on skiing here until Duluth gets a couple inches of snow to cover up all the debris.

(Drew Guttormson)

It was a beautiful windy day to hit the trails. It was surprisingly comfortable and easy to stay warm. Some of the inner connector trails were not groomed, though they did have a ski in track. The outer loop was fully groomed, though covered in a ton of debris. We have a large base, but the wind the last several days have made the surface pretty gnarly. I'd say use your rock skis because of the number of branches and pine needles down. Your chances of damage are minimal, certainly not from rocks, but it is really messy. Nothing but a few inches of fresh snow will fix it. It is worth accepting the conditions for what they are and getting out and enjoying the scenery.

Photos:

(Adam Schwartz-Lowe)

Looked like Hartley had been recently groomed on the outer-loop. Inner-loop was groomed until H at which point there were down trees in both directions, so most of the inner loop is not groomed. There is not much drifting, and the tracks were well formed in most places, but there is a lot of debris on the trail (hence rock skis). The debris was significant enough to make it challenging to ski in most places. There was one down tree on the outer loop which was challenging to walk around because of thigh deep snow.

Photos:

(Gabriel Ehlers-Nelson)

Winter wonderland in beautiful Hartley Park, for sure. The outer loop was groomed after the heavy snowfall but not since the 3-4" of fluff that followed. Skiers have skied the light stuff into the tracks making for a lovely ski, though my skis swam a bit in the tracks. The inner loop hasn't been groomed, but skiers have made their own tracks. I didn't ski the inner loop, so I'm unsure about what obstacles might remain on that trail.

Photos:

(Fritz Anderson)