I had a great time at Lester and I'm grateful for our groomers! Here are some tips for a good time. Leave your good skis at home. Park at the chalet and ski the back half of Lester, the trails there are in beautiful condition. The front half has lots of dirt and leaves, especially on the hills.

Photos:

(Kari Hedin)

Skied upper trails in Lester today. Conditions were great. A few thin spots, no rocks or branches. Nice groom. Classic tracks are not super deep and firm of course, but skied well, and so did the skate deck.

(Tjaard Breeuwer)

Lower trail groomed. No track set, but one was skied in by an expert skier, very nice and even. A few thin spots.

(Tjaard Breeuwer)

Groomed this morning and I saw them taking another pass as I left. Skate deck soft but decent, track great in 90% with some washout on corners and hills. Variable debris on trail and some patches of grass sticking through but overall decent condition given snow.

Photos:

(Gabrielle Hester)

Classic track is nearly nonexistent - just not enough snow for deep established track. Leaves and possibly dirt on top of snow at places.

(Elizabeth Toffoli)

Skated skied from A on up. Overall the skate deck was thin and uneven with many spots where the ground, leaves or grass could be seen. It got better as I went up but even still up around P there was exposed ground, leaves or grass. It's great the City of Duluth was out grooming but they can only do so much with the little snow there is right now. Keep you fingers crossed for more snow. Because of the lack of snow I would recommend rock skis.

(Nic Bacigalupo)

Fresh corduroy was nice, despite being soft and very shallow. Much of the time, pole plants were challenging, effectively planting into the ice base below the shallow layer of snow. Some areas of debris and grass poking through, but very good coverage overall. Beware, on the hill up to F, coming from K, there was a large bare spot of sheer ice. I had to take my skis off and walk up the side because I couldn't even get traction to herringbone. They were rolling the trails again while I was skiing at noon, so maybe they'll be able to cover that back up.

(Sean Foley)

Skate deck looked a little loose in places but not bad. Classic track varied between well set and decently skied in. Tracks were decently fast and packed. Some debris on the trail but easily avoidable and visible. Was still good skiing!

(Mikaela Smith)

The lights were not on and groomers had not come, but it was delightful skiing through the quiet woods in the neat tracks that were set by other skiers out earlier in the day. Trails were covered with soft snow, which was perfect for slowing down and enjoying the winter landscape.

(Sarah Schu)

Back to square one at Lester. Ice, dirt, slush, puddles.

Photos:

(Catherine Winter)