Skied Bde Mka Ska. Perfect for skate or freestyle. Bad to terrible for classic: Groomed tracks are washed out or blown over on 60-80% lake.

Photos:

(Stephen Tannen)

Windblown over about 1/3 to 1/2 classic tracks. Quick kick and glide in sections where snow not blown into tracks.

Photos:

(Stephen Tannen)

Immaculate and Divine Nordic ski at Bde Mke Ska. MadShus skinny "race" wax less classic aided me to my fastest loop this season. Sunny. No wind. Nice fellow skiers out also.

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(Steve Tannen)

Course recon #1: Skied Brownie and Cedar Lakes, plus part of the land section of Cedar, scoping out the start of the City of Lakes Loppet courses. Final grooming hasn't taken place, but there was a fairly recent grooming that roughed up the skate deck for good edging. The start area at Cedar wasn't groomed out wide yet, nor was there a second trail on the east side of Cedar. Skied down the Isles channel to see the major construction, including steel wall, which makes using the channel impossible this winter. The trail on Cedar Lake had plenty of snow and good pole plants. The small portion of the land section we skied was a little bowed, and there were some low branches just before return to the lake. The tunnel between Cedar and Brownie had plenty of snow and good clearance. Brownie was in good shape, as well as the hill up to South Wirth. No issues with good skis.

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(Bruce Adelsman)

Isles and Bed Maka Ska were freshened up this morning. Was able to remove most of the divots from walkers and bikers leaving a nice firm, smooth skate deck. The classic tracks are looking great. Also groomed the walker/biker trail that is closest to shore. Was a little chilly out there but it's gonna warm up!

(Michael Gotzsche)

I skied the lake chain tonight at 6:30. The trail was firm and should be in good shape the Loppet. Start green with some toko cold powder made the glide good. The classic track was set and looked really good. Everyone must have been hibernating tonight with the cold temps, I didn't anyone skiing:).

(Jim Williams)

All the trails on Lake of the Isles and Bda Mka Ska, including the Lagoon connection were groomed on Sunday afternoon. The skate deck on Isles is setting up nicely, but Ska is still a little soft due to the fresh/windblown snow getting packed for the first time - these cold nights should get it solid pretty quickly. There are also fresh classic tracks on both sides of Isles, and the outside of Ska. Signage was put up reminding users that the outside loop is for walkers and bikers, with the trail between the two classic tracks for skiing. Enjoy the Lakes and don't believe the hype...it's not that cold if you dress for success!

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(Craig Rittler)

Absolutely perfect day on Lake of the Isles. Gorgeous skate deck - a little forgiving but not too soft. Classic tracks looked good too. Thank you groomers! Nice to be back on the lake. Fingers crossed for a great chilly February.

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(Eric Bernstein)

This morning we re-groomed all the trails on Cedar Lake including the land route and connection to Brownie. The skate deck is perfect with classic tracks on both sides. Outside loop is for walkers and bikers, trail between the two classic tracks is for skiing.

(Brian Crotteau)

Lake of the Isles was groomed with classic tracks and doubled wide skate lane, plus a walking/biking path also set between the skiing trail and the shoreline. The wind was blowing in a lot of the eastern and southeastern sides, but overall the snow packed down fairly well. The Lagoon connection to Ska was also freshened up with some shoveled snow and tracked/packed for both classic and skate. Ska was not groomed due to high winds with blowing snow, and the Kenilworth Channel was not touched due to LRT construction. Signage will be posted soon to call out the skiing vs. biking/walking path, but were not set today due to the high winds. Now we can enjoy the Lakes again after the slush fest!

Photos:

(Craig Rittler)