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.

Photos:

(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)

Nordic and Skate tracks good to icy; but walkers, transients and snowshoers have mucked things up since Tuesday grooming. IMHO needs more snow. Thank you to Loppet Volunteer hand plowing snow under Bde Mka Ska bridge.

Photos:

(Stephen Tannen)

Trail spur off NE side of Cedar is very soft but skiable. In general the deck on all lakes is firm enough to hopefully stay in place.

(Duane Jacobson)

Skate skied Bde Maka Ska and Isles. Great conditions. The first tunnel from Bde to Isles is all ice. Outside of that it was okay. Two sets of classic tracks. A bit crusty but with this little snow one skier said it definitely was worth being out there.

(Tom Amundson)

The slush situation that was plaguing our grooming efforts on the lakes earlier this month has largely gotten better, and we have been able to groom Cedar, Isles, Bde Maka Ska, and Brownie. Conditions range from good, to icy in spots, where the slush had frozen. The Kennilworth channel between Isles and Cedar is closed for the season due to LRT construction. The tunnel between Cedar and Brownie is in rough shape after last week's thaw, but is passable on foot.

(Robert Ibler, Loppet Foundation)

Groomed most of the walking path around Lake of the Isles, about 4k. It's 6' wide with a classic track, mostly on land with a few lake sections to avoid the bridges and skating rink. Get on it early before it gets trampled. It's still too slushy to groom the lake trails, but we'll do that if and when the slush under the snow firms up.

(Jim van Iwaarden)

Skied Isles on a reconnaissance mission to see if I could groom it. Conditions are bad. The problem is a lot of slush that is insulated by 15 inches of snow cover. The cooler temps this weekend didn't do much to freeze it. Unfortunately it may be quite a while till it's groomable. It certainly is possible to ski it but with primo conditions everywhere else...

(Michael Gotzsche)

Unable to get groomers around Chain of Lakes due to deep slush below the snow. An effort will be made again on Isles this weekend but Cedar Lake could be several days.

Photos:

(Ken Valley)