Classic skied the Golden Eagle side, logging camp, Deer mouse, Red Pine, then drove over to Bearskin and skied Bear Cub and Poplar Loop. Coverage was good, but periodic dirt and stubble under a tiny dusting of new snow (1/4 inches) made me glad I was on B skis. Temps were in the single digits, and the cold snow ripped off my green wax and binder in the first 10k. Then I switched to a pair of skis with grip tape covered by blue hard wax and skied another 17k which also ripped all the wax including the grip tape. Grooming was recent, skate deck was firm and tracks were well formed. It was great to ski on natural snow that wasn't iced from last week's rain.

(Tim Nelson)

The trails received a dusting of snow this morning. Beaver Dam and surrounding trails were recently groomed and perfect for skating. Classic tracks looked great too. There are a few dirt sports and divots that can easily be avoided. It was the best skiing I've had this year and a nice break from the sugary ice-snow in the metro area.

Photos:

(Melissa Kittock)

The groomers have done a really wonderful job working with last week's warm-up! Most trails are in excellent condition. Ridge Run and the west side of Old Logging Camp have sticks coming through, but good skis are still workable if you slow down and do some evasive maneuvers. Worth it for the views! The deck is cleaner on both trails than the tracks. BWCA section of Old Logging Camp is a debris field at present; I'd avoid unless you're looking for that experience. There are a few spots to be cautious on steep downhills - I'm thinking of Red Pine - where skiers during warm weather made large ruts in the deck. All in all fantastic skiing; considering conditions everywhere else right now, we're blessed to have such great trails and grooming!

(Alex Leslie)

Our group skied most of the system. Overall, conditions were pretty darn good with decent coverage on the skate deck and a couple roots/rocks appearing in the classic track at times. There were a couple places where the trail had been well loved but groomers were out this morning into midday restoring the skate deck, hurrah! A couple places still had ruts from skiers going through while the snow was warm, thankfully most footprints appeared to be well off to the side of the trail. Classic tracks were full depth in many places and just affected by the occasional thin spot. They had groomed the BWCA section of Logging road with a classic track that was pretty shallow and very squirrelly mixed in with a fair amount of debris. Enough areas of the occasional debris to recommend B skis unless you're just going to stick to wide open trails like the campground loop or summer home. It appears that the only closed trail is Moose Ridge wither everything else open.

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(Ketzel Levens)

Skied most of the GEL trails (Logging Camp, Crossfox, and Deermouse) and all were in good shape for skating (tracks looked good). Skied around West side loop to Bearskin side. That trail groomed up nice for skating. The classic tracks didn't look great in many spots. You should perhaps use B skis for West Loop but the rest of the GEL trails you could use good skis if you're skating. Summer home road was in great shape. Beaver Dam was overall in good shape. A few spots with dirt tilled up so B skis. But overall just really solid conditions and the best skiing in MN I've encountered now.

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(Jim Carlen)

Winter temps have returned and we have the north side of the system groomed and ready to go as of early this morning. West End Logging Camp was Tidd Tech groomed last night. Moose Ridge is closed until we get more snow. As hard as it was not to jump the gun and groom yesterday, we are glad we waited for everything to lock up through and through. Everything groomed up very well, no icy spots. Good skis should be safe on most trails. B skis recommended for West End Logging Camp. Grooming plans: Bearskin is also out grooming right now, and they have kindly agreed to groom Beaver Dam, Ridge Run, and Moose Pasture for us with their Pisten Bully this afternoon, since we can't get ours around the lake on right now.

Photos:

(Zach Baumann, Golden Eagle Lodge)

Temps cooled nicely overnight, enough to crisp up the surface layers of snow, but not quite enough to freeze everything through. We have about 1.5" of frozen snow on the surface of the trail base while the rest is still fairly saturated with moisture. Unfortunately we can't groom that. The good news is if that all locks up tonight, we should be able to groom early in the morning tomorrow. In the meantime, expect somewhat icy surface conditions until it warms sufficiently, afterwards with the temps and the sunshine today, it should soften up a bit. The classic track held in very well yesterday but the skate deck is a bit choppy in places. Attached are photos from this morning.

Photos:

(Zach Baumann, Golden Eagle Lodge)

We received some rain overnight but since about 6AM, everything that has come down has been snow. The trails faired very well with the warmer weather and wet precipitation, better than we could have asked for, honestly. While the skate deck is a bit soft in some places, the classic track is holding in very well. Plenty of people are out skiing and enjoying the conditions as they are!Photo is from 11AM today. From a grooming perspective, we cannot groom with the current temperatures. We need to be patient and let the trail base, which has so beautifully soaked up the drizzle, re-freeze, which is likely to take a few days at these temps. If we go out too early, we will just squish all the base out from underneath the 14000lb groomer. We will re-assess conditions continually, checking on the moisture content of the trail base, and re-groom as soon as the cost does not outweigh the benefit.

Photos:

(Zach Baumann, Golden Eagle Lodge)

Classic skied 20k on all trails but the Moose Ridge trail on the Golden Eagle side of the trail system. Started about 12:30 pm at 40 degrees. Saw nobody else the entire time! Good snow coverage with just a few thin spots — usually at a trail junction — and just one rock poking through the classic track on Logging Camp trail. I had good kick with my skin skis and decent glide. My sons, by contrast, tried spray-on klister but gave up and switched to skate skis, reporting "wet and slow.".

Photos:

(Steve Share)

Bearskin groomed the south side of the Central Gunflint system Friday. Summerhome and Campground are in great shape, everything else is in good to very good shape. There are a few rocks to look out for in the tracks on some of the more rock filled trails. We also groomed the Lace Lake trail, which is part of the Banadad system. It is now groomed for skate and classic. This trails is very lumpy and I would say it ranges from very good to fair.

Photos:

(Quinn McCloughan, Bearskin Lodge)