We had a beautiful classic ski this morning around Flour Lake out from Golden Eagle Lodge (thanks Zach)! There was hoarfrost on the ridges and animal tracks along the shore. The ski track held up nicely and no worries about good skis on the lake track. Pole plants were a little grabby in places but overall a smooth highly enjoyable ski. My friend also did the campground and she had a fun little downhill when skiing out.

Photos:

(Mona Hunter)

We received a light layer of new snow and re-groomed all the lake trails and the campground loop. We are holding off on touching Logging Camp, Deer Mouse, etc. for the moment as more light snow is forecast, so we want to let us much fall on the trail as possible. Our plan is to groom in a classic track on Logging Camp and Deer Mouse Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning if all goes as planned. Good skis on lakes and campground loop - rock skis on inland trails yet, for now. Everything we groomed this morning groomed up nicely. Temperatures are only expected to get to 34 by midweek so the warmer weather hopefully should not have much adverse effects. Wind is also much more moderate - it's nice skiing weather this week.

Photos:

(Zach Baumann, Golden Eagle Lodge)

Bearskin has a Lake Loop, Summer Home Road, and a loop on Aspen Lake open! The Lake Loop was very windblown, but still fun! Summer Home Road had a firm skate deck and deep tracks. There was some dirt, so B skis would be recommended. We also skied the lower part of Beaver Dam, which had a skate deck but no tracks. Would recommend rock skis on Beaver Dam, as there were roots and rocks. Thank you to the groomers for working with the snow you have!

(Abigail Scheller)

Good tracks set on two lake loops: 7k on East Bearskin and 4k on Aspen. Also good skate decks on both. Good tracks set and skate deck on Summer Home Road and Campground Road, though there is some dirt in tracks on Campground Road, which can be avoided. Other trails through the woods are technically open and skiable, but do it on rock skis and be careful. There is about 8" of snow, which isn't enough to groom in the woods. I was on wood skis and they found a few rocks, hidden under the snow. Skied here for three days.

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(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Thank you Bearskin Lodge for four days of skiing on beautifully groomed lake trails. The tracks were deep and the deck was firm. Twenty-two local women took advantage of the great ski conditions.

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(Mona Hunter)

We groomed the lake trails again this morning. They turned out great! We are attempting the Pisten Bully on Logging Camp and Deer Mouse Trails today as well. It is likely we should get a good skate deck but unlikely we will be able to set a classic track for much of it. I will post an update immediately if we are able to set a classic track on anything in the woods. Rock skis still recommended in the woods. In the meantime, we have about 12km of groomed trails on Flour Lake and in the Flour Lake Campground. Trails are groomed for classic and skate. Good skis can be used on these. There are a couple sections in the campground where the classic track did hit some dirt but the skate deck is all clear.

Photos:

(Zach Baumann, Golden Eagle Lodge)

Golden Eagle Lodge groomed a beautiful classic and skate loop along the shore of Flour Lake. Best ski we had all week. Land based trails could be better, having not as much snow cover as the lake.

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(Heidi Bertram)

We received about 4 inches of snow from the storm over the weekend. This amount allowed use to start stablishing a base on the trails that have the best snow coverage. We were also able to add groomed loops on the lakes and some of the more level trails. Currently, we have groomed a 3 km loop around the west end of Flour Lake for classic and skate. We've also groomed our campground/skijoring loop for both; a classic track was set on the lake while we were only able to set a skate deck on shore, for now. Bearskin has groomed Summer Home Road with a skate deck only. They have a skate deck and classic track on the campground loop, and on a new, 6.4 km loop around East Bearskin Lake. We recommend rock skis on land but your best skis can be used on the lakes. More snow is expected Monday night so we hope to open up additional trails soon after. We'll update again after the storm.

Photos:

(Zach Baumann, Golden Eagle Lodge)