Really, really nice conditions on the Upper Gunflint. We skied Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on various trails, including Amperage, Highlands, Aspen Alley and Rabbit Run. Lovely snow on all of them, all recently groomed for skate and classic. It looks like winter is supposed to look up there! We also ice skated the skate trail that the Gunflint Lodge folks are maintaining on Gunflint Lake. We used Nordic skates. The ice is not perfect but very skateable.

(Catherine Winter)

We groomed the basin loop this morning. Overlook, Rabbit Run, Aspen Alley, Warren's Road, Cut Across, Power Line, Short Cut, River Run and Lower West End. All were set with a skate deck and a classic track. The snow coverage is really good and the skate deck and tracks are setting up really nice. The whole system has been groomed in the last three days with a skate deck on all trails and classic track and are ready for the busy weekend. In addition to the ski trails we have about 10k of skating trails cleared and groomed for skating. We rent Nordic skates which are longer skate. Loaded that use Nordic bindings and skate ski boots.

Photos:

(John Fredrikson)

Visiting Gunflint Lodge and enjoyed a day of skiing lots of the nearby trails! From the Lodge at about 10:30am, we did a large loop of Overlook, Rabbit Run, Aspen Alley, Highlands to Ham Lake, and then took it home on Rabbit Run and Overlook. Lots of fresh snow and great trail conditions, although we should have checked that Ham Lake hadn't been groomed. Made for great exercise making our tracks! Later in the afternoon, we skied Big Pine and about a mile and back of Lonely Lake. All the day's snow made for some really fun skiing. Thanks to staff for maintaining these trails!

(Jimmy Canning)

Fresh snow last night so we were out grooming again this morning. All the following trails were groomed this morning with a skate deck and a classic track. They are setting up really nice and have a good firm base. The trails groomed this morning were - Overlook, Rabbit Run, Aspen Alley, Warren's Road. Cut Across, Power Line, Short Cut, River Run, Lower West End, Lonely Lake, Amperage, Big Pine and Little Pine (our lighted trail). We hope you can come up and explore our trails some time soon!

Photos:

(John Fredrikson)

We got out this afternoon to groom the 3 or so inches of fresh snow we got. We groomed Big Pine, Little Pine (our lighted trail), Overlook, Highlands, Ham Lake, North Star, Upper West End, Lonely Lake and Amperage. All were groomed with a classic track and a skate deck. The trails have good coverage. The tracks are setting up nice and firm and not icy.

Photos:

(John Fredrikson)

We were out early to hit more if the trails after the inch or so of snow we got yesterday. This morning we groomed Overlook, Highlands, Ham Lake, Northstar and Upper West End. All with classic tracks and skate deck. Trails are setting up nice and form and are not icy at all. Grooming plans: Our plan is to hit the rest of the system by tomorrow morning to have everything in great shape for the weekend.

Photos:

(John Fredrikson)

We got an inch or two of snow last night. We groomed Big Pine, Little Pine (our lighted trail), Lonely Lake and Amperage tonight. All were groomed with a classic track and a skate deck and are in good shape. Grooming plans: The plan is to get out tomorrow and Friday to have everything freshly groomed for the weekend.

Photos:

(John Fredrikson)

We were out early touching up the trails for the weekend. With the dusting of new snow the trails are grooming up well. This morning so far, we have done - Overlook, Highlands, Ham Lake, Northstar and West End. All trails are groomed with a classic track and a skate deck. The snow is setting up well and the skate deck has a nice solid base.

Photos:

(John Fredrikson)

Between last night and this morning we groomed most of the trail system. We ended up with about 8 or so inches of snow overall. The wind wasn't as bad as we had worried it would be. All of the trails were groomed with a skate deck and a classic track. Big Pine and Little Pine (our lighted trail) were groomed last night. This morning we groomed Overlook, Overlook, Rabbit Run, Aspen Alley, Warrens Road, Cut Across, Power Line, Short Cut, Upper and Lower West End, Ham Lake and North Star. Grooming plans: We are planning to get back out this afternoon to groom the two remaining trails that have not yet been done after this last snow event.

Photos:

(John Fredrikson)

We were back out grooming this morning. We finished out the A-loop. Trails groomed this morning were - Overlook, Highlands, Northstar and Upper West End. All of the trails were groomed with a skate deck and a classic track. The swamp on Northstar by the Loon Lake public landing needs more snow, but it is easy to avoid that stretch by following the public landing road. We are planning on wrapping up the B-loop later today.

Photos:

(John Fredrikson)