Entered Suomi Hills from Orange Lake Road. That segment had several inches of snow on the tracks since the last grooming. A fox had followed one track the full length until the turn off for the North trail head. The snow skied in well and it was very easy to turn on steep downhills. I eventually connected to other skier tracks coming from the North and South trail heads. Now is a great opportunity to check out these scenic trails.

Photos:

(Jeff Pesta)

Groomed north Suomi all trails open. Hard ice base with settled 3" of sugar snow on top made for a terrible track setting. Recommend only skiing the loops close to the parking lot and maybe the Balloon Lake loop. I only track set 1/2 of the Balloon Lake loop. Spruce Island Lake loop has a terrible track set, as the groomer slid sideways on all the side sloped areas. Worst ever grooming attempt.

(Dale Juntunen)

Groomed Amen and south Suomi up to the north Suomi parking lot. About 5" of light snow on top of a solid base. Track is squirrelly in places due to the groomer sliding, but plenty skiable.

(Randy Zupan)

Groomed and track set the Balloon Lake loop and the loop just north of the North Trail parking lot. There was not enough snow to do it justice, so that is all I did. Track set is shallow on most so I think leaving what was done last week would provide a better track to follow in the 1" of fresh snow. The loop north of the parking lot, I was able to move over on the new wide roadway and set a decent track for some of it.

(Dale Juntunen)

Packed all north Suomi trails. Track set most. not much more than a base pack, but skiable. Lots of fallen branches and tops. I removed the larger ones, but trail is littered with small branches and leaning brush.

(Dale Juntunen)

Packed and tracked amen and south Suomi up to the north Suomi parking lot. Skiable with some sticks and low hanging branches from the wet snow last Sunday. Eyewear recommended and be ready to duck and weave.

(Randy Zupan)