Conditions: Mid-January conditions?!
Amazing conditions. On Sunday I was in the Cities biking on clear, dry roads through the spring countryside, now today I'm in the middle of winter, skiing on a 5-8" base through the snowy woods at Maplelag. We skied about six laps around this nice 4K loop that Jay had regroomed last evening. Not a bare spot to be found, nothing even thin -- good skis, no problem! Off trail, there was easily 8-10" of snow still, and under the top crust, its powder. What a wild way to end of April. The big question now is will the snow hold on long enough to allow a May 1st ski on Thursday?

Photos:

(Bruce Adelsman)

Conditions: Mid-winter from 6am to 9am. Warming to lower 30's and sunshine early this afternoon.
Skied two laps on the 4km loop early this morning. Temp was only 13 when I went out and warming to mid 20's by 8am when I was done. Skate deck had set up a bit more and I was not sinking through. It was really, really nice skiing. Unbelievable for April 27th. A handful of folks hitting the trail today, later morning and early afternoon. All smiles just to be skiing. I will be grooming the loop this evening when it freezes down and should be mid winter like again early in the morning before getting soft. Best skiing will be from 6am to 9am but still skiable I imagine rest of the day. The compacted base on the groomed surface is 8-10".

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Unbelievable!! Clearing, wind almost calm and 25 degrees at 10pm.
Just came in from skiing the loop I have been packing out. I could not resist considering the conditions and fresh cord calling my name. I ended up pulling out one of the Ginzu's for the early evening grooming. Groomed up pretty nice considering all the new snow. Hard to describe the sensations of skiing on dry, fresh, packed powder on April 26th...and loons calling in the distance. Wow! The the glide was great, I wasn't sinking through really like I thought I would and felt really nice. The skate deck was a little tight and I was pushing pretty far down on the pull plants but all in all, unreal.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Snow keeps on coming and blowing and the cars keep getting more buried. Hard to say with settling, melting underneath and blowing but figure 16-20" of snowfall since yesterday afternoon.
Just packed with the snowmobile on that 4km loop when I could today since busy dealing with snow and hauling employees around. Later in afternoon was going to rollpack but that was buried in snow and I couldn't get it out. I thought I had it in a good spot, ready to roll downhill but I just couldn't connect. So I took out a older Tidd Tech drag since the Ginzus are put away for the summer(?!?!) and made a few passes with it. Mother Nature got the best of me today as I got stuck big time for the first time ever here at Maplelag and thankfully a grader was passing by to pull me out. Tonight I am going to drag out that loop a bunch of times and hopefully can ski tomorrow....but don't plan on it with 30 cars buried. When I do get the chance to ski, I am going to make this snowfall count, that's for sure.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Crazy. Everybody is walking around saying crazy. Started snowing about 2pm, light to start but now at 7:30 is is dumping and maybe up to 4" already. Forecast for are area calling up to 13". Little wind as well and I can't see across the lake (1/4 mile). We were at 29-30 temp wise all morning before the snow. No rain before the snow, so when it started snowing, the snow stuck. I rollpacked about 2km to see what that was like and the snow is dry. Not superfluffy but dry and full of moisture. The snow isn't clinging to the trees like heavy wet snow so it has the feel of midwinter. Before I go to bed (probably won't sleep much tonight) I will pack out a 4km loop and then hopefully pack this loop again in the morning. I think the best skiing from this snow will be Sunday and Monday mornings if it cools down like they say. Will update again after grooming tomorrow. Crazy.
11 pm update: A 4km loop was packed out around 8pm. The snow remains dry and packing went good. As of 11pm, around 8-9" of snow has fallen and still snowing hard. The 4km loop will be packed again in the morning. Should be some great bushwhacking skiing in the morning and skating will be soft and probably slow but for April 26th, wow!

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Mountain bike ride on MNSCS course late this afternoon found patches of snow here and there on the ski trails and still pretty soft. Needs another week of drying before trails open for riding. Singletrack completely free of snow and 75% rideable and in very good condition for this early in the year. One more week and should all be good. Think we have about a week of lake skiing which was good late afternoon once the warm temps softened the ice.

Photos:

(Jay Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Sunday morning fantastic crust cruising.
Just came in from doing Bullhead and it was great. Sun out, no wind, geese honking and sitting in any open water patch, and still amazed on the amount of snow and how nice it is. Tricky on the downhills as pretty fast and no breakthrough. It won't last much longer, warmer temps later in the week, and I am afraid the snow will be history by next week end. It has been a very special season to say the least.

(Jim Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Good for this time of the year. Lower 30s, about six inches of fresh snow, sunshine, first-rate recreation.
No grooming anymore, but on Saturday, my son and I bushwacked the entire North Loop (approaching it from the Skater's Waltz). The trail on the North Loop should be OK for a last (?) run on Sunday. Enjoy! Thanks for a great season, I hope to be back in December.

(Istvan Gombocz)

Just back from a little sun break in Brasil and hard to believe that we got such a dump on Sunday, at least 16 inches. I packed and rolled with the snowmobile, but so heavy and dense that it wasn't doing a whole of good so I just bushwacked yesterday and was out for about 3 hours and it was great. I just skied on a variety of trails, always checking out what brush and trees need to be cut and pruned and where we plan on planting 2000 pine and tamarack this Spring.
The sun was out and it was pretty special day. Can't say how much longer it will last, but for this time of year when we are between seasons, it is so nice to be on snow and to enjoy the trails.
This was a great winter, and just hope we are back now in the mode of normal Minnesota winters as we can all do without the stress of worrying whether or not there will be enough snow.
Thanks again to all of you who put Maplelag on your radar. We very much appreciate your support and your joy of cross country skiing.

Photos:

(Jim Richards, Maplelag Resort)

Conditions: Surprisingly good snow cover remains for spring skiing. While there were 1-2 bare spots to traverse, the snow in the woods has held well
With temps in the 40's, and the sun shining, it was a great afternoon of spring skiing at Maplelag on Saturday. There is snow in the forecast for tonight and/or Sunday....maybe the ski season can be stretched one more weekend before ending another wonderful winter on the trails at Maplelag.

(Glenn Gifford)