Really nice at 10am. Hardened up last night and reported as icy early but by mid morning it was perfect. Used HS10 Swix with some structure.

Photos:

(Kevin Wendland)

The skate deck was firm and fast around 6:45am. Decent even on Willow and Star. From the looks of it, the tracks were fantastic. A few spots with dirty deer footprints, so B skis are probably best. A huge thank you to the groomers for keeping the trails in fantastic condition -- I'll continue trying to get out early while it's below freezing and the snow is fast. Sign said the trails would be closed from 8am-5pm for Sectionals on Monday Feb 5 and Tuesday Feb 6. [ Check the high school racing calendar for a complete list of sectional meets, Feb 5-9 -- Ed. ]

(Conor Hussey)

At 10:00 N start, It was around 38F degrees. The trail was wet corn and thus very slow. I herringboned a lot of uphills. Downhills were still reasonably fast. Boulder had two lanes between relatively small snowplow wakes but it was still scary at the bottom as I step turned the final curve leading into the intersection with Scenic given the amount of speed I carried into it and the difficulty step turning in the wet corn. Given the conditions, l really felt for the high school racers who were competing there.

(Keith Carlson)

37 degrees and really quite good skate ski conditions on the Frog Town and Scenic Foothills loops. Star and Willow were more beat up and slushy, presumably due to the older snow. You can tell that the newly repaired snow sections are quite a bit cleaner. Overall some great skiing considering the weather!

Photos:

(Bill Oyler)

Wonderful groomed conditions on the entire manufactured snow trails. Kudos to groomers! 27 degrees - sunrise ski.

(Jamie Peters)

All of the snowmaking trails are open and were in very good condition this morning between 9 AM and 10 AM. Temperature below 27° F overnight caused them to set up nicely and the grooming was very good. There were some high school conference championship ski races going on when I was there. They were doing classic and I was skating, so it was pretty easy for me to stay out of their way.
The steepest uphill sections were a bit, turned up, but not too bad all things considered. The descent from Boulder Ridge was fun. Not too deeply furrowed or too big of ridges. Classic tracks looked very well set.

Photos:

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

Beautiful moon lit morning for a ski. First day in a long time without fog. Classic tracks were firm and fast. Skate deck was immaculate. Looks like they are going to be having a race some point today as the classic tracks were groomed uniquely. They have the path looping right at the top of willow and left bypassing star loop. But it was nicely groomed all the way up and past the foothills.

Photos:

(Scott Greymont)

Skate skied Hyland this morning starting at 8:15 am. Was very surprised at how nice it was and how much it has held up. Nice job groomers and thank you! Once out on Frog Town, Rolling Meadows and Boulder I only came back down to get to car. It was very soft on Willow but good all the rest. Stayed firm on the climb up out of Boulder By-Pass all the way to top of 2 way section. Great to be out!

(Jill Cooper)

At 11:00 am start, trail was in generally good condition. With temp around 31F degrees, the flats and downhills were fast and sugar-free. The last Willow climb and the NW Star climb were the only ones with deep, wet and rutted sugar. There appeared to be three lanes between the snowplow wake on the Boulder downhill. I did the left, outside lane that had been swept clean down to the hardpacked base. Probably the best choice. Lots of grade school and possibly younger kids in bibs. Once again thanks to the groomers for maintaining such good conditions in challenging weather.

(Keith Carlson)

Well groomed all the way around. Track was actually firming up as the morning went on as the temps dropped just enough. Boulder uphill was mashed potatoes and Boulder downhill was icy with churned up snow. Everything else was as good as could be given the weather. Deer are adding lots of muddy prints crossing the trail.

Photos:

(Scott Greymont)