Yet another day of splendid conditions for skate skiing at Hyland! Skied all of the snowmaking trail three laps between 12:00 and 1:00. I missed the sunshine and blue sky of yesterday. On the other hand, with an air temp of 31°F, there was no softening yet, and the overnight grooming was still in great shape. Even the big downhill from Boulder ridge was great, with no snowplow wakes and just the right consistency to go fast but maintain control. Classic tracks also seemed well set.

Photos:

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

I skied the man made snow trail (skate) this morning. The trail continues to be excellent. The last few weeks have been the best conditions of the season.

(Brad Mlynar)

With wind chill of around 9 degrees it felt more like January 30th than March 30th. Excellent overnight grooming, per usual, at Hyland! Skate deck is in great shape and classic tracks are nice and firm and fast, great for double-poling. Best conditions are definitely in the morning due to the freeze-thaw cycles of spring. Nice to have the full 5K man-made snow loop in perfect shape so far into the "spring"!

Photos:

(Bill Oyler)

I found conditions on the snow making loops (did not ski Boulder ridge) this evening a mixed bag. Any south facing slopes were rutted and icy from refreeze of softening snow and skier traffic during the day. Tracks were firm throughout and generally icy. Grip was particularly excellent with skins on the Frogtown hill and returning sections of the Star loop. Natural snow trails are open but not recommended. I skied the Lake loop last on March 21st and it was in tough shape then. Thank you to the grooming team for a great season!

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(Ben Ruhme)

Skied the last two days. Groomed each morning and conditions excellent as temps begin to rise and sun hits the trails (before 2pm). Natural snow trails not advised. Thanks to groomers and Three Rivers (and Mother Nature) for a phenomenal season!

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(Jamie Peters)

With a 4PM start, the snowmaking loop was in fair to poor condition despite the 27 degree temperature. If a trail section was sun-exposed, it was softly rutted, wet corn. Generally no trouble passing thru those sections but it broke my stride on both sides of the climb to the top of Scenic. Still no big accumulation of corn snow towards the top of the Boulder summit or on the climb after the right angle turn on Frog Town. However, the snow plow wake on the Boulder downhill was big enough to be intimidating when I skied it but I got thru okay. The challenging conditions cut my pace by 12% relative to my Sunday and Tuesday skis. Hope they can groom overnight because if not the ruts will freeze and make skiing far more challenging until the snow softens again.

(Keith Carlson)

The weather perfect, plentiful snow: the makings for a great night of skiing. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like anything was groomed last night, so the conditions were difficult; not recommended for skate. Double pole in classic track was fast (icy).

(Craig Jarvinen)

Excellent conditions for skate skiing on the entire snowmaking loop at 12:30 pm. Firm, fast snow, freshly groomed again overnight. Bright sun. Blue sky. No wind. Classic tracks were also still well set. Hills facing the sun were just starting to soften up about 1:15 pm.

Photos:

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

The snowmaking loop was in very good condition. Frozen corduroy in a few spots, couple spots of ice towards the top of the climb on Willow connecting to Frog Town, otherwise generally light sugar on top of a hard base. Still no heavy sugar, even on the top of Boulder or on the climb after right angle turn on Frog Town. No snowplow wake on the Boulder downhill. It was 28 degrees according to my car's thermometer. Thus I switched to skis waxed with FastWax Red LF. Seemed slower than my ski on Sunday morning when it was around 34 degrees. But my pace, the 2nd fastest of my season, was identical.

(Keith Carlson)

I classic skied all of the snowmaking trails between 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm. Conditions were excellent for my skin skis. Tracks were well set. Conditions were fast! Temperature was about 34°F. It had been sunny earlier, but it was cloudy while I was skiing.

Photos:

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)