Great day for skiing at Battle Creek! Tracks were fast on Pond and Prairie loops. Tracks were perfect (more traction) on North and South Tree loops. Uphills were firm, downhills with turns had sugar at the turn. The sunshine felt amazing!

Photos:

(Meg Brady)

The classic tracks were very good except the A climb tracks were icy. Also, if you go to the right to pass slower-climbing skiers, you will end up on dangerous, ungroomed, glazed corduroy. The skate deck was only fair in many spots. The snow was pushed off many turns and where people snowplow on the downhills leaving piles of sugar snow and glazed boilerplate which my skis cannot edge into. There is loose sugar on all the climbs. In many places, the deck was so hard, my poles were slipping rather than digging in.

(Jim Lasch)

Some ice in classic tracks; skate deck sloppy on downhills and one uphill near stadium. Kick moderate. Overall good shape.

(Patrick Boylan)

Thanks to the Battle Creek 50K race crew for putting on a fun (epic!) 50K race this morning at Battle Creek despite the low snow and cold temps. The volunteers who raked snow into the washed out areas were incredibly helpful, as were all of the other volunteers. The grooming crew did a good job making the best of the hard-pack deck, and it was in better shape than I expected, with the downhills being manageable. And it was great to see the sun out today - made a big difference.

(Bill Oyler)

I made it out on Saturday morning before sunrise. There were about 10 of us there enjoying the -2F weather on the trails. The classic tracks were in very good condition. There were some icy spots, especially going up some hills, so needed to step out of the tracks to get up the hills. Otherwise, the groomers have done a Great job keeping the trails in very good Condition.

(Shane Meisner)

Cold weather shouldn't stop you from your ski! Skate deck was firm and held up well. By the afternoon there was some boilerplate spots in the expected areas on corners but nothing egregious. Up hills had loose snow. Great to get out but made man snow will crystal up in the cold weather. Maximum abrasiveness so get that hard wax on. No issues with glide and I was on Blue at 10F?

(Peter Johnson)

It was cold at Battle Creek this morning, but the groomers had once again worked their magic and turned yesterday's beat-up trails into very nice skiing today. The skate deck was solid with good corduroy on the Pond, Prairie, South Tree, and North Tree loops. There was still some loose snow on the ascents, but not so much as to bog down the skis. The descents were fast, but very controllable. The classic tracks appeared to be in good shape throughout, and when I jumped into them on some run-outs, they were also fast. The only down side was the 10-knot wind out of the northwest, but I was still able to spend two hours of very nice skiing at Battle Creek this morning.

(David Sonnenberg)

Races/Meets for the upcoming week: Sunday, January 5th (50K Race) 7am-1pm, Tuesday, January 7th (SSC) 3:30pm-5:30pm, Wednesday, January 8th (IMAC) 4pm-5:30pm, Thursday, January 9th (MEC) 3:45pm-5:15pm. The trails will remain open to the public during all races, but please be mindful of the high volume of skiers expected during these times.

(Thony Thao)

Manmade loop has improved significantly with continued grooming since Wednesday. Cold temps were holding the skate deck together and I didn't notice any ice patches except for the a little boilerplate at the bottom of cowabunga. Classic tracks were quite icy and abrasive - wax for durability!

(Spencer Davis)

Put in 10 miles today on some fast snow. The trails have some extra sugar on top of icy washouts in some spots. Flats and hills were still in really great condition thanks to the grooming efforts. Hills are a little scary for me as a novice in these conditions. Slowed way down on decents but still put on my fastest mikes of the season. A and A2 climb was great!

(Brock Flowers)