Great conditions this morning! Fast and firm skate deck with only a few leaves in the woody sections. 21 degrees at the start, and four other vehicles in the lot at 5:45 am. Thanks BC crew for maintaining the trail so well!

(John Greene)

Figured it'd be quiet with the World Cup going on across town, and indeed it was. A handful of us had maybe the best skate deck of the year on the snowmaking trails at BC this morning. A bit puzzled at the selection of trail segments they have groomed and opened and those they haven't, but I'm sure there's a method to the madness. Nothing new opened since they got Cowabunga and Winthrop back on line.

(Jay Lyons)

We have reopened Cowabunga and Winthrop Ridge leading back to the Stadium from the upper loops. We have also groomed Prairie Pass so returning from the upper loops via Slipback you can use the pass to get back into the stadium. The natural snow trails have been rolled and groomed. The classic tracks are very shallow and in some places there wasn't enough snow to set tracks. For the natural snow trails I would advise rock or B skis if you want to venture out onto the natural snow trails but if you are looking for different scenery and big hills you will find them.
Enjoy the weekend!

(Rob Adams, Ramsey County Parks)

Also inspired by the master's early morning post, headed out to BC with the classic skis to pay a visit to the natural snow trails we've missed so much this year! Happy to see they'd been rolled. No tracks, of course. Sorry to say their skiability looks to be ephemeral. The snow on Silver and Enchanted Forest is holding up pretty well, I think because it's more shaded. World Cup is sadly already rock skis only. Anywhere the sun was hitting it, the black dirt was starting to show through in spots, and you know that means. One sunny uphill is already dirt all the way across. Also skied a bit on the manufactured snow trails, the tracks were in great shape but it's still a limited loop, a little under 2K. Pond loop, half of the Prairie, Cowabunga and the Winthrop Hill, and the east practice area are all still ungroomed, closed I guess although some people had skied them anyway.

(Jay Lyons)

After reading Ahvo's delightful and positive trail report this morning, I headed out about 10:30 am for a ski. The snowmaking loops are still in their limited form and they appeared to be working on repairing some more sections, but the natural snow loops had been rolled (surprise!) and provided a fun jaunt off the usual loops. Not packed, no tracks set, and could feel the ground through the snow with poles, but overall decent coverage and fun. How nice to have winter conditions for the time being! A huge thank you to the grooming crew at Battle Creek! You all are fantastic, and have done so much with so little "winter" this year!

Photos:

(Rachel Obermoller)

Before sun rise ski at Battle Creek trail system, including Silver and Gold trails. Perhaps my most enjoyable ski in 50 years. Well groomed man made loops and then 15cm of fluffy snow to break my own trail on my old old wide touring skis! Temperature -8C, no wind. What a "Valentine treat".

(Ahvo Taipale, Finn Sisu)

Amazingly, there is still skiable snow! I was on the fence between good and B skis but no concerns using good skis this morning. The Stadium near the rec center, the start of the Prairie Loop, cutting over to the climb coming from the Horseshoe onto Catwalk and Treeloop. Lots of sugar and mashed potatoes, especially at the N Treeloop turn and the S Treeloop Turn onto the cutoff, good to practice for likely Birkie conditions. Better this morning than Monday night! Get there while it lasts!

Photos:

(Christian Franken)

The meet on Monday, February 12th from 3-5pm is cancelled.

(Thony Thao)

What a difference a day makes! Conditions are much improved at Battle Creek. Less than 2K open, but a fun little figure-8 with great grooming.

(John Kendrick)

Skied 9:15-11:15 am. Should have gotten out there earlier. What's open is the stadium, the top half of Prairie which gets you to the cutthrough to the climb to the Tree Loops, the less-steep outer climb to the Tree Loops (I think of it as the "B climb" since the steep one is the A climb). Then the Tree Loops and the descent back to the top of the stadium. It clocked out just under 2K - we got 19.4K for 10 loops. Almost the whole tree loop is deep mashed potatoes, along with the climb there and the descent back. The stadium and Prairie is better. All in all, not great skiing, but skiing, which is a minor miracle. Probably a microcosm of what the Birkie's going to be like if there is one, so legit training I guess, if not the most fun. Thanks to the groomers for doing what they could, I'm just happy to be able to ski.

(Jay Lyons)