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)

Groomers opened a nice little loop with a figure-8 in back at Battle Creek. The snow is very soft but skiable. Coverage is actually pretty good but there are rough spots and some dirt.

(John Kendrick)

We have opened up a couple of trails to allow for access to the Upper and Lower Tree Loops. The route up is: Stadium>Prairie Loop until Prairie Cut-Off>Prairie Cut-Off>Cat Track>Tree Loops. The route down is: Tree Loop Return>Slip Back>Stadium. If weather and time allows, we may be able to patch up some other trails in the future. Thank you all for your patience!

(Joshua Wickert)

Stopped by Battle Creek at 9:30 this morning. The stadium is groomed, but the trails are currently closed. Crew is hard at work getting the trails back in shape and skiable. One snow gun was running. Hopeful the trails are skiable tomorrow. Many thanks to the crew for all the hard work this winter. [ While the sign clearly says 'Closed', Ramsey County groomer Joshua Wickert did groom and reported the stadium part of the trail is open -- Ed. ]

Photos:

(Mike Casserly)