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)

The stadium area is currently groomed and usable. The rest of the trails are still in various states of repair. Grooming plans: I should be able to get additional trails open by tomorrow. Thanks!

(Joshua Wickert)

Trails remain closed today. The rain and warm weather did a number on the trails. We will be using today and tomorrow to get some snow pushed into some bare spots and rebuild some trail bases. The immediate plan is to get an access and a return from the upper loops where there is still good snow. We will be making some snow when temperatures allow. Thanks again for your patience.

(Rob Adams, Ramsey County Parks)

With the warm weather and current rain, the trails are closed. We will evaluate the state of the trails when the rain ends and make a decision then as to whether we can reasonably repair the trails or not. Thank you all so much!

(Joshua Wickert)

At an 11:00 am start with a temperature of at least 36 degrees (maybe 38 according to Google), trail conditions were good to very good, varying from frozen corduroy to light sugar to deeper corn at the climb out of the end of the North Tree Loop. At the right-hand curve at the middle of the Horseshoe Trail downhill, I think enough snert had bled thru to slow me a lot on my first lap, not as much on the second one when I kept tighter to the inside of the curve. Cowabunga was in superb condition. There was occasional bark litter at scattered spots along the tree-lined portions of the trail. This was my first time here since early in the season back in December and probably only my third time since snowmaking was added. Can't overstate how impressive a trail system it is given its small footprint and how great a job the groomers do.

(Keith Carlson)

What a beautiful morning at Battlecreek. I am amazed at the magic the groomers have pulled off this season. Snow was firm and fast this morning, 8:30 -10am. A few icy patches and spots of debris but easily avoidable. Not much sugar at the bottom of the hills.
Heartfelt thanks to the groomers! I've had such a fun season thanks to you. Good luck to the kids in sections this week!

(Kimmie Sandberg)

Battle Creek was in awesome condition with a firm skate deck throughout and even a little snow flying. That was as good of conditions I've had there all year fast but not icy so even cowbunga was fun! Thanks to Ramsey County and the crew for making snow to get the trail through the section 3 and 4 meets the next two days!

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(Kevin Ousdigian)

Scheduled for this week are the section meets on Tuesday, Feb 6, and Wednesday, Feb 7 from 8am - 5pm. As these events are exclusive use, the trails will be closed to the public throughout the entire day, both before and after the section final meets. This decision is made in an effort to preserve the snow, especially considering the challenging weather conditions and consistently high lows at night forecast for this week. There is a possibility that the closure may extend for the remainder of the week, but we'll conduct a thorough evaluation on Wednesday to determine the appropriate course of action.

(Thony Thao)