Skied most of the system today, including the multi-use trail. The Multi-use was really nice, with what looked like very recent grooming. Best skied clockwise. Don't be fooled by the big ice patch on the first uphill section. After that (which is easy to work around going uphill), the rest is really nice with just a few easily-avoidable ice sections on a few flat areas. Eagle (groomed now only for skate) was also really nice. Monarch, Creek and Lake were OK, again with recent grooming, but were a little rougher. Careful of the usual ice and bad spots on the big downhill on the NE side of Lake, and where the trail joins up with Northern lights. Northern lights was really icy and hard packed, tough to get an edge. Valley was great of course.

(Keith Gilbert)

Valley's artificial snow was frozen corduroy in the sun-exposed sections but okay in the shade, the bridge is once again snow-covered and skiable, other than occasional ice Lake was groomed and the fastest, easiest skiing in the sun-exposed sections and Northern Lights return was groomed and very good. It was 17 degrees and partly sunny. I used FastWax Blue LF, which was okay in the sun-exposed sections but slow in the shade. Teal would have probably been better. I was caught by surprise by how cold it was. There was a pretty stiff NW wind compounding the unusually low temperature for March. Fortunately once I got off of Valley unto Lake I was pretty well protected from the wind. The only time ice was a possible issue was at the start of the downhill coming off the ridge on the north side of Mud Lake where snow melt had refrozen into a couple of glass smooth ice puddles. I got thru with no problem.

(Keith Carlson)

Thank you to the groomers for aggressively grooming at a daily rate on the outer trails. Started from manmade pool at 12 and skied northern, valley, eagle, nature, monarch, and lake. As great as can be expected. Classic tracks are great for the most part and softening if you time the ski. Overall corduroy when the classic tracks are not there was very good. Normal problem spots. Fantastic spring skiing the last three days at Elm. Thank you groomers!!

(Emil Pedersen)

Did Lake and Northern Lights. Tracks are reasonably good throughout, with some shallow sections. Only the little stretch by the picnic area had burnt-through tracks (as well as on the boardwalk). The ice patches are growing, but only a couple are problematic. I used my rock skis, but it wasn't necessary. Very little debris, and only a couple of scratchy ice flies. The tracks were deep enough to keep you from sliding sideways on the slopes parts of the trail. Mostly a really nice ski.

(Laurie Ford)

Skied the Lake and Creek trails and they were recently groomed but soft with some major ice pools that obstruct the entire trail in parts. Could have safely done another loop but was finding it hard to get much glide and switched to the snowmaking loop. Conditions there are good - the deck is very firm and fast but I had no problem getting an edge. If you're classic skiing I'd recommend hopping out of the tracks when you go over the boardwalk to the natural snow trails. Good coverage on the skate deck on that bridge but I could see the wood poking through the tracks.

(Chris Frenier)

Superb conditions. First-class grooming with a combination of natural and man-made snow. A few slightly icy spots, but almost perfect. My wife and I had a blast. Should be great tomorrow.

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(Julio Ojeda-Zapata)

Lake trail and Northern Lights were fully tracked, with good snow. The only icy patches to watch for were at the start (before the boardwalk) and the last downhill on Lake, where you go down to the lake level. The sunny stretch by the picnic area had some parts where the tracks were melted and ground showing, but you can get around them. The wooded/shady return through Northern Lights was great, though tracks were getting shallow along the road. No tracks on Creek or Eagle, but husband said the deck was excellent. Great grooming job, and a wonderful day to be out.

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(Laurie Ford)

March skiing is so fun! The tracks were fast tonight at 6:30. The skin skis were perfect for these conditions. The deck for skating appears to be getting packed hard and a little more challenging to get an edge.

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(John Crellin)

I skated on the Creek and Northern Lights trails this afternoon. Creek was rolled and had no tracks, it was fairly soft but they had just finished rolling it when I started. There were some slushy spots where the rain had puddled but they were avoidable and skiable. Northern Lights was rolled with no tracks and was fairly firm. There were three classic tracks going out Eagle trail from Creek. Another big thanks to the groomers!

(Tom Harris)

Skated Elm both yesterday afternoon and today. Thursday I stuck to the manufactured snow and Northern Lights trails. I used my good skis and found the trails perfect and rocket fast. Friday I used my B skis and went out on the great unknown. First, the long bridge is closed, melted away. TRPs has a good detour over the multi-use bridge, back up the multi-use trail to the Creek/Lake trail. The run from Bottenaeu down to the bridge is a bit icy as with the multi-use trail. Once on the Creek/Lake the trail is great till you cross the multi-use again. Some icy spots again until the Eagle cuts off. Great conditions on the Creek until the Creek and Lake meet up. One concern is the sharp left at the bottom of a hill on the Creek, a bit icy. The Lake has bare spots (avoidable) once it leaves the Creek. The challenging part comes after the two trails combine. Three items of concern. First the is a narrow strip of asphalt showing, it is icy but there is a sneak route on the right. Second on down hill to the lake there is an ice flow on the left and bare hole center. Most WW paddlers would rate this drop a class III/IV. You can portage either side. There is also a hero route on the right. After negotiating the spots the trail is icy and will kick you to the right. Let it. Ride it out, it dump you in to what is left of the track. Lastly past the little bridge there is a trail wide spot. The route is on the left.

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(Craig Schulz)