I skied the natural trails at Elm Creek at 1 pm today. They were surprisingly good. I would say 90% of the trail was good as in good skis. There is a 100-200 yard long stretch on the creek trail that is bare ground but other than that all bad spots are easy to avoid. I did Lake to Creek to Northern Lights. The last stretch leading up to Northern Lights wasn't great but still skiable. When I first got out there I missed the turn to the Lake/Creek cutoff and ended up doing what I think is the multi use trail (it follows the paved bike trail). This trail was also very good and I had fresh grooming. There is one road crossing where you have to take skis off but this is a nice easy 7-10k loop. The manmade section was very good, a little dirty near the chalet but otherwise nice.

(Nick Raisanen)

Skied around 10 am today and saw very few skiers out. We skied on corduroy for the man-made loop so decided to take a look at the outer loop.
Once again freshly groomed with no evidence we had company. Had to double pole around some bare asphalt but everyone in my group felt like had had found a honey hole that no one else knew about. Kudos to the groomers. More snow will make this even more fun.

(Hugh Hanson)

Skied the Valley and Northern Lights. The track was firm and very fast on the manmade...faster than the skate deck. Slower stretch on the north uphill on the upper donut where the sun don't shine and the snow is colder. Northern Lights had some icy stretches in the track but the skate deck had been touched up since the previous report it sounds like. Did not go down Cowabunga in the track to avoid the slightly washed out stretch and did not quite make it over the following rise. There was a little dirty snow at the bottom. The Nano Skins worked the best since I got them last year although I did not try any waxable skis and most of it is double-poling anyway.

(Mark Lahtinen)

Man made loop was perfect. Northern lights hadn't been groomed today, but was skiable except for being hard packed and icy. Creek trail had bare ground in one place (see photo) and it looks like there will be more exposed sections by sunset if it stays sunny. The parts that were good were great, but there were several icy or thin patchs.

Photos:

(Andor Langski)

They were in surprisingly good condition this morning. I came across the grooming crew, working on the Lake Trail, and they had dumped some snow on the bare spots just before the downhill at the lake. The classic tracks on the outer trails haven't been re-groomed, but they're in good shape just the same. The skating deck was firm and fast, and not at all icy. The man-made loop was, as always, in pristine condition, and also very fast. The Northern Lights trail had good tracks and also had a fast, firm skate deck. You could glide down Cowabunga Hill, and make it over the rise at the end without striding. Great to have all this snow to ski on, after such a long snow drought. Hope it lasts!

(Ken Tobacman)

Skied almost all the natural snow trails (including Multi Use, Lake, Creek and Northern Lights trails), and skating conditions were near perfect. A few, very isolated areas where pavement and some grass was exposed, probably about 10 feet all total, but good skis worked just fine. Very few people out skiing today. I think I saw more deer than skiers on the natural snow trails. Man made snow trails were excellent also. Warmer temperatures may damage some natural snow trails, so get out early.

(Jon Clark)

I did both skate and classic skiing today. The deck is firm and fast on Valley and NL. I skied Lake also which had a pretty fresh groom on it, but not a deep corduroy. There are a couple of thin spots between the big downhill and the swimming pond which may not survive warmer weather. The classic tracks were set previously on Lake, but looked to be in decent shape. The track on Valley is pristine, minus a few leaves that were blowing around. NL has previously set tracks also, but are still in good shape. Get out and enjoy the conditions before warmer weather!

Photos:

(Brad Johnson)

Skied the lighted trails. Manmade was great - fast and solid tracks. Northern lights was very good. A few twigs in the track on the way up Cowabunga (got one in my kick wax last week...good kick...noisy glide). About 1/2 way down Cowabunga the tracks have a case of the squigglies from weekend use and a light pole is right there. Maybe get out of the tracks on the way down. Glide was fast and I made it over the rise below without poling. The skate deck was fast also.

(Mark Lahtinen)

Classic skied the far outer loop at Elm Creek. Some of the best conditions in the past couple years! Nice tracks for 95% of the loop. (No tracks around the perimeter of the summer swimming hole.) Kicked up 2 deer and a rooster pheasant.

(Mark Skinner)

Ventured out to the Dark Side for the first time this year. The boardwalk had been thin or not snow covered but it looks like they snowed it in. Classic tracks start after the boardwalk on the first uphill. They were a little soft and skied in after last night's little bit of snow but the glide was better than the manmade today. Took the Monarch classic only trail which was the same. The track disappeared on the north part of the Lake Trail along the edge of the woods where snow was windblown away there and it was also a bit thin. Saw a deer run across the trail in front of me after along the gradual climb after the long climb (saw 3 deer yesterday on the Northern Lights Trail). Trail was windblown along the hill above the north side of Mud Lake. A little sand showing after the little bridge before the swimming hole. No track there to the connection with the lighted loop as it is thin. Groomers were headed back out when I was coming in. Thanks.

(Mark Lahtinen)