The manmade was great. I went on to the Northern Lights on the natural snow and that was very good. The classic track was a little shallower and softer but kick and glide were good. The classic track is now on the left side of the skate lane which was good going up to Cowabunga as it is not the off kilter side slope now. There was a small bump in the classic tracks almost at the bottom of Cowabunga and I think I got a wee bit of air but stayed upright. Nice to be on real snow (7 inches at my place in Maple Grove). I talked to another skier who had ventured out to the Dark Side and he said it was good echoing the previous Elm Creek trail report.

(Mark Lahtinen)

I skated the outer loop (Creek, Lake and Northern Lights). The man made section was buttery soft, the natural snow had a few soft spots but they were still working on packing it. The classic tracks were missing from where you leave the whale tail, cross the bridge, up and down the hill until you leave the multi use trail and enter the woods again. The tracks looked good except above Mud Lake and near the beach, there they were thin with grass or gravel showing through. Overall I would rate the trails as good and they should get better as they set up. I talked to someone who was on the Eagle trail and he said it was a little soft. Thanks to the groomers who got them all open so quickly and in such good condition. I would skate with good skis but classic with B.

(Tom Harris)

I skied all the ski trails plus the multi-use trail at sunrise. Everything was better than I thought possible. Tracks set for all the ski trails, and multi-use had been groomed with multiple passes. My poles touched a bit of asphalt on the multi-use trail, but I never broke through with skis. Wildlife encountered: 3 eagles, 1 other large bird (falcon?), and 2 deer.

(Andor Langski)

Stuck to the man made trail and northern lights loop. The manufactured snow was in excellent shape. Felt pretty fast. The lights loop was pleasantly good. Very hard packed but skiable. Couple of things spots that are easily avoided. Parking lot was full when I left at 10.

Photos:

(Scott Greymont)

The multi-use trail was pretty good this morning. The few dirty or pavement areas were easily avoided. It was getting a little soft by noon. Nice to be on natural snow.

(Kate Karshna)

Went to Elm late this afternoon with my B-skis and a tentative plan to scout the natural snow trails. High school meet on the man-made loop forced my hand. Had to park in the overflow lot so I went ahead and hopped onto the Northern Lights Loop from there. This 1.7 km loop (turning right and going down the hill at the last intersection before reaching the man-made loop) was snow covered to the point I didn't see anything I didn't want to ski over with my B-skis. The surface had been rolled and was also somewhat packed down from some traffic. Overall, though, being a balance-challenged skier, the surface was still uneven enough to make it hard for me to ride a gliding ski before loosing my balance to the uneven surface. Better skiers probably won't have much trouble though. No classic tracks, the snow was not nearly deep enough. I noticed a few a few hand-sized patches of pavement showing through on that last stretch to the man-made loop as I transitioned over there after the meet. The base seems to be about 1/2" - 1" through there. Man-made loop was in great shape in spite of the heavy traffic from the race. Surface was fairly hard packed but soft enough to hold an edge. I wouldn't call the conditions fast but they certainly weren't slow either.

(Leif Irgens)

I skied the outermost loop this morning as that was the only natural snow trail rolled for skating other than northern lights. The snow was soft but very delightful and it was fun to get out off the regular loop! The man made tracks were very slow due to the nasty winds blowing snow around, but I stayed in the woods and the wind wasn't a problem. Overall, very good conditions and a nice time to get out and enjoy the new snow!

(Diane Thompson)

Classic skied the outer trails early afternoon today. No tracks set on Eagle, Nature Center or Creek trails. Snowshoe tracks on the Nature Center trails.

Photos:

(Mark Skinner)

Waited until this afternoon to ski, hoping the fresh snow might bring the natural snow trails to conditions that worked for me. After an hour on the man made loop, I took a left at the top of the keyhole hill and ventured about 100 yards down the trail. I found it to be snow covered but unstable, uneven and unpredictable. I turned around just short of the first intersection and went back to the hamster wheel. I saw several others either going out the Northern Lights trail at the bottom of the Keyhole or coming back in at the top so others seemed to make it around but I'll need them to be groomed and evened out before I try again. The skate deck on the man made loop was hard packed, a little slippery and reasonably fast before the snow started to build up. My fasted laps were my first two with lap times slowing by 1-2 minutes as the snow fell. Slow snow aside, it was great to be out in a winter wonderland again.

(Leif Irgens)

Holy Moley.....the skate deck was.....let's put it this way. This evening, I had the highest average heart rate of any ski I've done so far this year. I also had the slowest pace of any ski (classic or skate) that I've done this year. I was on my A-skis, waxed with -30 to +8 F glide wax and yet glide was minimal. I suspect going herringbone up the wall would have been faster than trying to find some glide. Spent most of the ski doing diagonal stride and offset. Nowhere near enough glide for me to get up to one-skate or two-skate speed except on some of the downhills. I coasted some of the downhills in the classic tracks and found them to be in excellent shape. Would have preferred to be skiing classic today but it just wasn't an option.

(Leif Irgens)