Skied man made snow loop this morning around 9:30. Half an inch of fresh snow made it slower than yesterday but all very good.

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(Bernard Cerles)

Did Monarch from the nature center (the main park entrance was very crowded, with the parking lot full, though there was space in the beach area parking lot.) The most hair-raising part was getting from the NC parking lot down the ice floe to the trail start. The trail was groomed and they had done a good job chopping up the ice. Some sections (nearer the nature center) had shallow tracks, and some short stretches were down to a single track. Some ice, but mostly not too bad. Tried the turnoff to Creek, but that hadn't been groomed recently and was pretty much all ice, so I turned back. The long loop on Monarch had better tracks than nearer the nature center. From what I saw of the multi-use trail, it was a mixed bag. Some bad ice near the crossing of the nature center road, seemed Ok near the Monarch intersections. Monarch was very lightly used - more deer tracks than pole sticks, and I had it to myself in late morning.

(Laurie Ford)

I skied Valley, Lake, Creek, and Northern Lights between 10-11am. The review is: much better than expected. Thank you groomers. Valley showed no signs to me of the recent weather, and Lake and Northern Lights were in nice shape with just a few icy patches. The one trail I hesitate to recommend is Creek, which was extremely icy for the first half or so until about where the Monarch trail intersects. The other thing to watch out for is a large, unavoidable patch of ice at the base of the steep hill on Northern Lights (i.e., after the first small downhill and before going up the steep hill). I say B skis because of the ice, but otherwise coverage was excellent. Don't write this weekend off for skiing like I almost did!

(Andy Poppick)

Perimeter trails were in very good and fast condition. Creek was icy on the climb and on top of ridge. Other than that it was great. My fastest skate of the season to date. It was 32 degrees; used FastWax Yellow LF.

(Keith Carlson)

I was very surprised and pleased this morning at conditions on the natural snow trails. Only Eagle, which is glazed with ice in not regroomed since the rains is in poor condition. The groomers did a great job of reclaiming the skate deck on Lake and Creek trails. They are very fast, with what's probably an icy surface underneath, but there's good corduroy on top, and all hills are manageable for a moderately competent skier or better. Lake, Creek, Monarch and Northern Lights have new classic tracks. They are shallow and icy in spots, but remarkably good in others. Classic was far better than I expected, with a few spots where putting on the brakes was prudent, at least for me. Kudos to the groomers! The snowmaking loop was in excellent condition.

(Ken Tobacman)

Only skied the man-made Valley loop, and it was in great condition. The classic tracks were deep, solid, and fast - but not icy - so it was possible to get some grip on the hills. Switched to skating, and the deck was freshly groomed and solid. Because it was still cold, the corduroy was a bit hard and was getting scraped away somewhat by skiers, but overall still quite pleasant.

(Jason Goepfert)

Skied only the man made snow loop. Hard and fast snow under a thin veneer of corduroy. Some slipping out in downhill curves but very nice overall.

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(Bernard Cerles)

Trails on the man-made snow loop is groomed and great for fast skiing and corduroy. I skied for almost 2 hours and maintained a 4 min/km pace. Great for Birkie training.

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(Randy Hochstein)

Classic skied several of the Elm Creek trails this afternoon. Some were groomed and some were not. Valley Trail - Tracks very good (OK for good skis). Northern Lights Trail - Tracks OK (OK for good skis). Lake and Creek Trails - The piston bully worked up the skate deck a little but did not set new tracks. 15% icy Eagle and Monarch Trails - No new grooming. Just the old tracks that were rained on and are now very icy. All icy.

(Mark Skinner)

I only skied the Valley (manmade) trail as I was classic skiing and I can't imagine there being any tracks out on the Dark Side. Faster than blazes in the track... might've been faster than the skate lane. Good, hard corduroy in the skate lane. Could've used some more klister (I had on some Rex Gold that had worked the last 2 times I was out) and it was working OK but I mainly did double-poling and single kick double-pole.

(Mark Lahtinen)