Trail Detail
Notes
Some of the best ski trails in the metro area. Fantastic night skiing on their lighted trails! New in 2003, a 2.5K man-made snow loop.Trail Reports
2022-2023 season
Friday, February 17, 2023
Morning
posted: 2023-02-17 17:32:06
Firsthand: Classic [ Trails Open: Partial, ]
|
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)
|
Friday, February 17, 2023
Morning
posted: 2023-02-17 12:25:37
Firsthand: Both [ Trails Open: Most, ]
|
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)
|
Friday, February 17, 2023
Morning
posted: 2023-02-17 11:39:23
Firsthand: Freestyle [ Trails Open: All, ]
|
|
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Morning
posted: 2023-02-16 19:23:49
Firsthand: Freestyle [ Trails Open: All, ]
|
|
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Afternoon
posted: 2023-02-16 15:29:12
Firsthand: Classic [ Trails Open: All, ]
|
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)
|
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Afternoon
posted: 2023-02-16 13:55:30
Firsthand: Classic [ Trails Open: Most, ]
|
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)
|
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Afternoon
posted: 2023-02-15 15:45:27
Firsthand: Classic [ Trails Open: Most, ]
|
Very very icy! I classic skied the Valley trail twice. Almost solid ice. Nice deep solid tracks set. Almost no one else out skiing. Hard to get a solid pole plant due to the icy conditions. I did not dare venture out on the Lake Trail. Looked icy.
(Mark Skinner)
|
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Morning
posted: 2023-02-15 13:08:33
Firsthand: Classic [ Trails Open: All, ]
|
Yesterday's 40°F and rain turned into today's 22°F, high wind, and blue sky, which produced ice! Plenty of ice! The new skin skis did surprisingly well, though. Skied all of the snowmaking trails, which were beautifully groomed (deep, sharply defined tracks and corduroy) but mostly frozen hard. Skied most of the natural snow trails, which had shallower tracks and no corduroy, except for Northern Lights, which had some softer fresh corduroy but no tracks. Just as I was finishing, the groomers were taking a pass with some snowmobile groomers to scratch up the frozen corduroy a bit.
(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)
|
Monday, February 13, 2023
Morning
posted: 2023-02-13 16:07:51
Firsthand: Freestyle [ Trails Open: Most, ]
|
As of late morning, it had warmed above freezing, so the freshly-groomed skate deck on the Valley trail was mostly soft and well-traversed as there were a good number of skiers out. Definitely still enjoyable - kind of a pick-your-own-adventure, with faster skiing in the middle hard-packed sections and slower, softer skiing on the sides. The Northern Lights trail had just been groomed and was in mostly good condition, with alternating portions of nice soft snow and hard-packed icy sections with tiny ripples of corduroy.
(Jason Goepfert)
|
Sunday, February 12, 2023
Morning
posted: 2023-02-13 06:44:51
Firsthand: Freestyle [
] |
Skied the man-made snow loop for a bit before checking out Northern Lights Loop. Man-made was very fast in the morning while it was below freezing, stayed fast into the morning while the sun was on it. Northern Lights was rough, not freshly groomed, ice rutted or skating rink in spots from all the freeze/thaw.
(Harry Rothberg)
|
First | Previous | Next | Last |