Pincushion Mountain Ski Trails
All of the Pincushion Trails were groomed for classic and skating Jan. 25, but staff warns that the snow under the surface is still soft in spots, so please ski with caution. In fact, that’s why the groomers used snowmobiles. Also, a friendly reminder — do not walk on the ski trails. It causes damage to the trails and can also be a safety concern for skiers. Go to pincushiontrails.org for more details.
Sugarbush Trail Association
Staff has reconditioned the skating lane on the Onion River Road and both Oberg loops, and others are open as well. No update was available at press time, but more details may be found at www.sugarbushtrail.org.
Banadad Ski Trails
With at least 15 inches of snow on the ground all 40 kilometers of the Banadad Trails are now opened and tracked for skiing. The trail base is packed snow. Visit www.boundarycountry.com for the latest trail conditions.
Bearskin Lodge
Bearskin Lodge reports:
Well the snow fell, the temperature dropped, and the trails have been groomed. We now have an additional 12 inches of snow and this morning (Jan. 27) the thermometer read slightly below zero. This is more like the January we know. Yesterday, the groomer was out all day. The snow was so heavy and wet when it fell that it made for harder work for the groomer. The wet snow weighed down many of the small trees and branches that lined the trails, causing them to bend to just about the right height to give anyone skiing in the tracks a few good slaps in the face. It made for slow grooming since we had to stop frequently to clear the trail. Nevertheless, the trails look much better.
There is now 10-12 inches of base, and no more stubble showing. Areas with large rocks are no longer as much of a problem. For a complete wrap-up, see bearskintrailreports.wordpress.com.
Lutsen Area
As of Jan. 25, rain near the lake has continued making grooming impossible. The plan was to clear trails on Wednesday and groom Thursday and Friday, but only if temperatures stay below freezing for at least 24 hours so some of the moisture can be dropped out of the snow. There is also a great range of snow, anywhere between 6 and 40 inches, with base depth varying between 2-12 inches. A total of 27 km has been groomed, and Cascade/ Deeryard Lake trails are regarded as “very good” to “excellent” condition. Also open are Pioneer, Ridge Run, Deeryard, Short Loop and Fire Tower. Visit www.norpinetrails.org for the latest information.
Cook County Ridgeriders and Grand Portage Trail Riders
Shele Toftey of the Ridgeriders Snowmobile Club said the trails all the way to Grand Portage are in excellent shape. “It’s beautiful out there — come out and ride,” she said. Up to 11 inches of new snow has fallen in recent days, and Harley Toftey has been out grooming all of the trails. For the latest conditions, call the snowmobile club at (218) 387-9392 or visit www.boreal. org/RidgeRiders/ or call Grand Portage Lodge at (218) 475-2401 or toll-free (800) 543-1384.
Golden Eagle Nordic Ski Center
The snow this past weekend was sure a welcome sight! It started with a little rain, soon turned to a wet, heavy snow, and then ended with a fine, dense snow that is packing in great. We did some preliminary packing on Monday while waiting for the temperatures to come down and some cleaning up of trees and brush infringing on the trail from the ice and heavy snow. We are out today with the snowcat, double tracking the trails and we’ll be back out in the next couple of days to put in skate lanes. Trails should be in excellent shape by the end of the week. There was 10 inches of new snow over the past week, with a packed trail base of 9.5 inches.
Visit the Golden Eagle website at www.golden-eagle.com for the latest on the central Gunflint Trail conditions.
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