At press time, local ski and snowmobile groups provided the following snow report:
Banadad Trails
Spring Banadad Bulletin (March 27): “This past weekend three parties skied the entire trail. Reporting on conditions along the trail, each group stated that the trail remains in excellent shape. While the track early in the morning was frozen hard, light snow that has been occurring overnight during the past few days has mitigated the potential icy conditions. With over 20 inches of snow on the ground, it is likely that the Banadad will remain open and ski-able well into April.
“Also it is crust skiing time! Conditions are perfect; you can ski anywhere on the frozen snow crust. It’s almost effortless skiing, especially if you use the skate-skiing technique. Crust is best after a few days of thaw conditions followed by cold nights. Every day is different, so just go out and see what it’s like. Crust sets up best in the mornings, and sometimes the sun will soften the crust too much by midday or early afternoon. If you hit the right conditions, it’s great going. Crust skiing takes place on the Gunflint from the end of March through early April. When conditions are right the lakes are turned into giant flat ski trails, enabling skiers to travel from lake to lake and to get into remote BWCA lakes.” See boundarycountry.com for all the latest.
Bearskin
March 23 update: “It’s been a tough week to decide what to do with trail grooming and decisions will continue to be challenging over the upcoming weekend. A typical spring skiing situation. We still have a lot of snow, but melting from the more direct spring afternoon sun can create a very hard surface on the trails. But in spite of daily afternoon melting, our trails stayed reasonably good. A dusting of snow in the tracks kept conditions from deteriorating. By Tuesday, however, that wasn’t working. Bob went out with the Pisten Bully tiller and did Summer Home, Campground, Lit Loop and Oxbow Trails. Tilling can be a gamble, but guests who skied afterwards were quite happy with the results. Bob is going out again today to till Lower Beaver Dam, Poplar Creek, and Bear Cub. On the plus side, at this time last year we had grass on hiking trails. If you are a skier, late season conditions are still better than no snow!” Call (218)388-2292 for all the latest conditions.
Gunflint Trail/Cook County Ridgeriders
The riding is still good on the Gunflint Trail, but probably won’t last much longer. According to Sky Dan’s March 29 report: “The riding was good last weekend if you were fan cooled or rode later in the day with the liquid sleds. The trails were just too hard to get good cooling early in the morning. The good news is that the trails have plenty of snow and should be good again this weekend for late season riding. The best trails were the G-Trail to Musquash and back down the X-Trail. The State Trail was groomed last weekend and had many compliments from riders I met. The new Blueberry Trail that goes up to the Grand Portage trails was also in great shape. I encountered one bare spot the size of a bushel basket in over 160 miles of riding.
Also, the off-trail riding was excellent. If you could see it, you could ride on top of it and go anywhere. It may get soft by the weekend so be careful. The off-trail snow is still 3 to 4 feet deep in the cut areas and you could get in pretty deep. I would expect to find the trails in a little rougher shape up near Poplar and Hungry Jack lakes where they all join together. The southern exposure and extra traffic has it getting pretty thin but it should be passable. Remember, it is spring riding, so just get out and enjoy the day. It’s not over yet but it would last much longer!”
Dan urged riders to check www.boreal.org/RidgeRiders/ for the latest conditions.
Golden Eagle
March 25 comments: “Both Golden Eagle and Bearskin were out tilling on Wednesday and Thursday. It is typical spring ski conditions. The cold nights and tilling have made for a very firm base. Conditions can change rapidly this time of year so it is best to give us a call (218) 388-2203 or (800) 346-2203 to get the most up-to-date conditions.”
Lutsen Area
The Pioneer and main Deeryard Lake loops were powertilled March 24. The trail surface was solid ice but the Deeryard and East side of the Pioneer turned out quite well. The west side of the Pioneer was very difficult to groom and did not turn out very well. Expect good skiing with spring conditions. This may well be the last groom of the season, the groomer reported. See norpinetrails.org for current conditions.
Sugarbush Trail Association
Trails are expected to be in good shape through the weekend, and a number of them have been recently groomed. As of March 26, there was a packed base ranging from 8 to 20 inches; snowfall for the season totals 106 inches. See www.sugarbushtrail.org for an update.
West End Snowmobile Trails
On March 16, the Lutsen trails were a mixture of good and bad. “Trail conditions are still good until you get down close to Lake Superior where the snow is getting thin. Back in the woods the riding is still good but with this warm weather it’s day by day,” reports Steve Bragg of the snowmobile club.
No Reports
As the season winds down, there were no recent reports filed on the Bally Creek trails, Pincushion and West End snowmobile trails. Thanks to all of the local organizations and businesses who provided weekly reports throughout the winter season. See you in the fall!
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