Yesterday was warm, way too warm, so the groomers were out early today to attempt to soften up the icy snow. This was the perfect opportunity to try our Pisten Bully’s new track pan tillers, designed for exactly this use. Quinn and Bob were very happy with the results. This is very new Pisten Bully technology and even though we’ve had the specialty tillers for over year, conditions have not been right until now to try them. Success! Spring skiing should be even better this March with this new piece of equipment.
We groomed everything on the Bearskin side this morning, and conditions are excellent. It looks like we have a lot more grooming in our future, with heavy snow expected.Thursday night and Friday morning we are forecast to get anywhere from 4″ – 10″ of fresh snow, with increasing totals in almost every forecast.
After yesterday’s warm temperatures, we were delighted to get some fresh during the night. We groomed most of the trails this morning, stopping to make sure the trails have enough time to set up before it gets above freezing. It should be great skiing out there today!
Today is forecast to reach 34° and tomorrow gets up to 38°, then we get back into lower temperatures again. We have snow in the forecast Thursday and Friday, so these slightly warmer temperatures shouldn’t have much impact. It’s all good.
After several weeks of the consistent “snow, groom, snow, groom again” pattern that we know so well at Bearskin we have a bit of a weather change for early this week. We are warming into the 30°+ temp range for a few days. We won’t be seeing any super-warm temps like the Twin Cities is forecast to have and we have plentiful snow, so we are not too worried about snow loss. It gets cold again by the weekend.
Bearskin has the right equipment to overcome any trail iciness, including some specialized track-pan tillers for our Pisten Bully that only a few machines in the US have. It actually will be fun for the groomers to use these tillers. We purchased them last year with our newest Pisten Bully, but then never experienced the right conditions to try the tillers out. We will report back on how well they work to keep the trails perfect.
Bearskin has been almost 100% full since late December, but now that we are getting into March there are cabin openings again. We always fill up for the year ahead because everyone who is here has a great time so they rebook for next year. In the low-snow winter of 2024 we kept our skiing going until March 6 with incredible efforts by Quinn, Bob and our staff — we were proud to have the last skiing anywhere in Minnesota. They raided the lake to move snow to the ski trails, and also created long ski trails around the snowy lake to keep skiing alive. But after the first week of March even those efforts couldn’t save the trails and skiing was over. Consequently, there weren’t as many guests here to rebook for 2025 and now there are lots of great options available. (It’s funny to look at the reservation calendar because you can clearly see where the season ended.) A sequence of events that’s not likely to happen again!
“Value season” at Bearskin, the lowest rates of the season, starts on March 9th. Normally that first week after the rates go down is booked solid by the folks who were here last year on those dates. We expect skiing will still be good , and the longer days and slightly warmer temperatures usually make this some of the most fun skiing of the year. Give us a call at (218) 388-2292 or email stay@bearskin.com and we will help you make a plan.
What else is happening? We have a good northern lights forecast coming up next weekend, if we have clear skies.
And of course, on March 20 we have the vernal/spring Equinox, when day and night hours are exactly equal. The reason we especially like the equinox up here in the northern latitudes is that we often experience the best northern lights shows of the year around the equinox. The explanation is complicated, but the short version is that the earth’s tilt aligns directly with solar wind, allowing more of the charged particles that create the aurora into the atmosphere. The brightest most amazing aurora shows we’ve ever seen have been on dates shortly before and after the spring equinox. We can’t ever promise great northern lights, but your chances of a sighting are very good as you get into mid-March.
After the last two snowfalls, we are definitely in winter wonderland territory! Everything was groomed yesterday, and most re-groomed this morning. Conditions are excellent.
Temperatures for the weekend ahead look fairly mild (for winter) and pleasant. We’ve had crazy, wild winds for a few days, but it looks like atmospheric conditions will calm down for the weekend.
If we have clear skies, there are several chances for northern lights in the coming days. A yellow bar on this graph indicates the slightest possibility of an aurora, while a red bar indicates a fairly good chance. The coming weekend is so-so, but mid-week might offer a northern lights show. The best way to view the lights is to head out on the lake, to get the long view. To find out more about chasing the northern lights at Bearskin Lodge, go here.
The Gunflint Mail Run is happening at Trail Center on Saturday. Watch for our Bearskin mushers, Erin Altemus and Matt Schmidt. Both of them are in the race and hope to do well.
Don’t forget we have soup and chili in the Main Lodge every afternoon, as well as hot chocolate, cheesecake, beer, wine, cookies and treats. Stop in and warm up with us.
We received a ton of snow overnight, so groomers were out on both sides of the system before dawn. It was still snowing, so there will be “after-grooming” snow on some trails. Most of the 80k will be done by lunchtime. The skies are clearing and the sun is out, but it is a bit windy. Pictures to come when Quinn gets back.
Pictures and reports to come, but we got about 5 inches of great snow overnight and grooming is in process. They’ve been out since before dawn and all 80k will be groomed by lunch time, or shortly after.
Bearskin Lodge Ski Trail Reports 