Happy New Year from Bearskin Lodge and the Central Gunflint Trail Ski System!

We’ve been skiing at Bearskin since November — but you’d never know it by the ski reports we’ve posted. We fell way behind this year. This ski report page (the one we call the “Blue Kenny” page, because that header is Kenny Johnson in about 2008 skiing up Bear Cub) will be moving to a new URL eventually this year. Meanwhile we will be posting on two sites and we will update here when the page permanently moves.

We had our first snowmobile grooming November 27th, then started grooming with the Pisten Bully on December 9th. Most trails are in good shape.

Poplar Creek Trail took forever to open. Poplar Creek is always a late opening trail due to water issues, but this year we had an additional problem of a “bend-down” situation — huge swaths of the trail were covered with trees that bent over with heavy snow and had to be removed. After many days of Lionel, Quinn, and Bob trimming out the bent-over trees, Quinn finally made the first pass through with the Pisten Bully today. Quinn thought the trail had plenty of snow and that it groomed up pretty good for a first time through.

The heavy snow snow that caused the “bend-down” on Poplar Creek also coated our pine trees on the entire ski system with an icy cupcake frosting that doesn’t seem to be easily blown off by the the wind, making this the perfect winter to get beautiful outdoor photographs.

Bearskin is mostly full for winter weekends and for a large percentage of mid-week dates, but we have scattered openings here and there all season. If you have a little date flexibility, we can probably find you your perfect stay. Use the box in the upper right-hand corner of our web page to check availability, or for an overall summary view this regularly updated list. Most of our guests reserve a year ahead of time (lucky for us!) but that also means things can change in a year. We do get cancellations and changes during the season. Call our front desk at (218)388-2292 for the most up-to-date info. If you can’t get your perfect dates, put your name on our waiting list. Cancellation and date adjustments happen, often fairly last minute

The Bearskin ski-in winter camping cabins are also an option for some of you. This is their busiest year so far as more guests discover our most adventurous winter skiing option. The ski-in cabins definitely aren’t for everyone. With no electricity, heat, or running water, this is an experience that works best for for experienced outdoors people. The description we most often hear about ski-in cabin stays is ” it was magical,” but part of the creating that “magic” is that it does take quite a bit of work on your part to keep the wood stove going! Find out more here.

The Central Gunflint Trail system grooms part or all of the system almost every day. We’re known for our high quality grooming so we make a great effort to give you the best ski experience every time you come to Bearskin. For the most recent info on what has been groomed each day, you can always call our front desk (218-388-2292) or email stay@bearskin.com We love to talk to you about skiing!