Not much new to report, other than that you should have been up here this week! We’ve had the kind of weather that Minnesotans always imagine when we think of an idyllic winter.  Glistening snow, bright sun, blue skies, warm winter temps, and almost no wind.

For the past week, we’ve mostly just been doing occasional touch-up grooming.  We’ve been surrounded by extremely happy guests, as conditions have been nearly perfect. (Oh, OK, everyone is griping that they need to strip down to a minimal number of ski clothing layers  because of the warm sun — this is a good complaint to have!)

It snowed on and off all day Tuesday.  New snow amounted to less than an inch in most places, although (as usual) Bear Cub Trail seemed to have more.  Groomers were out last night and early this morning on both sides of the trail system.  Tracks set up nicely and the skate base is very firm.  Temps cooled off a bit last night, but the long range forecast is for typical late February highs and lows

The Gunflint Trail’s Winter Tracks Festival is being held this weekend, offering fun activities all along the trail.   The Bearskin Wilderness Pursuit Race, which was part of Winter Tracks, has been cancelled.  There were no registrations as of last weekend, probably due to date conflicts with the Birkie race.  At this point, we didn’t think it would be fair to let participants register now, only to discover when they arrived that nobody really signed up to race — so we officially cancelled it.   We plan to hold a race next year again and will be sure the date doesn’t coincide with the Birkie event.

Warning! Bear Cub ahead.

Skiers are having a fantastic time skiing our trails right now.  Several skiers reported that today was one of the best ski days ever–sunny skies, pleasant temps, and newly groomed trails. 

We get many calls  lately asking if we actually have snow.  A large percentage of them are from people staying along the North Shore, who are dismayed to find that the snow conditions are not what they had hoped for.  When we received all the snow last week, many other areas received rain.  Our snow was dense, wet, and heavy.  It caused thousands of trees to bend and break along the trails.  Bearskin Lodge and Golden Eagle Lodge employees are still stiff and sore from the many days of trail clearing that followed this heavy snow.  The clean up job was huge; not every trail system is finished yet. 

Our trail system groomed up surprisingly well, especially given the difficulty of grooming that particular snow.  Most of the trails have been groomed one to two times since the snowfall.  

There’ve been scattered reports of a few soft areas or ruts in the heavy snow on the sunny, exposed hilltops but overall, skiers are saying  the trails have been fabulous.  Today was one of the busier days we’ve seen on the trails. Skiers were very pleased with conditions. 

We are expecting some snow in the next few days, although nothing like the snowsfall that pummeled the East coast.  At this point we don’t need lots more snow, but we’ll happily make the most of it. 

Kathy Welsh and Mary Anne Warner under the new Poplar Creek Arch. Photo by Ron Warner.

Bob had the pisten bully out on the trails at 4 AM this morning.  He was surprised to see that an additional couple inches of snow  had appeared. 

He is also wondering about the strange orange glow he saw on the north side of Aspen Lake while he was grooming.    We assume it was an alien space ship landing.  😉   (If you know what it actually was, we’d be interested in knowing.)

A fairly good base has gradually developed.  All tracks are set, all skate lanes are open.  We are very busy with skiers now.  Forest Lake High School and Minnehaha Academy high school skiers are here training.  There are lots of recreational skiers out on the trails, too.  The pine boughs are still loaded with snow, so the trails are very beautiful.

Winter wonderland this morning. Groomers are headed out.

For local skiers heading up today, keep in mind this is the first grooming of many of these trails this year.   It’s going to be a long day of grooming.  All trails should be done by the end of today,  but for much of today grooming will be a work in progress.

Here in the tip of the Arrowhead region, we didn’t receive nearly as much snow as some areas to the south of us.  The large snowcloud on the radar has been located between Silver Bay & Duluth since sometime yesterday afternoon, with the tip of the Arrowhead largely out of the cloud most of the time.  It’s been snowing consistently since sometime last night, but it’s not heavy.  We honestly would have liked to receive more.  And of course, we will. 

Bearskin should have this side of the system fully groomed by the end of the day tomorrow (Saturday).  Little serious grooming is happening today on this side of the trail system, as our employees are off for the holiday and it is continuing to snow and blow.  A few skiers are out there, but this afternoon it’s a bit of a “back country” experience.  Temps are fairly warm, though.

Conditions: Good.

We received about 3 inches of new snow overnight, opening up a few trails for the first time this year. Summer Home Rd and the Campground loop are as good as ski trails get, with skate lanes and tracks. Upper Beaver Dam, Lower Ridge Run, The Lit Loop, and parts of Logging Camp have also been groomed. No tracks on these, and still stubble and an occasional rock, but a few more inches of snow will take care of that. This evening we will be grooming Ox Cart, and laying corduroy on the lake down to the edge of the BWCA.    (Quinn McCloughan)

Lake skiing continues to be good. Skiers are venturing out on routes that are far better known as canoe trips than as ski trips.

Report posted on www.skinnyski.com from Skinny ski team member Grant Nelson, one of several Skinny Ski team members staying at Bearskin this week:

Conditions: Good for those of an adventurous spirit.

Today, we skied into the Boundary Waters from Bearskin Lodge. 3 inches of fresh powder slowed us down slightly and gave us a great leg workout. The portages were gorgeous with freshly fallen snow laden on pine branches. We ended up investigating Johnson falls, which was a fabulous ice-sculpture waterfall. In the afternoon, we skied on the freshly groomed Bearskin trails along the Summer Home Road and Campground loop. Most of the trails are rolled, but rock-skis are recommended. The groomer is hoping for a few more inches of snow before he takes the Piston Bully out… (Grant Nelson, Skinnyski.com Race Team)

More ski reports at: http://www.skinnyski.com/trails/traildetail.asp?Id=48

Conditions: Good early season.
Summer Home Road and Campground Loop are groomed and open for skiing. Both have around 1 1/2 inches of base. On a few spots on Summer Home you might hit gravel on your kick, but the Campground Loop has full coverage. Nice weather and good skiing in early December.

It’s quite beautiful.