Groomed Bear Cub, Oxcart and Poplar Creek today.  The wind finally died down, so today’s grooming resulted in perfect ski trails.  The cooler temps should solve the lake slush problem.  Skiers are reporting excellent conditions.

Today started off with wicked winds and 3 inches or more of new snow.  A good percentage of yesterday’s newly groomed trails blew shut today. Skiers reported that many trails were an odd mix of completely groomed sections and drifted over areas.

Groomers at both resorts were out today. Bob did most of the system on the Bearskin side and will be out on Bear Cub very early Tuesday morning.  The wind continues to be very strong; it’s hard to believe today’s nice tracks will last.

Temps are getting a bit colder.  Hopefully that may put an end to the slush problem on the lakes.

Saturday’s “warm” temps played total havoc with the trails. Huge slush spots visibly grew by the hour on the lakes. By mid-afternoon, skiers were coming back from every trail totally encrusted in ice. It was a mess and there wasn’t a thing that could be done about it.

Fortunately, groomers at both Bearskin and Golden Eagle went out very early Sunday morning and most of the trails groomed up surprisingly well. Skiers came back all day reporting that the newly groomed trails were great.

What’s not good? Anything across water at this point is a slushy mess. The ice underneath is very thick — ice depth is not an issue. But recent conditions have caused water to seep up into the snow layer to form a slush; the warm temps yesterday just added to the poor conditions. We hope some colder night temps will eventually harden up this miserable stuff.  Meanwhile, there are a number of ways on this trail system to circumvent trails that cross water.  We recommend that for the time being you ski on routes that aren’t on lakes if possible.

Considering our seriously sub-zero temps before Christmas, it feels wrong to start wishing for colder weather again.  But a little drop in temps would be helpful at this point.