Finally, it’s quit snowing! The Central Gunflint Ski Trail System received almost 17 inches of fresh new snow over the last 7 days.   Our total snowfall since last November 1 is a little over 88 inches, as measured by the Baumann family at Golden Eagle Lodge.

Groomers from Bearskin and Golden Eagle Lodges have been grooming daily to pack as much snow as possible into the trail base.  At this point the packed trail base measures 15″ – 18″.  The snow in the woods is often over 3 feet deep, or even deeper in drifts. Classic ski conditions are fantastic, but due to the large amount of powdery snowfall we received in such a short amount of time, you can expect skate skiing conditions to be a little soft.  We will continue to groom throughout the week in order to further pack down the base. 

The pine trees in the woods are so beautiful, coated with what must be close to the maximum amount of snow that each pine bough can hold. Until the wind lifts the snow off the branches, expect every trail to be Christmas-card picturesque.  Here’s a picture taken by the Baumann’s on Ridge Run Trail yesterday:

With over 50 inches of snowfall already since November 1st, this is  a snowy winter to remember.

The Central Gunflint Trail System was lucky to have snow during the past 2 winters, when much of Minnesota had minimal snowfall — but it wasn’t snow like this!  We continue to get fresh snow every few days, which keeps the grooming crew very busy.

We’re finding that after dealing with endless piles of Twin Cities’ urban and suburban snow, many of our guests are arriving at Bearskin in a winter-weary state.  Once they get out to ski or snowshoe on our beautiful trails, amidst the snow-covered pines, the fun aspect of winter seems to return. It’s more fun to play on beautiful snow than to shovel it!

The Baumann family from Golden Eagle Lodge does a great job of keeping meticulous snowfall records.  Here are the snowfall numbers so far for this winter season, as of January 22nd:

November 2013 – 7.25 inches (about 3 inches on the ground at the end of Nov.)

December

• Dec 2 – Dec 8: 13.25 inches
• Dec 9 – Dec 15:  3.65 inches
• Dec 16 – Dec 22:  8.75 inches
• Dec 23 – Dec 29:  3.4 inches
• Dec 30 – Dec 31:  0.0 inches

December 2013 – 29.05 inches 

January

• Jan 1 – Jan 5: 6.0 inches
• Jan 6 – Jan 12: 0.5 inches
• Jan 13 Jan 19: 7.6 inches
• Jan 22: 1.25 inches

January 2014 – 15.35 inches

2013-2014 YTD Snow Total – 51.65 inches

All of our 70+ km of trails are open. Conditions are excellent for both skate skiing and classic skiing. A Central Gunflint Trail Ski Pass is required; you can buy your pass at either lodge.

It’s been awhile since we filed a ski report.  We’re in one of those happy winter cycles where nothing changes significantly.  It keeps snowing, we keep grooming, and then it all  happens again.  The Central Gunflint Ski Trail System continues to get a new boost of snow every few days, without any major melting or raining interspersed as has happened some years.  It’s a snowy winter at its best.

Earlier in the week Golden Eagle Lodge reported that we had received 42.90 inches of snow since November 1.  Of course, it’s snowed since then but it gives you a rough idea.  The base is especially solid making for fantastic skate skiing. The classic tracks are holding very strong as well. Many guests are reporting this is the best snow they’ve experienced in several years.

We had some gorgeous days of skiing recently, with picturesque frosted trees and bright blue skies. Our guests were ecstatic about conditions.

We have a run of 3 warm days in the forecast. The Central Gunflint Ski Trail System has a lot of snow.  We can lose some snow and it won’t matter.  By the end of the week we’ll be back in more typical winter temperatures.

Bearskin Lodge is participating in this year’s Volks Ski 400 resort challenge, an event to see which resort in Cook County can log the most kilometers on Cook County ski trails in February. 

Bearskin guests have totally risen to the challenge.  Every night guests come into the lodge with their pencils, calculators, and trail maps to gleefully add up their daily totals.  It’s great fun to ski on our trails, so people can accumulate a surprising number of K in a day. We’re on our 7th page in a spiral notebook of daily totals, with a few more days to go.

As of today, Bearskin guests have logged 5032 K of distance on our trails.  The next runner-up has 674 K. This seems to be where you come if you really want to ski.

 We’ll have soup, chili, hot chocolate, and wine and beer available in the lodge all weekend. There’s still a little room to join Scott Bergstrom for Saturday night dining. He’s offering a very interesting, different menu for the next two weeks. Ski for the day, and dine with us on Saturday night.

Two days of odd moisture and warm weather, followed by a precipitous drop in the temperature, left us with hard, icy tracks on the ski trails and few options for repair.  Quinn went out with the groomer and did what he could this morning.  He reported that conditions were better than he expected.  Not ideal, but not nearly as bad as he thought they might be.  A sprinkling of new snow in the tracks has decreased the iciness today. The skiers who went out today generally reported that conditions were OK ,and that the snow in the tracks was really helping.

Conditions are better for skate skiers.   “Still hard pack, but edge able with some concentration”  one skier reported online. A few crust skiers have been out on East Bearskin Lake,also.

We still have some of the best snow in the area, but these are not “dream-come-true” winter ski conditions. We  need a blockbuster winter storm to come through! It’s hard to imagine that here on the excessively snowy Gunflint Trail we’re wishing for more snowstorms, but it’s yet another example of the weird weather pattern we are experiencing  across the country these days. 

At the moment, it’s snowing quite nicely here.  Let’s hope that this continues.

Trail report from Golden Eagle:

New Snow Last 24 hours: 0 inches

New Snow Last 7 days: 1.0 inches

Trail Base: 4 to 6 inches

Snow in Woods: Average 10 inches, 12 inches high

Groomed with classic tracks: 36K

Groomed for skating: 50K

Surface Conditions: Hard Packed

Snowshoe trail: Open

Total snowfall since November 1: 18.75 inches

Conditions: Poor to good, please check with Golden Eagle Lodge or Bearskin Lodge for specific info on each trail.

Comments: The following trails have been tracked: Old Logging Camp from GEL to Deer Mouse (good shape), Deer Mouse (good shape), Red Pines from west end of Deer Mouse to GEL, Wolf Point (snowcat groomed), Summer Home Road (good shape}, Campground Loop (good shape), Lit Loop,Ox Cart, Beaver Dam Trail, and Bear Cub. The rest of the system has been packed with no tracks.

Conditions: Good to Excellent

According to measuring done by Dan Baumann at Golden Eagle the average packed base base on trails right now is 6 – 6.5 inches — more on Summer Home, Campground and rails that received good snowfall earlier in the season.

He reports that “The warm up last weekend didn’t hurt us too much. We lost a little over an inch on the trail base and the snow in the woods was reduced by a couple of inches, but conditions remain very good. Bearskin was out earlier in the week grooming and Golden Eagle was out today on the other side of the system using the snowcat and renovator. We were just about done grooming when a thick flurry of snow came down! ”

The new snow gave everything a fresh, white look again and according to skiers who’ve been out today, probably improved the skiing by covering a few icy spots. We don’t have a lot of new snow in the immediate forecast, but temps shouldn’t be high enough to cause much melting.

As usual, we’ll have chili, soup, and hot chocolate available in the lodge this weekend. Skiers are gradually catching on to the secret of Sunday soup at Bearskin — until it’s gone, Sunday soup is always the same soup Chef Scott Bergstrom served for the 4-course fine dining on Saturday night. Our usual soup is good, but Scott’s soup is extraordinary. We frequently also have cake or another dessert on Sunday to enjoy with your hot chocolate or coffee. Again, it’s whatever remains from the fine dining on Saturday, so the desserts are beyond good, they’re fabulous. It’s an extra incentive to enjoy our ski trails on the less busy day of each weekend.

We’re occasionally asked if it is workable to ski all day at Bearskin and then dine at the lodge Saturday night, even if you aren’t staying here.  While we offer a 4-course fine dining experience, you don’t need to dress as if you’re in a fancy restaurant. Ski clothes are just fine in our restaurant.  If you would be happier if you changed clothes and cleaned up before dinner, talk to our front desk staff.  We have a couple of options for where you could go to change.  Skiing and dining all on one trip is very doable.

For the latest trail report you can call Golden Eagle at 1-800-346-2203 or 218-388-2203 or Bearskin at 218-388-2292 or 1-800-338-4170.