Here are official snow measurements from Zach Baumann today.  Needless to say, as soon as you read these stats they will be out-of-date.  We’ve got more snow in Thursday’s forecast. For those of you traveling along the North Shore on Thursday to be up here for the long weekend, expect possible lake effect snow all along the North Shore on Highway 61.  Drive slowly; we’re fine with whatever time you get here, just so you arrive safely!

• New Snow Last 24 hours:  1/4”
• New Snow Last 7 days:  2.25”
• Trail Base, Staked:  Average 6 – 8 inches
• Snow in Woods, Staked:  Average 11 – 14 inches
• Groomed with classic tracks:  60 k
• Surface Conditions:  Fresh packed snow
• Last grooming day:  1-9-16
• Total snowfall since Nov. 1:  42.45”

Comments:  We’ve had cooler temperatures these last couple days compared to the weeks before, but that hasn’t stopped the skiers or hindered the fun! Trail conditions remain excellent and the trees are still glistening with that beautiful snow cover. More snow is in the forecast again for Thursday and Friday.

An update on ice:  Aspen and Flour Lake are now safe for travel. We have been able to snowmobile pack the section of North-South Link that crosses Aspen and Flour as of last week; we anticipate being able to groom classic tracks into these trails as well after the next new snowfall. We still want a bit more ice before we go out there with the big groomers.

An update on the Poplar Creek ski trail:  Most of the Poplar Creek ski trail is now cleared but unbelievably, we’ve run into a section that’s still completely full of water.  How can this happen when it’s -20 below?  Weird winter.  So it’s groomed up to that point, and you can ski out on Poplar for many miles, but then you will hit the end of the grooming.  You need to turn around around there, since swimming in skis is really awkward. 😉   Poplar Creek is a lovely trail, so skiing back on the same route is no hardship.  Just don’t expect the usual complete circle.

Photo on Summer Home ski trail, by Travis Notvitsky

Skiing on the Central Gunflint Ski Trail system is still fabulous.  Bit by bit we’re getting the little connecting trails cleared that weren’t critical to finish when we cleared the bent-down trees from the primary trails.  Old Logging Camp on the east side through the BWCA is done finally, so you can travel around to Golden Eagle Lodge on both sides of the system now.  The North-South link is cleared and packed; Aspen Lake has about 8 inches of ice and can be safely crossed by skiers.  A large group is going out on Friday to see if they can even find Poplar Creek Trail, the last major trail we have left to clear of trees.  It probably can’t get done in a day, but they should get a good start.

The official measurers at Golden Eagle have been out checking their rulers again.  Here are the latest numbers, although it’s been snowing again all day today so the numbers are already a little too low:

Central Gunflint Ski Trail Conditions on 1-6-16

• New Snow Last 24 hours:  0.0”
• New Snow Last 7 days:  1.0”
• Trail Base, Staked:  Average 5.5 – 6.5 inches
• Snow in Woods, Staked:  Average 11 – 13 inches
• Groomed with classic tracks:  60 k
• Surface Conditions:  Fresh packed snow
• Last grooming day:  1-4-15
• Total snowfall since Nov. 1:  40.20”

Comments:  The ski trails are in great to excellent shape offering a firm base and fantastic glide. With just under 32 inches of snowfall in December alone, most of which fell after the 16^th, the low snow effects of an “El Niño” winter are a thing of the past. Temperature wise, the benefits of such a winter are still present; we’ve had moderate temperatures this last week with most days being in the teens and lower 20’s; it is expected to continue into next week with more snow also predicted. We are full swing into winter cross-country skiing!

For the most up to date grooming information, as well specific trail conditions, please contact Golden Eagle Lodge (1-800-346-2203) or Bearskin Lodge (1-800-338-4170). Central Gunflint Ski Pass required.

The creek along the Beaver Dam trail.  Photo by Jane Kolarich.

It’s been fun for all of us at Bearskin to talk with skiers at the end of a day on our ski trails.  Skiers are ridiculously happy with the snow conditions, almost giddy about how beautiful it is out there. Decent weather has made it even better–temps have been cold enough to begin refreezing thawed lakes, but warm enough that nobody needs hand-warmers or extra clothing layers.

We keep advising skiers to take a little camera along, because the trails have never been more photogenic.  If you took a beautiful trail picture this past week, please send it to stay@bearskin.com so we can share it with others to enjoy.

Here are the latest snow numbers measured at Golden Eagle, home of the official Central Gunflint Ski Trail ruler.

Central Gunflint Ski Trail Conditions on 12-30-15

• New Snow Last 24 hours:  Trace”
• New Snow Last 7 days:  8.6 inches
• Trail Base, Staked:  Average 4 – 5 inches
• Snow in Woods, Staked:  Average 11 – 14 inches
• Groomed with classic tracks:  ~58 k
• Surface Conditions:  Fresh packed snow
• Last grooming day:  12-30-15
• Total snowfall since Nov. 1:  39.20”

Comments:  The skiing is fantastic! We have made very good progress on trail clearing this week with only a few “closed” trails remaining. The groomed trails, thanks in part to the heavy and wet snow we received prior to all this, set up great and the classic tracks are holding in excellent. Trail bases are comfortably firm and are averaging about 4 to 5 inches. If you don’t include the amount of trail cleanup we’ve had this year, condition wise, the ski trails are in as good a shape as any other year this time of the season.

Important note:  Due to thin ice on Flour Lake and questionable ice on Aspen Lake, the North-South link trail is closed north of Summer Home Road. We are checking ice thickness often and will groom a trail via snowmobile as soon as safely possible.

For the most up-to-date grooming information, as well as updates on trail clearing progress, please contact Bearskin Lodge (1-800-338-4170) or Golden Eagle Lodge (1-800-346-2203). Central Gunflint Ski Pass required.

Snow Totals

• November Total 2015 – 7.25 inches 
• December
  Dec 1 – Dec 6:  2.55 inches
  Dec 7 – Dec 13:  2.53 inches
  Dec 14 – Dec 19: 18.0 inches
• Dec 20 – Dec 27:  7.62 inches
• Dec 28: 0.25 inches
•  Dec 29: 1.00 inches
• December Total 2015 – 31.95 inches
• Total Snowfall 2015-2016 – 39.20 inches

Roger and Jane Kolarich ventured into one of the few remaining uncleared areas.  We’re happy to report that after a great deal of hard work,  very few trails still look like this.

Here’s an updated ski report from Golden Eagle. This is a pretty good summary of all that we’ve accomplished and what we have left to do. It’s snowing again right now and we have the potential for another large amount of snow in the next 24 hours.

Bottom line: if you are staying at either resort next week, you will be amazed at our snow and you don’t have to worry even the tiniest bit about snow conditions.

If you don’t have a reservation for next week but are just planning to come up to ski, we would strongly encourage you to come skiing early in the day. When we have a situation like this one, where there isn’t much skiing elsewhere, the small parking lots for both resorts are often full by noon. Rental skis are often gone in many sizes, and occasionally there’s even a line out the front door waiting to buy ski passes right after lunch. Be smart — come early, ski a full day, and make the most out of our beautiful snow conditions!

Central Gunflint Ski Trail Conditions on 12-23-15

• New Snow Last 24 hours: 0.0” (but it’s snowing again now)
• New Snow Last 7 days: 15.0”
  Trail Base, Staked: Average 4 inches
  Snow in Woods, Staked: Average 7 – 10 inches
• Groomed with classic tracks: ~28 k
  Surface Conditions: Fresh packed snow
• Last grooming day: 12-22-15
  Total snowfall since Nov. 1: 28.33”

Comments: As many may know, with the recent snowstorm 1 week ago, we received 15 inches of snow across 3 days. The weight from the snow has caused many trees and bushes to infringe, and in numerous locations, completely block the ski trails. Work on clearing these trails for grooming has been much more time consuming than originally anticipated; however, Bearskin and Golden Eagle have made good progress this week and are happy to add several more trails to the “Is Now Open!” category. What we have been able to groom has groomed up very well, offering a nice firm base and solid classic track for some great skiing!

Trails that are groomed and tracked are: Summer Home Road, Campground Loop, lower Beaver Dam, Ox Cart, Bear Cub, Red Pines, Wolf Point, Cabin Loop, portions of Logging Camp, and west end of Deer Mouse. A few other trails have been cleared, but not yet groomed; these are packed only.

Important note: Due to open water on Flour Lake and questionable ice on Aspen Lake, the North-South link trail is closed north of Summer Home Road.

Since we are out there working and clearing trees every day, this list of groomed trails updates frequently. For the most up to date grooming information, please contact Golden Eagle Lodge (1-800-346-2203) or Bearskin Lodge (1-800-338-4170). Central Gunflint Ski Pass required.

We’ve had so many happy skiers over the past few days. Several Loppet winners are skiing here right now, as well as a middle school ski team, plus dozens of local skiers from Grand Marais.  It’s beautiful on the trails and everyone is returning from the trails with wonderful winter pictures.

That’s the good news.  The trails that are open are super.

But then there’s the bad news.  We still have miles and miles of closed trails because of what we call the “bend-down” — somewhat like the 1999 blowdown, but caused by excessive snow.

Many of our trails look like this:

That’s Bear Cub.  Nice, huh?  We’re not amused.  We spent all fall mowing, trimming, and clearing those trails. You wouldn’t know it now.

All along the Gunflint Trail this is how every ski and snowmobile trail looks.  The Central Gunflint Trail System has really good people out cleaning the trails all day, and we’re making progress.  We are the only area that has large sections of any type of trail already opened up.  But it’s slow-going and realistically, it’s going to be many days before all 70K of our trails are clear again.

If you’re a local skier and would like to earn a complimentary season pass to ski the Central Gunflint Trail system, you can put in a full day’s work trimming trails to earn a pass.  Be forewarned:  it’s hard work. But it’s pretty darn interesting, too.  Amazing what happened out there! Call Golden Eagle (218-388-2203) if you have a great desire to cut down hundreds of bent, broken little trees.

Ted and Barbara Young are also looking for help clearing the Banadad Trail.  Call 218-388-4487.

We’ll keep working at it every day. Meanwhile, we have more snow in the forecast for mid-week. Hopefully it won’t be so heavy that this happens again.

Summer Home, Lit Loop, Campground, and Lower Beaver Dam are open and at this point offer the best skiing in the state.  We’ll keep you posted as we open additional trails.

Here are the official snow measurements from our snowstorm, taken by the Baumann family at Golden Eagle.

• New Snow Last 24 hours:  13.5”
• New Snow Last 7 days:  19.03”
• Trail Base, Staked:  Average 4 – 5 inches
• Snow in Woods, Staked:  Average 12 – 14 inches
• Groomed with classic tracks:  ~10 k
• Surface Conditions:  Fresh packed snow
• Total snowfall since Nov. 1:  26.83”

Comments:  We’ve got snow and skiing! Since the morning of the 16^th, we’ve received ­­­­­13.5 inches of fresh snowfall! Being a very dense snow, we are quickly establishing a nice and firm trail base. With heavy snow, however, comes some additional work. There are many thin aspen and birch trees and small bushes of willow and alder now leaning out over many of the trails from the weight of the snow; both Golden Eagle and Bearskin are working fast and hard on clearing them out of the way for grooming, though this is a time consuming process that will take a few days. Each day, we expect more trails to be opened and ready for grooming.

Currently, Summer Home Road, Campground Loop, and lower Beaver Dam are groomed, tracked, and in very good shape! The remaining trails are packed only at this point. Additional trails will be groomed and tracked daily as they are cleared.

If you have any questions regarding specific trail conditions, please contact Bearskin Lodge (1-800-338-4170) or Golden Eagle Lodge (1-800-346-2203) for the most up-to-date grooming information. Central Gunflint Ski Pass required.

Our snow conditions went from worrisome to amazing in one day. We now have ample snow to go into a great ski season.

Don’t start to worry if you drive up and see minimal snow cover all the way up the North Shore and in Grand Marais.  As is often the case, you’re in for a pleasant surprise once you start to drive up the first big hill of the Gunflint Trail.

This heavy snow has created what we always refer to as bend-downs, thousands of small trees laden so heavily with snow that they arch into the ski trails, often breaking into pieces on the trail.  Quinn groomed Thursday morning just after the first big snowfall and reported that it was “groom 100 feet, then stop and cut down trees, groom another 100 feet, stop and cut down trees again.” Both Golden Eagle and Bearskin Lodge are working on clearing all the trees, but it may take some time.

Summer Home, Campground and the Lit Loop will be groomed again Saturday morning. They have been cleared and should continue to be good. To be updated on the status of all the other trails, call Golden Eagle or Bearskin directly to find out.  Both resorts will have every available staff person out for the next few days clearing, packing the snow, and grooming.  We’re optimistic that all of our trails will be available very soon.

Ski passes are now available at both lodges.  Consider investing in a season pass if you will ski often–it’s a cheaper route to go if you come up regularly.

Pictures and the Bearskin Blog, with more snow information, can be found here.

Good news, bad news/ski trail edition: The good news is that we received 10-12 inches of new heavy snow on top of the snow we already had. We did not get the rain that demolished much of the snow on the North Shore. If you have early season Bearskin Lodge reservations you can quit fretting about whether there will be enough snow to ski. We are in good shape now.

The bad news is that if you are local and wanted to come skiing in the next 2 days, you’re not going to see much grooming happening on the Bearskin side of the trail system until Saturday morning. Everyone who can run the groomer will be gone for a family event. Quinn plans to groom a little in the morning, but then he’s gotta go. So the real grooming won’t start until this weekend.

Plan accordingly.

All we see in the weather forecasts now are more pictures of snowflakes for our area.  The winter fun has just begun.

Look what arrived at Bearskin yesterday!

It’s a brand new Pisten Bully 100 trail groomer, to replace Bearskin’s stalwart 1987 model.

More info and pictures here.

The new PB 100 will groom wider trails, and will leave a smoother ski surface.  It also can groom with less snow. Up here on the Gunflint Trail we don’t usually have the low snow issues that often plague the rest of Minnesota, but it will still be nice to get out to groom as soon as possible.

This is also a much faster machine.  The Central Gunflint Trail ski system is huge, so even with a groomer on each side of the system and the back-up G2 snowmobile groomer, it will usually take all day to groom the entire system after a big snowfall. With the new PB 100 we should be able to finish many trails faster.

We’ve got the machine, now all we need is more snow. You can see in our pictures that in spite of the statewide warm temps, Bearskin’s snow remains. There’s more snow coming in the near forecast. We’ll take some grooming pictures as soon as we can.