Fell behind on the trail report blog while out of town.  Here’s the essential summary:  LOTS of snow.  Everything groomed.  Guests very, very happy to be out skiing.

Temps have been in the high 20’s, so there seems to be a lot of coat changing going on. Perfect weather to enjoy our real winter. 

 We have an opening for this weekend in Cabin 10 (which has a  beautiful new stone fireplace), but otherwise Bearskin is full this weekend and next.  Consider taking a mid-week ski trip–weekday prices are a little lower, and mid-week skiing is the very best because there are even fewer skiers out there.

We’ve had a little snow in the past few days. There’s also been a lot of trail usage, as it is MLK weekend and the Gunflint still has the best skiing conditions in the area. Although here at the lodge it seemed wildly busy, most skiers reported they rarely saw anyone else on the trails because the system is so large.

Groomers are out today. South side is entirely done and the north side will be finished shortly. Any trail you choose should be in excellent condition today.

Stop in for a bowl of chili or soup, or a cup of hot chocolate.  We also have some chocolate cake  served with chef-made whipped cream remaining from restaurant last night for $3.00/slice while it lasts.  Come on in for a slice of chocolate heaven! 🙂

Snowing this morning.  Radar looks like we could get a fair amount of snow.

1.10.12 Another beautiful red sunset for skiers.

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It finally quit snowing around noon today, so groomers were able to get out after lunch and set new track and corduroy on numerous trails. The new snow groomed up nicely. Summer Home, Campground, Lit Loop, Upper Beaver Dam, Oxcart, and Bear Cub are freshly groomed.  The groomers ran out of daylight, so they will do Poplar Creek on Sunday morning. Golden Eagle also plans to be out on the trails grooming Sunday morning.

Even before the groomers went out, skiers were pretty happy with conditions on all the trails.  There’s nothing like a complete lack of snow across the rest of the state to make skiers appreciate the Gunflint Trail’s uniquely snowy location. Come out and enjoy our wonderful snow.

The plan was to groom all the trails when it stopped snowing this morning. Lucky us, it just doesn’t quit!  

We did have two slightly warmer days when the rest of the state was ridiculously warm.  We had highs in the 30’s, with a little melting–not enough to make much difference in the snow cover, but enough to affect the surface.  We didn’t have any sun during those days,which helped maintain the snow.

It’s been snowing on and off since last night, with much larger flakes falling this morning.  Looks like we’ll end up with a few more inches, which is perfect on top of the good base we had. Groomers will be out as soon as the snow has quit enough for it to be logical to groom.

It was a little warmer than usual today, but was fairly overcast so the mid-30’s temps didn’t have much effect on the snow. We did not have the high temps that much of the state experienced.

Skiers reported conditions  to be a little slow midday, but everyone is so happy to be skiing in real snow that “slow” is irrelevant.  Our trails are continue to be great, and the forecast is for a chance of more snow tomorrow. We still have real winter on the Gunflint Trail.

Yesterday we had howling winds and blowing snow.  At one point Quinn groomed the North-South link and as he looked behind him, within 20 seconds his trail was gone. It was that kind of day.

Today the winds have calmed down quite a bit, but we’re still watching puffs of snow swirl around our lake in small white “tornadoes.”  The Golden Eagle Snow Cat and Bearskin’s Pisten Bully and Tidd Tech G2 snowmobile groomer will continue to be out on the trails improving them.

Having the Tidd Tech G2 snowmobile groomer here allowed us to open trails with a minimal amount of snow when no other resort in the area was able to groom.  The Tidd Tech does a very nice job when needed, and allows us to groom in low snow conditions and also, to quickly run out to regroom a trail that has been messed up by people making poor choices (really, folks, you’d take 2 dogs, a sled, and a shovel out to dig on groomed ski trails???)  It gives us the flexibility to respond to changing conditions quickly.  We all like the results of the using the big equipment on the trails, but the smaller groomer is an essential tool in some situations.

Skiers were here by the hundreds over the past few days and were very happy with the availability of trails and the conditions, particularly in light of there being so little snow in the rest of the state.  But we do still have some spots that could use more snow. The “swamp area” of Poplar Creek, for example, is passable enough to allow skiing on the rest of that long trail but it needs more snow to be perfect. Many trails still have a few areas like that. 

An FYI, if you are out on Ridge Run and Upper Beaver Dam in the immediate future: they are temporarily double-tracked and unavailable for skating. Yesterday we had a skier who was perplexed and lost because the skate lane disappeared and it didn’t match the map — the temporary grooming change is why.  Golden Eagle’s groomer will probably redo it soon, but as of this morning it was still double-tracked. If you’re skating, be ready for that. 

Groomers on both sides of the system will continue be out on the trails regularly now, making our trails better and better.

The holiday rush is ending today. Most folks are headed home.  With ski trail conditions being terrible statewide, we had more skiers in this lodge and on our trails over the past few days than we have ever experienced.  We were all pretty much working at a marathon pace the past few days.  Everyone at Bearskin might be ready for a little slowdown before next weekend’s rush starts!