Grooming the section of trail in the BWCA this morning wit the Tidd Tech groomer pulled with a snowmobile. This is the only section of our trail system where the Pisten Bully is not allowed to go, but the Tidd Tech does a great job.
We are definitely living in a winter wonderland. It has snowed almost every day this past week, so the groomers have been out constantly trying to keep up. The trails are in fantastic condition. You couldn’t ask for better skiing.
Bearskin will be extremely busy on Saturday and Sunday. With almost 80 K of groomed wilderness trails, skiers are always surprised that they rarely see other people out on the trails. Where you do notice the activity level, however, is in our parking lot. We always wish we had more room to park on these weekend afternoons. Please be sure to park in a way that is safe for your car and doesn’t block the side roads to cabins. Our guests will be grateful for that.
If parking looks problematic, you can always drive just a little farther up the Gunflint Trail to Clearwater Road to park at Golden Eagle Lodge. Same trails, same ski passes, just a different entry point and usually a less crowded parking lot.
The next few days will be a bit cold. Come into the Main Lodge and warm-up with us! We’re serving soup and chili every afternoon. We also have hot chocolate and cookies, hot apple cider, wine, beer, and pop. Do a little gift shopping. Or pick up some hand-warmers to keep your fingers toasty while you ski.
For guests who will be staying at Bearskin this week, if the skies clear up there are many nights with great aurora forecasts. A lack of snow in the upcoming week may indicate potential clear skies, so be ready for a northern lights show.
Happy New Year from Bearskin Lodge and the Central Gunflint Trail Ski System!
We’ve been skiing at Bearskin since November — but you’d never know it by the ski reports we’ve posted. We fell way behind this year. This ski report page (the one we call the “Blue Kenny” page, because that header is Kenny Johnson in about 2008 skiing up Bear Cub) will be moving to a new URL eventually this year. Meanwhile we will be posting on two sites and we will update here when the page permanently moves.
We had our first snowmobile grooming November 27th, then started grooming with the Pisten Bully on December 9th. Most trails are in good shape.
Poplar Creek Trail took forever to open. Poplar Creek is always a late opening trail due to water issues, but this year we had an additional problem of a “bend-down” situation — huge swaths of the trail were covered with trees that bent over with heavy snow and had to be removed. After many days of Lionel, Quinn, and Bob trimming out the bent-over trees, Quinn finally made the first pass through with the Pisten Bully today. Quinn thought the trail had plenty of snow and that it groomed up pretty good for a first time through.
The heavy snow snow that caused the “bend-down” on Poplar Creek also coated our pine trees on the entire ski system with an icy cupcake frosting that doesn’t seem to be easily blown off by the the wind, making this the perfect winter to get beautiful outdoor photographs.
Bearskin is mostly full for winter weekends and for a large percentage of mid-week dates, but we have scattered openings here and there all season. If you have a little date flexibility, we can probably find you your perfect stay. Use the box in the upper right-hand corner of our web page to check availability, or for an overall summary view this regularly updated list. Most of our guests reserve a year ahead of time (lucky for us!) but that also means things can change in a year. We do get cancellations and changes during the season. Call our front desk at (218)388-2292 for the most up-to-date info. If you can’t get your perfect dates, put your name on our waiting list. Cancellation and date adjustments happen, often fairly last minute
The Bearskin ski-in winter camping cabins are also an option for some of you. This is their busiest year so far as more guests discover our most adventurous winter skiing option. The ski-in cabins definitely aren’t for everyone. With no electricity, heat, or running water, this is an experience that works best for for experienced outdoors people. The description we most often hear about ski-in cabin stays is ” it was magical,” but part of the creating that “magic” is that it does take quite a bit of work on your part to keep the wood stove going! Find out more here.
The Central Gunflint Trail system grooms part or all of the system almost every day. We’re known for our high quality grooming so we make a great effort to give you the best ski experience every time you come to Bearskin. For the most recent info on what has been groomed each day, you can always call our front desk (218-388-2292) or email stay@bearskin.com We love to talk to you about skiing!
We still have fantastic skiing at Bearskin! Everything was groomed over the last two days, and some skate lanes were touched up this morning. We’ve had fresh snow while other areas had rain, so our trails are looking good.
We had a couple warm days this week, and it looks like we will have a couple warm days next week too — but we have ample snow, so the trails will be fine. Our new track pan tillers work miracles on icy snow.
As is often the case by March, we’ve reached the point where you’ll start to wonder on the drive up to the Gunflint if we really do have snow. The snow along the North Shore and in Grand Marais has been decimated by warmer temps and rain, while we just had more snow. Don’t worry, when you drive up the hill you’ll start to see better snow and by the time you get to the mid-Trail area, you’re in true winter again. We are lucky to be in this magical winter location.
If you’ll be here in the next week, come prepared to watch for Northern Lights. The forecast is fabulous. We are nearing the spring equinox, so due to the earth’s tilt at this time we often have the best light shows of the year in mid-March. In fact, it’s fairly common to have amazing green lights in the sky on St. Patrick’s Day. Here’s our link to the info on how to watch for the aurora at Bearskin. Bring your camera and tripod.
As usual, we will have soup, chili, cheesecake, and hot chocolate in the Main Lodge for you to enjoy while you’re up here skiing. See you soon!
Bearskin Lodge Ski Trail Reports 