Anyone enjoying it? Been skiing around home on self made trails with 20 inches of snow now,

Family issues have prevented me from skiing as much as I like but I have managed plenty of long days on the trail in:
West Yellowstone:

Galena Lodge (Idaho):

Stanley, Idaho:



Crosscut (outside Bozeman):

And of course the B-dub:

Awesome pictures.
Years ago I cross country skied in Jackson Hole and Tetons and my favorite trip was North Yellowstone from Mammoth to Cooke city. Back than like 19,000 elk in the north Yellowstone herd. It was quite some site. Skied over a pass and winter camped in the back country.
Hard to beat some of that area with all the wildlife.
One think tho Minnesota being a little flatter they is maybe more areas to ski. Like you up in Ely than you have trails everywhere.

I have to say that there is something about Minnesota snow- once transformed (packed or tracked) the quality of glide is unmatched.

Banksiana: "I have to say that there is something about Minnesota snow- once transformed (packed or tracked) the quality of glide is unmatched."

Agree

I have been enjoying it very much. Almost all of it has been skating, but I got in some local classic skiing today. I hope it lasts and that we go from winter directly to summer.

The Lake Skating season has opened. Last week's rain has made the crust firm in most places, a little dicey late in the day, but there is good skate-skiing to be had. Also plenty of snow on the Hidden Valley trails, which are fast and firm until they're not but if you hit them at the right time of the day (and if they've groomed) makes for some fine and fast skating.

Banksiana: "The Lake Skating season has opened. Last week's rain has made the crust firm in most places, a little dicey late in the day, but there is good skate-skiing to be had. Also plenty of snow on the Hidden Valley trails, which are fast and firm until they're not but if you hit them at the right time of the day (and if they've groomed) makes for some fine and fast skating."

I love skiing on the BWCA lakes when it is hard packed. Best in the world.
I am amazed more people don't do the march ski. Although it has grown at least on the Gunflint end. Know some come for a whole week and do day trips into the BWCA.

Any idea on whether the lake skating will hold up for next weekend (March 30)?

Any suggestions on lakes or a route on the Ely end?

The ice should be good. Skating conditions will vary day by day and hour by hour even lake to lake.. Great skating this morning but by early afternoon it was getting gummy. I'm hoping to ski every day between now and the 30th.

Hopefully lake skiing will still be good after the 30th. I'll be looking to lake ski then.

Thank you!

3Ball-
Drop me a line if you want further current information. I'll let you know to the best of my capabilities.

Banksiana: "3Ball-
Drop me a line if you want further current information. I'll let you know to the best of my capabilities."

Thanks very much. I will be heading up Friday afternoon either way and will check in later in the week.

I have like maybe two days left to ski in the Brainerd area. Nice hardpack in the woods now.
Was 25 inches of snow now varies from 3-11 inches,outside of drifts. lakes are glare ice and two layered. Two inches of ice 6 inches of water than 17inches of ice.

Long ski yesterday. Started at nine and told myself I'd go until the surface became too difficult. The slush ice was getting soft but I wasn't breaking through when I quit, more due to hunger and fatigue than anything else. Today I did about half the distance skiing a couple laps of a b-dub lake. Bare slush ice for most of the lake but enough texture around the edges for good grip and fast transit, especially with the wind.

Banksiana: "The ice should be good. Skating conditions will vary day by day and hour by hour even lake to lake.. Great skating this morning but by early afternoon it was getting gummy. I'm hoping to ski every day between now and the 30th."

What lake? Slim?

egnuti: Good call! Slim yesterday, Burntside today. Last night's cold temp might have frozen some of the water lurking in the slush ice.

Use to love to go skiing from Little Gabro across the Swamp to Gabro-Bald Eagle to Gull-Pietro and back spring conditions. Just make sure you go around current areas which both have winter portage short cuts.

Banksiana: "egnuti: Good call! Slim yesterday, Burntside today. Last night's cold temp might have frozen some of the water lurking in the slush ice."

I'll be up there on Sunday or Monday. I'm wondering if you could give me an update. I would greatly appreciate it.

Warm today. Really windy. Lakes largely clear of all snow. Skied a couple of gummy loops at Hidden Valley. Late in the day the sun came out. Skated at sunset and dusk in the b-dub. Sun softened the top half inch of slush ice. Like fine ball bearings in heavy oil. Buttah!

Banksiana: "Warm today. Really windy. Lakes largely clear of all snow. Skied a couple of gummy loops at Hidden Valley. Late in the day the sun came out. Skated at sunset and dusk in the b-dub. Sun softened the top half inch of slush ice. Like fine ball bearings in heavy oil. Buttah!


"

Around home skiing is done,might try to see if I stay in the woods,maybe 1 more day.

Keep updating to your done for the year.

It sounds like there is no need to bring my skis to Ely this weekend?

Spring is my least favorite season. Skiing and snowshoeing are over. Biking and canoeing haven't started. I run sometimes to bridge the gap but it is not much fun.

I suppose I can take a long day hike and see some water moving somewhere. Maybe the angleworm trail or souix hustler.

3Ball: "It sounds like there is no need to bring my skis to Ely this weekend?


Spring is my least favorite season. Skiing and snowshoeing are over. Biking and canoeing haven't started. I run sometimes to bridge the gap but it is not much fun.


I suppose I can take a long day hike and see some water moving somewhere. Maybe the angleworm trail or souix hustler."

I think there has to be snow in the woods and along one shore of the lake. It actually with the cooler weather this weekend,hard snow you would have excellent snowshoe conditions and maybe good skiing along the shore that isn't opposed to the sun.

In Brainerd I had good woods skiing yesterday with 6 inches left in the woods.
Don't give up yet.

Banksiana would know best.

3Ball: "It sounds like there is no need to bring my skis to Ely this weekend?


Spring is my least favorite season. Skiing and snowshoeing are over. Biking and canoeing haven't started. I run sometimes to bridge the gap but it is not much fun.


I suppose I can take a long day hike and see some water moving somewhere. Maybe the angleworm trail or souix hustler."

Not sure why you wouldn't bring skis. I've skied every day for close to two weeks. My lowest mileage day was slightly under 12 miles, the best was a bit more than 32. I have two more days of possible skiing before I have to return to work and I plan on skiing both days.

Spring skiing is about as good as it gets- the problem is that it's in a constant state of flux. Wednesday night's skiing was beyond sublime.
Yesterday's skiing a little tougher. Skated one loop around the perimeter of the Hegmans and Trease Lakes. Instead of getting soft on the surface the slush ice was sort of dematerializing into slush with just a very brief period where the surface was soft enough to grip and sturdy enough to glide. Still managed a fair bit of distance in not much time. Late in the day I took my ugly wax less skis and managed to ski for two hours on the North Arm Trails. The trails subject to machine grooming were better than the trails in the b-dub. Very few areas of insurmountable bare ground. Occasionally quite fun, all of it better than a treadmill.

Lake surfaces change hour to hour, day to day, lake to lake. When the skating is good it is very good.

Going to try Hidden Valley this morning.

This time of year outside, the fresh air is worth it alone.
I would think snowshoeing would be great in the morning on hardpack in the woods before it warms up.

OK -- thanks.

The skis are in the vehicle, along with everything else.

With last night's cold temps I drove to Hidden Valley this morning, about 10:30- the groomer just finishing tilling what he could of the trails. The trails were hard packed corn snow, the grooming loosening enough to make a great surface- good control and breathtakingly fast. Quite possibly the best track I've skated this season. A couple of bare spots here and there- all but two could be avoided with skis- but by and large it was fast fun skiing. After a couple of hours I shifted to skis better suited to the now softening conditions but it stayed fast well past noon and was still offering up glide even as it got soft and a little slushy. If they drag the groomer around it tomorrow morning it will be fast most of the day. If they don't groom it might be a bit rutty.

Last ski of the year a bit anti-climactic. Laps around the Hegmans and Trease. Somewhat slow with a surface that required careful work (fairly loose snow on hard ice). Extremely windy. It was the wind that caused me to cut it short after a couple of hours- some insane gusts out there.

Still hanging in there with 6 inches of hard rock snow in the woods around home I did about 3 hours of of trail skiing today. Going tomorrow and that will be it. Lakes are glare ice fields are bare.

We went on the ice in Ely on Saturday.

Our first try was on Fenske and Little Sletten. There was some pockets of bare ice and some good bays with a bit of snow. Those bays had great glide.

Tiring of snowmobile tracks, we decided to head up to Slim. Slim had more snow. We did have numerous small pockets of bare ice to cross, but then got to the other end (SW?) where there was just the right amount of snow. We would have tracks showing 25 foot glide!

It was a lot of fun. It will definitely cause me to spend more time in Ely in the spring season.

3Ball: "


"

To me spring skiing on hard pack or spring camping I like better thn summer canoe camping. One heck lot of fun when it is light jacket weather and skiing is effortless and everything seems so clean.
Glad you had a good time.

Skiied around Brainerd in the woods today,actually good skiing but was the last day to next winter.

I should have stayed closer to Ely. Tried Hegman, Agassa, and Ed Shave but the thin layer of snow was not enough so I hoofed on the portages. Still a great afternoon on foot.

It is going to be a great year to ski! And my 4.5 year old should be much better than last year making this upcoming year very exciting for me.