UPCOMING

WED, JAN 15, 2025

XC Ski HQ: Silver Streak Week - Seniors ski free!
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

THU, JAN 16, 2025

XC Ski HQ: Silver Streak Week - Seniors ski free!
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

FRI, JAN 17, 2025

XC Ski HQ: Silver Streak Week - Seniors ski free!
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

SAT, JAN 18, 2025

CXC Jr. Cup / Great Lakes Division - Classic Individual Start
Rhinelander, WI - Northwoods Nordic Ski Club

Cote Dame Marie
Hanson Hills Recreation Area, Grayling, MI

Winter Trails Day at Timber Ridge Resort
Timber Ridge Resort, 4050 Hammond Road East, Traverse City, MI 49696

XC Ski HQ: Gourmet Lunch at Trapper's Cabin
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

XC Ski HQ: Gourmet Mac ‘n Cheese Bar
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

SUN, JAN 19, 2025

CXC Jr. Cup / Great Lakes Division - Freestyle Individual Start
Rhinelander, WI - Northwoods Nordic Ski Club

Team NordicSkiRacer Junior Ski
Huron Meadows Metropark, 8765 Hammel Rd, Brighton, MI 48116

Flying Squirrel Freestyle Junior Race
Crystal Mountain, 2500 Crystal Mountain Dr., Thompsonville, Michigan 49683

XC Ski HQ: Gourmet Mac ‘n Cheese Bar
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

MON, JAN 20, 2025

XC Ski HQ: Gourmet Mac ‘n Cheese Bar
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

TUE, JAN 21, 2025

Vasa Ski Club Raptors Tuesday Night Race Series
Hickory Hills Recreation Area, 2000 Randolph Street, Traverse City, MI 49684

FRI, JAN 24, 2025

Noquemanon Ski Marathon: Junior and Adaptive Races
Al Quaal Recreation Area, Ishpeming, MI

SAT, JAN 25, 2025

Noquemanon Ski Marathon
Al Quaal Recreation Area (Ishpeming, MI) and NTN 510 trailhead

CXC Jr. Cup / Great Lakes Division - Freestyle Sprint
Minneapolis, MN -- The Trailhead, Loppet

XC Ski HQ: Free Beginner Ski Lesson
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

XC Ski HQ: Bavarian Ski Festival
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

Lantern-lit Trail
Fayette Historic State Park, 13700 13.25 Lane, Garden, Michigan, 49835

SUN, JAN 26, 2025

CXC Jr. Cup / Great Lakes Division - Freestyle Mass Start
Minneapolis, MN -- The Trailhead, Loppet

Boyne Mountain Classic 10k
Boyne Mountain, Boyne Falls, MI

Beach Nuts Junior Nordic Race
Nubs Knob, Harbor Springs

XC Ski HQ: Learn to Skate Ski Clinic
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

XC Ski HQ: Eric McDonald Live
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

TUE, JAN 28, 2025

Vasa Ski Club Raptors Tuesday Night Race Series
Hickory Hills Recreation Area, 2000 Randolph Street, Traverse City, MI 49684

More events...

LATEST TRAIL CONDITIONS

TUE, JAN 14

Hickory Hills: Wanted to get out to feel the snow under my feet and the wind at my back (lol, hopefully). I specifically did Hickory Meadows. It was still snowing lightly, lilting down amongst the trees. Evidence of corduroy underneath the newly fallen snow but a pretty "squishy base". Good coverage overall, just not able to be packed well yet. I know it will get better and better. Wish I had brought classic skis for these conditions but man was it good to get out and log in a worthy workout (albeit a slow grinding skate). Didn't afford the time to go across the parking lot to check out Hickory Hills. I'm so thankful for our trails !!

Vasa Trail: The snow continued to fall as I made the pilgrimage to Brian Donnelly’s memorial. The VASA has a great base. One must love when the kick wax is just right on your best classic skis. I had exceptional glide and good kick in the snow-covered tracks. I saw a few skaters, but the temperature and conditions warrant classic skiing.

Valley Spur: LES snow bands dropping big fluffy flakes all day. Single digits in the a.m. but climbing to low 20’s. New tractor/groomer out this a.m. with ginzu and track setter. A steep learning curve but seeing good results. Climbs big hills with ease.
We can’t thank all those from out of the area enough for your donations to make this happen. We are a small club in a small population county and could not have pulled this off without you.

Hanson Hills: A cold day at Hanson Hills. As expected, the classic tracks near the start were minimal/disappeared, but soon reappeared. There were no set tracks on Wilderness, and none at the beginning of Yellow. We were told to avoid Red today to preserve the trail for the race. We skied Brown and Blue, which had set tracks. Snow coverage was good on Brown and Blue, though grass and dirt appeared at times on the way back to the start. We then drove to Traverse City, and it was/is snowing quite hard. Looked like 2-3 inches of new snow this afternoon.

Vasa Trail: With several inches of fresh additional snowfall each night since last week's big 8" storm, followed by an oh-dark-thirty daily grooming, the trail just keeps getting better and better each day. The skate lane is firm and flat, and the classic tracks are well-cast.
The yardstick on the 0K signpost indicates compacted depth of about 6", forgot to check the one on the 4K post. Saw several of the regulars on my 10K skate, but the highlight was hearing from USMC-Jim about his races in Estonia and Argentina last year, and planned Swedish Vasa this year, though he was a little tired after 30 Miles of classic yesterday.
Then chatted with Jim M. in the parking lot about the Vasa Race History that is commemorating events amazingly similar to those commemorated by the BirkeBeiner Race in WI. if you want to learn that history view the Norwegian action adventure movie "The Last King" filmed in their mountains showing how amazingly they skied back in the 8th Century or thereabouts.

Lost Lakes Pathway: Ungroomed trail through state forest with ~10" snow. Southern loop has had skiers and walkers, but it was fine since snow is soft. We were 1st skiers today to smooth skier-made tracks on the Northern loop. We used EVO 60 fish scale touring skis, which are perfect for this trail.

Huron Meadows Metropark: 16 degrees, around 3pm
Bucks Run, I do tracks
Looked groomed to me.
Great deep tracks, one spot has a little dirt mixed in the track at one curve but plenty of snow to glide on, as someone had mentioned in Monday's post. Snow looked fluffy.
It looked like everyone was having fun

Huron Meadows Metropark: Bucks' Run in excellent shape today for Classic and Skating. As of this afternoon nothing else was available.

Milham Park Golf Course: Skate lane re set after 4+ inches of fresh snow last night. A little soft right now but should set up nicely. Classic track will be set this afternoon. As good as we can hope for folks, let's get out there and enjoy!

Dave D

Michaywe: Maybe another 2 inches since yesterday. Both golf course loops, the lake loop, herringbone, and the river trail have been groomed and track set. Just a few easily avoidable thin spots.

Cross Country Ski Headquarters: We received more snow yesterday, and Groomer Mike has snowcombed the Manitou, Trapper's Cabin, and Rolling Hills trails as of 10am. Trappers Cabin has classic tracks set as well. It's a winter wonderland out there! Stone Turtle Cafe is open for lunch. It's Silver Streak Week at XC SKI HQ this week, so skiers who are age 60 and older receive a Free Facilities Pass today through this Friday!

Hanson Hills: Combed skate deck and Set Tracks on All Trails, Green, Blue, Brown, Yellow and Easy Return.
We are hoping to groom RED tomorrow in preparation for the Cote Dame.

Cote Dame - January 18th. Sign up ONLINE!! Souvenir Pint Glass, and Custom finisher medal for all participants!! https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/Grayling/CoteDameMarieSkiLoppet

Corsair Ski Trails: Five to six inches of fresh snow on the trails today! The parking lots are plowed and there’s enjoyable skiing on some nice skied-in tracks. It’s still not deep enough to pack and groom, but it’s a beautiful white snowscape for some winter fun.

MON, JAN 13

Leelanau State Park: Visited the trails for the first time this year and took a chance with my “A” twin skins. No regrets, there was plenty of snow and I broke trail most of the way around including the “fat tire” trail extension up to Purkiss Rd. Snow was plenty deep with a few inches of fluffy powder on top. A few roots still prominent but snow covered; use caution. The biggest disappointment is no tree clearing being done. A couple big ones on the “Blue” trail approaching the dune cut-off and a couple more on the bike extension. This is a fun trail system but is multi-use so don’t expect a pristine groomer. If you like wilderness skiing however, it’s quite nice and usually uncrowded.

: Ott Preserve, Battle Creek, MI
Trails were great. Not groomed, but packed down. Beautiful - with the smell of Froot Loops in the air.

Valley Spur: John C rolled in about 5” of new snow and set new tracks with deep trac setter before 10 am today. Yesterday saw high moisture snow with temps close to 32F. Temps dropped all night and down to 14F this afternoon.
With a great base we are back up to mid-season conditions. Colder this week with more LES in the forecast.
Classic was excellent with kick wax. Birkie skaters still around today adding more quality K’s to their training logs. Snowshoe trails well marked.

Stokely Creek: Today was a tough ski. 25° and 5” of fresh snow. Fresh groom with soft tracks, grip using Rode Super Blue. Snow came down steadily all morning, mostly big flakes, but occasional bursts of pelting tiny snowballs. Peterson and Trappers trails to Norm’s had been skied by 2, but tracks partly filled and my skis began to stick. I stopped in Norm’s, had a cup of hot water and signed the book. Return trip to the lodge (noon)was challenging, lowered my Swix yellow visor to see in occasional white outs. Tracks were nearly filled in and it was difficult to keep a flat ski. Double polling needed on Peterson downhill in headwind. Groomer coming out for second run just as I was finishing, about 4” new snow during my 3+hr ski.
11.9 miles/19.1km

White Pine Stampede course: Greetings from the 49th annual White Pine Stampede!

Ski conditions keep improving each day as we are just under 3 weeks away from race day. Shanty Creek is now grooming all its trails the WPS will use for the 2025 race. Our trail crew will begin rolling the private property sections starting this week. As we approach race day, the extended forecast looks promising with a few more days of snow, and several days of colder weather.

Sleeping Bear Dunes: We finally got enough snow to start building the base and setting tracks! Our team compacted, rolled, and set classic tracks from Glen Arbor to Empire.

Empire to Glen Arbor: About 6 inches of powder compacted into a 2-inch base. These are the best conditions for skate skiing on our trail so far! With more snow in the forecast, we’re optimistic that the base will continue to grow.

Glen Arbor to Lawr Farm by Wheeler Road: 6 inches of fresh powder. We’re planning to groom this section later this week, aiming to have it ready for the weekend.

Milham Park Golf Course: Good news! Set the outside perimeter ski lane and it looks great. Right now some lake affect snow is blowing in so I expect it will be a little soft. Will come back tomorrow. Reset the skate lane and try to set a classic track as well hooray!

Huron Meadows Metropark: Ignore the parks website, it has not been updated. The trail was groomed and snow added and moved around today. It is in excellent condition with a very good deep track the entire way around and no dirt showing. There are a few gray/brown spots but no issues with them. Way better than Sunday afternoon condition.

Michaywe: Groomed out the skate deck on the lake loop, maple ridge, nordic, and the river trail. Snow continues to fall. Will be back at it again tomorrow.

Vasa Trail: Best conditions I've seen this year with wide and level skate lane and deep classic tracks with only some very few dirty spots in the tracks. Was soft this morning having just been groomed but should harden up as the week goes on.

Hanson Hills: We have tracks!!! 10:35am... All Trails, Green, Blue, Brown, Yellow and Easy Return have a fresh set of beautiful tracks laid down and a flat and beautifully combed skate deck!!!

Cross Country Ski Headquarters: We received another 3 inches of snow yesterday and last night, and it continues to snow this morning. Groomer Butch has snowcombed and set fresh tracks on the Trapper's Cabin trail, and intends to snowcomb the Rolling Hills trail next, followed by the rest of the trails snow permitting. The Blizzard Pond loop behind the practice area, in addition to the practice area, now has abundant man-made snow, is groomed, and is in excellent for demos and lessons. Stone Turtle Cafe is open for lunch! Come ski with us!

Hanson Hills: We received another 2 inches of lake effect yesterday! Groomer Dan is out combing trails again this morning. He reports that we are really close to having enough base to set tracks.
All Trails, Green, Blue, Brown, Yellow and Easy return will be combed today. Red will be rolled again (We kindly ask that skiers stay off of the red as we prepare for Cote Dame).

Lodge and trails open at 9am. Trail Passes required

Cote Dame Update: At the moment we are planning on a full course (as long as red sets up). Citizen's Classic race may or may not happen depending if we can set track. Online registration: https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/Grayling/CoteDameMarieSkiLoppet

I will be sending out Race/Course updates Thursday.

Independance Oaks: Looks like 8-12 inches on the NOAA interactive ski map. Would appreciate a ski report!

Hiawatha Highlands: Just completed four days of excellent skiing at Hiawatha. Excellent grooming for skate abd classic. Easier trails and demanding trails make for a great combination. Well worth the drive from Traverse City. Estimated 2' of snow in the woods. Use your best skiis

Forbush Corner: Accumulating system and lake effect snow continues to improve coverage on all trails. Fresh groom on some east side trails today. Open 9 to 5.

More trail reports...