UPCOMING

TUE, JAN 7, 2025

U.S. National Championships at Kincaid Park - Freestyle Sprint
Kincaid Park, Anchorage, AK

WED, JAN 8, 2025

PSIA XC Level 1 & 2 exam (Virtual portion of Hybrid PSIA Clinic)
Forbush Corner, 4971 W Co Rd 612, Frederic, MI 49733

SAT, JAN 11, 2025

Vasa Raptor Rush Nordic Ski Race Fundraiser
Hickory Hills Ski Area, Traverse City, MI

XC Ski HQ: Bob’s Bean Bomb at the Stone Turtle Cafe
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

SISU Ski Fest
ABR Trails, E5299 West Pioneer Road, Ironwood, Michigan 49938

Frosty Fest! Frosty Freestyle 5/15K
Huron Meadows Metropark, Brighton, MI

XC Ski HQ: "Pure Michigan” Winter Trails Day with the Great Lakes Winter Trails Council
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

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

SUN, JAN 12, 2025

XC Ski HQ: Bob’s Bean Bomb at the Stone Turtle Cafe
Cross Country Ski Headquarters, 9435 N Cut Rd, Roscommon, MI 48653. 800-832-2663, [email protected], CrossCountrySki.com

Frosty Fest! Krazy Klassic 7K/10K
Huron Meadows Metropark, Brighton, MI

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

MON, JAN 13, 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

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

TUE, JAN 14, 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

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

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

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

More events...

LATEST TRAIL CONDITIONS

MON, JAN 6

Timber Ridge: Skied the Vasa from Timber Ridge to The Rock, to the 10/25k split, up & down the 6k, returning to TR from the valley. I hadn’t skied for a week while in Cozumel so needed to get fit again before Silver Star, BC, and hard on my back without classic tracks & only 2” packed snow on hard base. I used my fishscales but was well-covered & decent glide. If we get more snow Tues/Wed & groomed again, hopefully it will be more even & tracked.

Hanson Hills: Coming from southeastern Michigan, where we’ve had such trouble getting a season started, I would assess Hanson Hills as excellent conditions. It is thin and wouldn’t last through much of a meltdown, but everything is white and has a fresh dusting of snow covering anything ugly and there’s absolutely no problem using a skis. It is thin at the car and parking area and I used B skis just to be sure for the first time out. I love skiing at Hanson Hills and I’m glad these guys put the effort into grooming. There were some tracks set part of the way out onto the trail system from the parking area, but I lost track of them as I was rolling along thinking about how much I love to ski. :-)

Forbush Corner: 12° at 10:30 AM with light snow showers. Deep classic track and crispy corduroy on snowmaking loop and ridge. Swix extra blue covering Start terva purple from last 2 days was perfect grip, even climbing in track on home run hill. Excellent kick & glide on 240 loop with fast downhills everywhere including rollercoaster, badlands and crybaby which had 1/2” fresh powder. Some rough spots with grass on crybaby. 15.5 km (9.66 miles) of great skiing.

Valley Spur: After 4' to 6" of fresh snow yesterday and a nice grooming job, the Valley Spur ski trails are great! Beautiful classic conditions. Bring your best skis. Skiers are coming from Petoskey & Minocqua (3 & 4 hours away) to ski at Valley Spur.

Huron Meadows Metropark: Huron Meadows Metropark – Park is open from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm daily.

Ski Center-Closed

Bucks Run- The Bucks Run trail is currently under construction

Taken off Huron Meadows website.

Michaywe: Just received about 4 inches of "flurries" this morning. The lake loop, herringbone, the river trail, and both golf course loops have been rolled and combed. Very few thin areas remaining.

Cross Country Ski Headquarters: Good morning! It continues to snow lightly, and the trails are getting more coverage with each snowflake that falls! All trails are open, and there is a modified Trapper's Cabin loop of man-made snow that will be groomed later this morning. The snow at the trail head will be somewhat chunky until the crew can smash it down and groom it. We expect to have the complete Trapper's Cabin man-made loop ready Wednesday morning.

The practice area has abundant man-made snow, is groomed, and is in excellent for demos, lessons, and for skiers of all ages to ski around and play. Cafe is open for lunch today!

Hanson Hills: Groomer Dan combed skate lanes on All Trails, Green, Blue, Brown, Yellow and Easy Return yesterday. Base is firm, there are a few thin spots that are easily avoidable. We have not set tracks. Red and M-93 Hills are rolled, but still very thin, please avoid. Lodge and trails open 9am-5pm daily. Trail Passes are required.

Forbush Corner: Yes , we have classic tracks on all trails! Fresh groom on the 240 Loop, Ridge, and the Valley. All trails open, coverage is very good, thin in some spots, some dirt showing here and ther but avoidable. With the cold temps and occasional lake effect, we do not expect conditions to change much throughout the week. Moving into our normal winter hours now. Open Thursday through Monday, 9 to 5.

SUN, JAN 5

Hartwick Pines: Beautiful classic ski on the Deer Run Loop today. There's a nice track throughout; just a few thin spots here and there.

Nubs Nob: Great skiing today , both classic and freestyle on both the upper Red and Blue of Nubs Nob. The trail is firm with good coverage and depth , except on the windward lodge side of the Red loop . There is about 100yards of thin but skiable trail that needs some more snow . Other than that , skiing is premo !

Nubs Nob: Great skiing today , both classic and freestyle on both the upper Red and Blue of Nubs Nob. The trail is firm with good coverage and depth , except on the windward lodge side of the Red loop . There is about 100yards of thin but skiable trail that needs some more snow . Other than that , skiing is premo !

Black Mountain: Umm just looking for conditions from here

Vasa Trail: The trail reports tell the story, my trail report yesterday was much different than it would have been today. Today I skied the 16k loop that will be used for the vasa race. Starting from Timber Ridge and skiing to the split rail fence. Some pretty thin areas on the trail going to split rail fence. Its all doable but I would use B skis. The other very thin area was near Annita' s Hill at the bottom. It is usually sketchy anyway but very thin today. I thought the groomers did the best job they could and anyone that wanted to ski the entire loop would be able to. The best snow is going south from Timber Ridge. No classic tracks yet but everyone I met doing classic seemed to having a great time. Loved the trail report where someone was promoting the Vasa race, keep up the good work. Go to Vasa.org and look at all the options for this years race and don't forget to sign up.

Dunes Golf Club: Excellent snow conditions, real nice stuff
Continued snow in the forecast
Now A ski safe in all open areas
Open 24 hours

4mi east of empire on M-72

Forbush Corner: Classic ski using Swix extra blue covering Start terva purple was fast glide, no sticking. I picked a few Pineneedles stuck on the kick wax from yesterday, smooth it out and added a tiny bit near my heel. Tracks were a bit firmer and well molded yesterday, vs today, with up to 2” fluffy new snow on some trails. Yesterday the best section was the southernmost part of Roberts Rd vs today West Side trail leading from #10. Very good conditions on badlands, cry baby and rollercoaster. Today deadman’s drop, TJ‘s and interval hills, were in excellent condition for the downhill, but ground showing around corners as were areas on pines connector. Trail open is amazing, given I skied 12 miles yesterday and 11 miles today without being on snowmaking loop!

Vasa Trail: Arriving at the Rock early afternoon, there were already a dozen or more cars of the cognoscenti, and they kept on coming. To quote Larry H. "If you're not at the Rock, you need to be, the Snow Is Super, good for A skis," and he was right. Only a few thin spots on the route I skied, easily avoided, and same with yesterday's ski of the 10K loop. Today from the Rock I skied the usual CW direction, then took a right turn to ski the Special K - and reversed the route back to my car yielding a total skate of 15K-16K unless you skipped the Jackpine Valley as I did reducing it to 11K-12K. LF7 provided excellent glide.

Met Bud W. as he started his ski, and he asked how it was starting from the TH as he knows I usually start there. I replied, "Not so good, as I cut a couple of extra gouges in my skis there yesterday which is why I started from the Rock today. Starting from the TH there are/were a lot of real thin spots, patches of loose gravel, etc. until reaching the loop-proper at the split rail fence, then the 10K loop was fine, only a few thin spots.

Unless you have 4WD it's usually safer taking Sand Lakes Rd, rather than Strombolis Rd to the Rock that occasionally requires that option.

Made a knew acquaintance today of Steffen H., a young fellow who normally skates the 25K, plus Headwaters daily but has never raced. I encouraged him to give the Vasa Race a try, which he is thinking of doing. He has been a longtime speed-skater and anxious to meet Poleless-Glen. We compared notes on how we both rilled some new gouges from the TH into our skis yesterday. Fortunately neither of us crashed and hurt ourselves, just our "B"skis.

Hickory Hills: No material change from Ken Dawson's report on January 1st, except for a fresh inch of lake effect overnight and some fresh corduroy laid down by the Piston Bully 400 this morning on the low grade road and the part of the lower bowl that is wide enough for it to access. You still cannot ski beyond the old lodge, but it looks like the lighted loop may be connected by tomorrow based on the placement of the snow guns and spreading of some of the snow piles. I did not try the meadow based on my son's advice who gave it a try yesterday.

Cross Country Ski Headquarters: We received a couple more inches of light, fluffy snow throughout the day yesterday, and it continues to snow lightly this morning. All trails are open, though ungroomed until we get some more accumulation. Our trail crew has been working nights to spread man-made snow onto the Trapper's Cabin trail, so you may encounter some interesting conditions out there until it's finished (likely by tomorrow morning). The rest of the trails have about 3-4 inches of snow on them, and while you'll find some grass sticking up here and there, many skiers are reporting a great time out there. Classic rock skis are recommended.

The practice area has abundant man-made snow, and is PERFECT for demos, lessons, and for skiers of all ages to ski around and play. Join us for lunch, plus live music from 2:30 to 4:30!

Crystal Mountain: Good morning. We got everything packed yesterday and even got a pretty decent track set in spots. I decided to ski the hills this morning to check them out and I made first tracks on all of them. (Didn't do Eagles or Nepsa) I fell 3 times on Squirrel which I determined the reason was grooming with the gator it gets packed from the gator tracks and is soft in between them so if you get one ski in the soft area and one in the packed area it can pull you around (couldn't have been my skiing abilities.) LOL, So my plan today is to regroom them and try to over lap so I am packing the soft spots. Be aware that even though they are snow covered there isn't a lot so rocks and roots that are normally covered are not. Use rock skis and be careful.

Forbush Corner: Fresh groom on the east side trails today. Pines connector and pines loop was groomed yesterday, thin here and there but mostly good coverage if you are looking for a longer ski out to Hartwick Pines. Open 9 to 5.

More trail reports...