Alaska Outdoor Reports

Government Peak Recreation Area Yesterday 4PM by Valley Mountain Bikers and Hikers

VMBaH crew out today, groomed all single track at GPRA. Deep snow and lots of branches to clear and we built a snow-bridge across the creek. It was setting up pretty good when we left, with cold temps forecasted tonight, it should be good tomorrow before the next snow storm on Sunday. Air out those tires!

Far North Bicentennial Park Yesterday 3PM by Greer Gehler

Far North up to hillside lots of snow and tracks, not great for skate skiing and no classic tracks set, or if they were they’ve been churned up by other traffic. Great coverage for a fish scale ski.

Hillside Yesterday 2PM by knie0012

N. and S. Biv lots are plowed. Snowmachine trail packed down access from S. Biv to bridge/trail. Spencer/Double skied super soft and slow, again.

Moose Range Yesterday 1PM by Rocky

Packed down trail with snogo only.Yarrow to Linguini to secret trail to Moose Meadows,where I encountered lots of overflow.Bad area.

Hillside Yesterday 1PM by Terri Pauls

Broke trail on touring skis through the deep, untouched pow-pow of the second part of the classic-only Ridge Loop, going in reverse-of-normal direction from the second intersection with the Richter Trail. I turned around after including the shortcut to an earlier section of trail that allows one to exclude the ridge. Felt like actual skiing on the way back. So quiet, and no wind. Ahh, forest bathing!

Campbell Creek Trail Yesterday 12PM by McDoodlebug

Campbell creek trail is now groomed from Lake Otis west

Government Peak Recreation Area Yesterday 12AM by Mark Strabel

Moved the PB100 down from Independence to groom all the trails at GPRA, and for the High School races this friday and Saturday. We did groom everything tonight. The high school Classic technique race course (noon race start finished by 1:30pm) for Friday is Bold, waterfall downhill, matanuska, susitna, eska. All other trails open
Saturday race course (freestyle), Matanuska and Susitna and Eska 10am-noon Support grooming by the Mat-Su Ski Club

Archangel Road Thursday 10PM by Zack Steer

Groomed Archangel Road from the trailhead to outhouse. Fresh skate lane and classic tracks. Should set up nice tonight. Hatchers road is plowed, but as of 10p on Thurs night the AA parking lot was not plowed and impassable. 10F and clear. Support grooming by the Mat-Su Ski Club

Hillside Thursday 7PM by DarthSkater

Heads up, lights are all out on lower loops below Convo Corner (junior Nordic, Randy’s, and Service), including the stadium. Full moon filling in but a headlamp is nice

Prospect Heights trailhead Thursday 7PM by brian harder

My dog Skimo is lost somewhere on the Basher trail between the Wolverine junction and the creek towards the parking lot of Basher. She is a black tricolor Aussie. A little shy. She went missing about 7pm Thursday night. Call me with any info, please. Brian. 307-699-4809.

Alaska Pacific University Thursday 5PM by Ben Neff

Started at Winterberry area (no parking available), skied along bike path and APU trail, and across Goose lake. All beautiful and perfect for classic, too narrow/soft for good skate skiing yet. Enjoy the new fluff!

Kincaid Park Thursday 5PM by Steve Cleary

fun skiing in the moonlight last night on the Sisson Loop - great grooming and everything has set up nicely

Kincaid Park Thursday 4PM by Jessie Janowski

Skied the multi use from Kincaid stadium to the coastal trail and turned around just before the water treatment plant. Conditions on the kincaid hill were quite post holed, and the coastal trail was soft but still fun. These trails were not piston bullied so they are very soft but will hopefully firm up with more grooming!

Hillside Thursday 3PM by Bart Hawkins

Skate-skied the Besh & Hillside loops. Both are (surprise!) full of snow! The snow has been compacted but is still pretty loose with a couple of inches of surface snow toward the edges. The centers are a slightly concave with the loose edges a little elevated. Classic tracks looked good. For whatever wax I had on from last year, the going was fairly slow (or maybe it was lack of training?). In any case, lots of folks are out having fun in the beautiful new snow, and you could be one! Caution - coming down Abbott from Service there is a hazardous large berm in the lane at one of the intersections.

Kincaid Park Thursday 2PM by ChuckG

Heavenly skiing all over Kincaid and the Anchorage Bowl. How lucky we are.

Hillside Thursday 1PM by AKSharyl

S & N Bivuac parking lot is not plowed. I diverted to the airstrip which was sorta plowed. It's a bit odd because Basher Trail Head parking and a few pull-outs were plowed.

Campbell Creek Trail Thursday 1PM by McDoodlebug

The multiuse has been groomed from Russian Jack to Lake Otis (on Campbell creek trail). Probably ok for skating, but great for classic.

Russian Jack Thursday 1PM by McDoodlebug

The main trails in Russian Jack have been groomed at least once!

Hillside Thursday 1PM by knie0012

N. and S. Biv parking lots not plowed yet. Spencer and Double Bubble skate skiable; soft and slow. Nice classic track set but getting beat up but the skate skier kicks.

Alaska Pacific University Thursday 12PM by McDoodlebug

APU has been drug at least once. it is narrow and a little soft but fantastic for classic skiing.

jodhpur loop kincaid Thursday 11AM by S and J Burky

11 am skied Jodhpur Loop.It was packed and tracks set yesterday before snow finished falling. Tracks are skied in and vey skiable considering the amount of snow. Skating would be soft.

Archangel Road Wednesday 10PM by Ashley Wise

12-16 new inches packed with snow machines only tonight and plan to groom Thursday night. Good for touring skis only tomorrow. Parking lot currently has a 2 foot solid berm and is impassable. Support grooming by the Mat-Su Ski Club

Government Peak Recreation Area Wednesday 9PM by Ed Strabel

Mat-Su Ski Club packed and groomed the Mat-Su, Pioneer, Eska, Butte, Stadium, and the 3.75 race course (Denali-Bold- "S" turn- Waterfall- and back to the Matanuska. We hope to have the PB100 for grooming tomorrow. Support grooming by the Mat-Su Ski Club

Moose Range Wednesday 8PM by Isaac

12+" of heavy dense snow on Moose Range west. Broke trail pulling groomer between Wendt and Sun Valley via Hilltop and a couple of passes around Linguini. Heavy going. Should set up once the temps drops, but until then the ski touring is good.

Substantial overflow on Swamp.

https://nordic-pulse.com/ski-areas/US/AK/Matsu-Moose

Kincaid Park Wednesday 7PM by jf

Classic skied all the set tracks I could find in the park this evening. Best tracks were on the trails that had seen the least activity, which as usual were the "dark loops". Elliots Climb, Easy Street, S-Turns, and the Lake Loop were really nice - firmer than the rest, and they aren't so dark when the moon is full (!) Horseshoe not yet groomed since the storm.
Lighted trails have tracks but they were set pretty far to the right and by this evening they got a bit chewed up; they were soft and poling was punchy (Lekisch 2.9K not so much). A couple more days of grooming and conditions should be primo. No more need for the rock skis.

Kincaid Park Wednesday 4PM by Stinky

Ski conditions are great for skating and classic!

Government Peak Recreation Area Tuesday 11PM by Logan

Matsu ski club tried to keep up with the snow today. Our machines couldn’t quite keep up with the heavy snow. The stadium, Pioneer, and Eska loops are groomed for skating. A partial/narrow, lumpy skate lane was forged along Matanuska and Susitna Loops. We are excited for all the snow and the trails will be in great shape soon. It was still snowing heavily when I left so even the groomed trails will have a bit of fresh on them. Support grooming by the Mat-Su Ski Club

Hillside Tuesday 12PM by Summer S

Classic skied Besh and Lit loop. Very enjoyable.

Tour of Anchorage Trail Tuesday 10AM by Janice

Skijored from MLK parking lot to the big metal bridge. Trail not groomed, but in pretty good condition with the new snow, though we could still use more. I came upon just one wet spot on the first major bend nearest the MLK side, but you could navigate around it through the woods. Surprisingly, the area just before the first little bridge ended up being fine, though I could feel the ice beneath that thin layer of new snow-it overflowed in that area earlier this week. The usual tracks-bike, ski and foot.

Government Peak Recreation Area Tuesday 7AM by Ed Strabel

Mat-Su Ski Club will pack and groom a classic and skate lane on most trails today starting about noon. We will also re-groom most trails later tonight. High School races at GPRA on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Support grooming by the Mat-Su Ski Club

Kincaid Park Tuesday 7AM by Peter Wadsworth

~2" of fresh snow this morning. We skate skied the multi-use trail from the park entrance down to the water. When we got back up the hill to the chalet the snowmachine groomers came out and we got to enjoy fresh corduroy back out to the park entrance. Snow surface is really good.
The pisten bully groomer was working the trails by the biathlon range and the stadium.

Kincaid Park Monday 5PM by Hartz

Fat biked the STAs and had a blast, new snow is a little dry and not bonding great but the little bit of accumulation is really helping smooth things out and is helping improve grip. Stayed on the trails south of raspberry road.

Alaska Pacific University Monday 5PM by Finn’s Human

APU single track trails are starting to fill in more with the latest snow. Great biking!

Beach Lake Trails - Chugiak Monday 2PM by Peter Haeussler

I skied most of the trails today. There was about 1/2 inch of new fallen snow then, and it was fast! I used my 'good' skis and hit no rocks! It still seems thin as its a bit washboardy, but overall the ground is covered, and the skiing is fun!

Chester Creek Trail Monday 12PM by Larry

Skate skied upper Chester between Tikishla Pk and the ANMC campus. N Lts overpass has enough snow to even out the rough ice beneath but watch for icy ruts at lower end of bridge. Firm base under the little bit of new snow is mostly uniform and fast, but still have to watch for those icy tire ruts that have been there for almost a month. Also a few icy foot traffic bumps behind the ANMC bldgs.

Tour of Anchorage Trail Sunday 10AM by Greer Gehler

Skied from abbot loop community park up to hillside trails, the tour trail still has bare spots with debris and icy chunks, don’t recommend for your nice pair of skis. Hillside skied great, lots of recent traffic so due for a groom. Couple icy thin sections on the downhill part of double bubble, but easy to navigate around. Loved seeing Randy’s Loop decorated again!

Abbott Loop Community Park Saturday Dec 3 by CC

Skate skied Tour trail and Airstrip from Abbott Loop lot. Snowpack is a little thin with some ice lobes here and there but overall decent skiing.

Moose Range Saturday Dec 3 by Isaac

Mat-Su Ski Club groomed 13 miles of trail from Wendt / Sun Valley. Linguini, S Traverse, Swamp, Shortcut and various others including across newly installed Wasilla Creek bridge. Summer trail damage was substantial in some areas, so primarily an exercise in rut filling. Bikers should air down and expect soft spots. Some open water on the Swamp, but easily avoided.

https://nordic-pulse.com/ski-areas/US/AK/Matsu-Moose

Cuddy Park Saturday Dec 3 by Ukki

Good ice on the oval. Personally I'd love to see more skating reports.

Nancy Lake State Recreation Area Saturday Dec 3 by Lindsay

Skied the short loop trail at Nancy Lake and it was a bit of an adventure ski. Trail is covered but a lot of frozen post holes and a thick crust which made for quick downhills. Some overflow from small streams were exposed and made for creative footwork. Needs probably another foot of snow to make for a more enjoyable ski but would have been a lovely snowshoe!

Beach Lake Trails - Chugiak Saturday Dec 3 by Redwop

Fresh groom on some of the lower angle trails, very good skate skiing! Several strings of lights were out, bring your headlamp. Some obvious rocks near the holiday lights by the chalet, but otherwise good coverage. Nice job groooming!

Mirror Lake Coyote Trails Saturday Dec 3 by Ski-Du

Lots of foot and paw tracks, but grooming and coverage is excellent. These trails are a not-so-hidden gem! Nearby powerline is great for multi-use too.

Government Peak Recreation Area Friday Dec 2 by Scott Adams

The Mat-Su Ski Club freshened up the skate lane on the Matanuska Loop. The Susitna, Eska, Denali, and Pioneer loops were groomed. The Stadium and Mt. Streams trails were also groomed. Support grooming by the Mat-Su Ski Club

Prospect Heights trailhead Friday Dec 2 by Larry

Campbell Ck ice development has also caused a small overflow just past the bridge... can go around or maybe mush through it, but skis would be an issue. Near Point had some drifts on the face and a snow berm on the summit. About 10 deg F warmer on top than trailhead.

BLM Campbell Tract Friday Dec 2 by Eric Parsons

As others have noted there is ice and overflow from S. Biv down before the bridge. It's crossable in ski boots but barely.
The most peril however is that the creek has jumped onto Campbell airstrip road at the one low point and now the road has a big time flowing - overflow - ice problem. Take care if driving up there.

BLM Campbell Tract Friday Dec 2 by Christie Haupert

Rovers Run Overflow Warning. Overnight a section of Rovers Run became completely inundated with shin deep overflow. Last night it was still passable by walking along the edge, but is now completely impassable, and requires wading into the water/slush. Without proper footwear you will get wet. I found all other overflow sections on TOA trail passable. This was at 8 am, Friday, Dec 2.

Archangel Road Thursday Dec 1 by Zack Steer

4-6 Inches new snow at the trailhead, inclreasing to 6-8+" by Reed Lakes and beyond.
Packed, groomed and re-set tracks from trailhead to Reed Lakes cut-off. The upper section of AA road to the outhouse has a good base with fresh powder on top. Hatcher's road is plowed, as of Thurs 11p the parking lot was not. Enough moonlight after 9pm to ski without headlamps, and the aurora was out too! Support grooming by the Mat-Su Ski Club

Government Peak Recreation Area Thursday Dec 1 by Ed Strabel

Mat-Su Ski Club Groomed the Mat-Su, Pioneer, Eska, Stadium, along with the Mtn Streams access and the Mountain Streams loop for classic and skating. Frost heaves still producing some "wavy gravy". Support grooming by the Mat-Su Ski Club

Independence Mine Thursday Dec 1 by Mark Strabel

About 6” of new snow, some light winds are moving the dry snow around. 14f when grooming. Not much skier traffic these days, but great conditions

Moose Range Thursday Dec 1 by Isaac

Mat- Su Ski club established in initial groom on Hilltop / Powder Loop trails from Wendt and from Sun Valley to out along the Swamp. Skiing is A+. Fatbikes should be aware that substantial summer trail damage from ATVs caused large ruts and washouts that will create soft spots along the sides until fully filled and packed.

Current grooming status for the Moose Range can be found at https://nordic-pulse.com/ski-areas/US/AK/Matsu-Moose