Ski with Safety and Comfort in Mind

What a great and wonderful ski season we are having. The number of skiers using our Carey Lake Ski Trail System has hit an all time high.

It has been great to see and talk to so many of you on the trails.

Our goal for the Carey Lake Ski Trail System is to develop one of the best, safest and most user-friendly ski trail systems in Minnesota.

We all play a major role in achieving this goal — with planning and detailing from our office, excellent and safe grooming standards from our maintenance department, and you as the user with observational feedback.

Trail Comments

If you have any comments concerning our ski trails or your ski experience, please email them to me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Grooming Practices

All trails are designed and groomed for two major elements: #1…Safety and #2…The beginner/recreational skier. We feel if these two elements can be accomplished, our trails will serve the needs of any skier level.

We want you to ski on trails that you can count on to be tracked and groomed the same way consistently and to eliminate the guess work of what to expect.

The standard for all trails will be to groom and track in the following user friendly manner:

Flats, Slight Inclines & Declines

Single or double track trail where appropriate on all flats, slight inclines and slight declines. These areas will allow for improving your diagonal stride and double poling techniques. (More ways to Burn Calories!)

Moderate & Slightly Steep Hills — Up or Down

Single track and flat track all moderate to slightly steep down hills and up hills. The single tracks will remain for skiers that have the ability to maintain a diagonal stride on the up hills and also love the speed of performing a tuck or semi tuck position on down hills.

The packed area (part of the trail to the side of the classic tracks) of the trail is to be used by skiers that snowplow down the hills or herringbone up the hills. On trails that offer skate skiing, this part of the trail is also referred to as the skate lane.

Maintain grooming structure of the trails and develop skier courtesy thoughts… please do not herringbone or snow plow in tracked trails.

Down hills with turns, single tracks will be groomed on the side of the turn. This grooming practice will allow the inside foot step to apply a wedge break on sharp or fast turns, to eliminate those trees that want to jump out at you.

Steep Hills & Tight Corners

Steep hills and tight corners will be packed only, groomed without classic tracks . Three examples of steep hills are: the Black Forest Trail at intersection #20, the steep downhill and uphill on the Carey Creek Trail between intersection #9 & #10, and the steep downhills between intersecton #8 & #9 and also the Lakeview Trail at intersection #17.

Directional Skiing

All of the trails at Carey Lake are unidirectional (in one direction only). As a trail pass holder you are expected to ski with a ‘safety first’ mind set. This means skiing trails in the correct direction. Wrong way signs have been posted on the trails for ease of recognition. Remember, we groom our trails with direction and safety in mind.

• Black Forest Trail
  This trail is a unidirectional clockwise trail.
• Southern Lights
  This trail is a unidirectional clockwise trail with the exception of the teaching and training corridor – the area between intersection #5 and #2.
• Highland Trail
  This trail is a unidirectional clockwise trail.
• Carey Creek Trail
  This trail is a unidirectional clockwise trail from intersection #9 to intersection #13 and the loop is counterclockwise back to intersection #13.
• Lakeview Trail
  This trail is a unidirectional counterclockwise trail starting at intersection #1 and ending at intersection #18.

Corner Softening

We will attempt to soften all corners on the new Carey Creek Trail. This means removing trees that put a skier in immediate jeopardy or just grooming the flats for better ski control on tight corners.

Warming Shelter

Plans are underway to raise funds to build a warming shelter (HYTTE). This hytte will have somewhat of a Norwegian flavor to it. We need people to serve on a building and location committee. If you are interested please contact me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 218-362-5940. To serve on the committee, the only criterion is that you are a season pass holder.

Tree Planting Project

This coming spring HP&R hopes to take on a tree planting project for the Lakeview Trail. Trees would be planted from the top of the hill (bypass area) up to and through the new trail connection.

Cross Country Ski Information Center

For your complete source of cross country ski information, including Carey Lake ski trail conditions please visit:
www.hibbingnordic.org

Public Relations (Teamwork)

Please be sure to wear your trail pass so it is visible to all. By wearing your ski pass, you show your support for one of the best trail systems in Minnesota. (Besides, wearing the pass is a requirement :) The person in the picture is a.k.a. the head trail buster.

Do You Like Doughnuts?

Here are some good ones.

• Donut ski without wearing your pass.
• Donut herringbone in set tracks.
• Donut ski in the wrong direction.
• Donut yellow the snow.
• Donut not ski.
• Donut not tell a friend.