Skate ski from the Lac Philippe parking lot along 50, up 54 to Lusk cabin, back down and along 55 green to the Taylor Lake yurt, then back to 50 and on east to Herridge, returning to P19 via 50. As I had guessed 50, 54 and 55 were all freshly groomed last night. At 9AM the snow was still cold and skating was remarkably fast. The climb up to Lusk cabin was almost effortless on near-perfect grooming. This was my first trip to Lusk this year, and I was pleased to see all the washouts and debris from last year had been cleared away. By 10AM the sun was starting to soften exposed sections, and the skis began to give that distinctive spring hiss. Skating remained reasonably easy, particularly in the shade of the pine trees along the shore of Lac Philippe. However, I found suction made the tracks pathetically slow on the downhills, and I stayed out in the skate lane. Overall it was a great ski, and conditions should still be quite good for anyone heading out this afternoon (but I would suggest picking a shady route).