Skate ski from P19 to Herridge and back along Trail 50. This route had been groomed after the overnight snowfall of about 5cm of fresh powder. Unfortunately from P19 to the east end of Lac Philippe the grooming had been shredded by a snowmobile. In places it had thrown snow into the classic tracks. For much of the route along Lac Philippe a heavy-footed hiker had added bootmarks down the middle of the skate lane. Past the end of Lac Philippe the grooming was excellent, nice fresh corduroy with no snowmobile damage (for some reason the snowmobile had gone up 54 Black). Skate conditions were excellent early on in the trip, particularly in shadier sections. On the return after lunch the snow was getting quite wet on the more exposed parts of the trail, making for slow skiing on the uphills. I found the classic tracks slow everywhere due to suction- it was faster to descend in the skate lane. There were very few other skiers on the trail, so even without fresh grooming Trail 50 should be quite good tomorrow afternoon.