This morning I skate skied from P10 up the FP and CP, past the Champlain Lookout, then along 1A as far as the first intersection with the Wolf Trail. I pretty much followed this route on the return, but I took Ridge Road to Huron before rejoining the CP there. I was fortunate enough to meet a pair of heavy-duty grooming machines descending the FP as I set out, so I was able to put first tracks in the corduroy for part of the trip. Skate conditions for the most part were superb, without making any concessions for this being the second week of April. With the fresh grooming glide was effortless and edge control perfect. Once again it felt like I had rocket skis, at least until the sun started to soften the snow surface just a bit towards the end of the trip. In shady sections of the FP and Ridge Road west of Champlain the snow was powdery. As one would expect in mid-April, in places with full sun exposure there were a few hard or icy patches. There were bare spots under the Etienne Brule Lookout wall, the Champlain Lookout parking lot and at the valley lookout bench, but I was able to poke around these without removing my skis. The section of Ridge Road between the Champlain Lookout and Huron had not been groomed and was extremely hard and icy- even offset was barely possible on this stretch, and I had to resort to double poling. Thanks are once again due to the Demsis grooming crew for doing such a great job far into April (I can remember a few years back when grooming arbitrarily stopped on April 1 even though there was still lots of snow). P10 was overflowing when I left a bit before noon, although there were one or two spaces available where early birds had departed. With the sun softening the snow surface and heavy traffic wearing down the corduroy conditions won't be quite so exceptional this afternoon, but it will still be well worth the drive from Ottawa. Get out and ski if you possibly can!