Want to cross-country ski? How and where to go in a snow-deficient Minnesota winter.

The snowpack may look pathetic in much of Minnesota this winter, but the cold weather means cross-country skiers can still glide on machine-made snow. It’s a matter of knowing where to go.

Four skiing centers in the Twin Cities make snow to preserve the season, and are collectively offering more than 15 kilometers of regularly groomed trails that should remain available, low temperatures permitting, for the next two months.

“People look out their back window and they see brown grass and they don’t even think about skiing,” said Luke Skinner, associate superintendent for the Three Rivers Park District, which offers trails in the metro area. “It’s fantastic conditions right now.”

Where is there snow?

Parks usually need 4 to 6 inches of natural snow on the ground to make skiable trails, but no such storms are in the immediate forecast.

“We’re very fortunate that we have so many snow-making areas. I mean, there’s nowhere else in the United States that has this many places that make manmade snow for Nordic skiing,” said Bruce Adelsman, founder and publisher of Skinnyski.com, an information clearinghouse about Nordic skiing in Minnesota, including trail reports.

Skiers with day or season passes to the Three Rivers Park District can ski 2.5 kilometers at Elm Creek in Maple Grove or 5 kilometers at Hyland Lake in Bloomington. The district packs 2 to 3 feet of snow on these trails at the start of each winter, and the base typically lasts 100 to 120 days, until mid-March, Skinner said.

St. Paul’s Battle Creek Regional Park is maintained by Ramsey County workers, who generally make snow at the beginning of the year, but have added snow as needed, county spokesperson Casper Hill said in an email.

Minneapolis opened Wirth Park in stages, starting with a 300-meter loop in late November, but gradually expanded to 5 kilometers and is finishing snowmaking on two segments that will bring its total to around 7 kilometers.

Several outstate Minnesota systems also have open ski loops with machine-made snow. Some natural-snow trails are listed in decent to poor quality in far northern parts of the state.

Here’s a list of places making snow in Minnesota (* denotes ski rentals. A list of trail systems with rentals can also be found on Skinnyski.com).

When to go?

With fewer trails available, those with machine-made snow can get crowded. Hyland tallied an average of about 900 skiers per day in last winter’s mostly snowless season.

Most trails are busiest on weekends and from 3 to 6 p.m. on weeknights, when high school teams practice.

Even seasoned skiers tend to avoid high school races, which can clutter trails. Adelsman suggested looking for race times that are posted on Skinnyski.com, and online by trail systems such as Three Rivers and the Loppet Foundation, which supports skiing at Wirth.

Most machine-made trails are lighted and open in the evening, but some skiers get out as early as 5 or 6 a.m. for pristine conditions, Skinner said. The trails usually are groomed each night.

“If you want the corduroy, the perfect smooth skate lane or the perfect classic track, morning is always the best,” he said.

How to read trail conditions

If a trail is listed as tracked, then it has grooves for classic skiers, who use skis made for a shuffling stride within tracks. It’s typically the go-to style of cross-country skiing for beginners.

If a trail is listed as packed, or rolled, then it is usable for skate skiing, which requires different skis than classic and is more like hockey skating. It also requires more balance.

Is skiing on manmade snow different?

Shops such as Pioneer Midwest in Osseo recommend applying specific waxes to skis that are designed for coarser manmade snow to enjoy the smoothest glide.

“Manmade snow is a lot more abrasive than natural snow. It’s essentially little balls of ice that they shoot off into the sky,” said Ian Ivens, Pioneer’s store manager.

Skiers can get “pretty good glide on manmade snow for about 40 bucks,” he said, if they buy specialty liquid waxes such as Rex G41 to coat their skis along with a nylon brush to work it in.

Skiers with irons who hot-wax their skis should stick with blue or green waxes that bond with the skis and don’t get stripped off as quickly by the more abrasive snow, he said. Skiers should reapply wax after every hour of skiing on manmade snow, he added, whereas they can go on a couple of trips without rewaxing on natural snow.

Where can I take lessons?

In the metro area, the Loppet Foundation, based at Wirth in Minneapolis, has spots available for group or individual lessons. So does Three Rivers, with openings at both Elm Creek and Hyland.

Steep hills can be challenging for beginners, up or down. Adelsman said Wirth and Battle Creek offer beginners some options for skipping hills, but he recommended Hyland for its beginner-friendly Star loop.

Skinner said Elm Creek has the least elevation change, but thrill-seekers can find ups and downs at each site. Hyland’s Boulder hill is perhaps the steepest climb, while Wirth offers the same hills that native Olympian Jessie Diggins and other top skiers navigated in last winter’s world championship race.

Adelsman said beginners should keep an open mind. If skiing on condensed, manmade snow loops is not as much fun as expected, he urged them to give it another chance when there’s natural snow.

“The natural snow experience will frequently be a more pleasant experience: less crowded, easier conditions to ski and more forgiving,” he said.