I groomed and skied on Monday and skied again Tuesday and early this morning. Classic tracks held up well for me on Hair Raiser through Tuesday, but are pretty splayed out now. I classic skied without tracks on skate loops Ridge Trail, Roller Coaster and Will's Crossing. Will's Crossing skate deck is very soft. Ridge and Roller are firmer, but of course today were softening up. As far as grooming goes, although there is still plenty of snow in the woods, unless something special happens with the weather I will not be grooming any more this winter. The trails will be open for skiing on whatever the base turns out to be in coming days for anyone who is still looking to get out on the trails. The above mentioned loops were the only ones groomed after our last four-inch snowfall.

(Will Maines)

This is not really a grooming report, but rather a report of what I hope will be a grooming schedule. After skiing the Birkie Saturday, I have been snowed under--no pun intended--trying to open up my own driveway, get my roof shoveled and deck cleared off. The parking lot at Razorback is plowed, but I will not have time to do a thing with the trails until sometime tomorrow. They are going to take a lot of packing before I can even begin to groom. Here's what I'm shooting for: Wednesday, pack Short Cut and Hair Raiser on the classic side, pack Ridge Trail, Will's Crossing and Roller Coaster on the skate side. Hoping I can get some fellow Lions on snowmobiles to help with the packing work. Thursday, groom as best I can with the 5" Tidd Tech on the above mentioned trails. Friday, use the Ginzu to fully groom all those loops. I am leaning toward grooming only those loops the rest of the winter, with the possible addition of Mary's Frolic on the skate side and Pine Hollow or Oak Ridge on the classic side.

(Will Maines)

Quick update. I was able to go out for just two hours this morning to start grooming after another heavy snowfall yesterday. Because of a broken part on our Ginzu I had to use our old 5-foot Tidd Tech, and it was not up to the job. The only loop I have tracked on the classic side is Short Cut. On the skate side I opened up and made multiple passes on Will's Crossing, Ridge Trail and Roller Coaster. None are in good shape for skating, as snow falling into the grooming lane left only a four or five-foot skate deck, and even that had numerous snowballs falling into it. Bottom line, if you are a skater looking for a high quality outing this weekend I would suggest Minocqua Winter Park or one of the other trail systems in our area. Classic skiers out just for fun are welcome to ski the normally skate only trails I opened up, and if you aren't looking for a serious workout you could have a lot of fun on those trails. I am leaving in a few minutes for Hayward to ski my 19th Birkie, so I won't be back to start grooming again until Monday. Again, I apologize for the conditions.

(Will Maines)

Will made good on his promise of having Mary's Frolic groomed and packed. Very surprised yet welcomed the opportunity to be the first skier to visit that segment of the trail system since it was last groomed (several days ago I think) and it was simply spectacular. Firm deep base and even skate deck. No debris on the trail. Just some welcomed animal tracks. Took it all in immensely, terrain is spectacular in this State Natural Area. What a privilege, seemed like it was groomed just for my own visit today. Took several trips around Mary Frolic and Roller Coaster. Wills crossing a bit soft and by that time I was on tired legs. Thanks Will for your continued dedicated service!

Photos:

(Mark Timken)

Drove up from Eau Claire to classic ski here on our way to Phelps. Skied Lions Pride only because the other inner loops (Oak Ridge, Wild Thing, Dougs Foley, etc) were not groomed at all. Lots of snow on those sections. We had a good ski, although tracks were pretty skied in from the weekend. We do realize how much work it takes to groom, particular to keep up with all the big snow falls we've had i a short period of time. Beautiful area, but wish the other classic sections had been groomed and tracked.

(Libby Stupak)

A quick update. Got Ridge Trail and Roller Coaster on skate side and Shortcut and Hair Raiser on classic side packed this afternoon. Will groom and track them tomorrow morning. Will pack Mary's Frolic and Will's Crossing on skate side and Pine Hollow and Oak Ridge on classic side later in the morning. Hope to have them groomed and track sometime in the afternoon.

(Will Maines)

I don't know if skiers are aware that I am a one-person volunteer grooming team at Razorback. Yesterday I could do no work on the trail after 16 inches of snow as I was snowblowing driveways for six hours. This afternoon I have two fellow Lions coming on snowmobiles to start packing trails. I'll do the same with the Gator. After multiple passes I will hitch up the Ginzu and begin grooming. I would say there will be no loops ready for skiing today, but by late tomorrow morning I should have at least the inner, shorter loops groomed and tracked. Not sure how much more stuff will be weighted down on the trails, but we'll clip and remove all that we can to open up decent skiing. Sorry for the delay, but little by little we'll get everything back in good shape. Just don't expect all loops to be ready for this weekend.

(Will Maines)

One loop at a time I am getting all the saplings, brush and small trees cleared, especially oak and pine, that have been hanging low over the trails since being covered with ice and heavy snow. Couldn't work on the trails Thursday, Friday or Saturday as I was heading up the Lions club's biggest fundraiser of the year, an ice fishing tournament, but today I got Mary's Frolic on the skate side and Oak Ridge on the classic side cleared and groomed. The only loops not groomed now are Doug's Folly, Pine Hollow and Lions Pride on the classic side and Long Rider and Bruce's Roundabout on the skate side. Beginning tomorrow I will continue to clear and groom loops one at a time until everything is back in good order. Those trails that are groomed now have an excellent skate deck and deep, firm tracks for the most part.

(Will Maines)

In 37 years of grooming Razorback Ridges only once have I had to contend with as much ice storm damage as I did today. On the classic side I made one pass through Doug's Folly but did not set track as there are several stretches through the jack pines and heavy brush/sapling areas with too much low hanging stuff to make for decent skiing. I did groom and set track on Short Cut and Hair Raiser. Tomorrow the plan is to groom Pine Hollow with probably no track setting there because much of it runs through a jack pine plantation. I do plan to groom and track Oak Ridge, and will probably only groom with no tracks set on Wild Thing and Lions Pride. Today I groomed Ridge Trail, Will's Crossing, Roller Coaster and Mary's Frolic on the skate side. The skate track is excellent, somewhat soft on top with a rock hard ice base underneath. I did make several stops to cut and throw off the worst of downed or low hanging stuff, so though you may have to make an occasional duck or dodge, ski conditions are mostly excellent on all the loops I worked on. I plan to groom Long Rider tomorrow on the skate side, but not Bruce's Crossing which is heavily edged with young balsam, popple saplings and hazel brush, which often sag badly after an ice or heavy snowstorm.

(Will Maines)

Got to Razorback about 9:00, temp was 18 -- a Swix blue day for sure. We strided Lions pride and wild thing. Tracks were mostly deep but shallow in a few places. Typical pesky oak leaves here and there. Kudos to Will, awesome grooming!

(Greg Dahl)