No grooming since I was last out almost two weeks ago since groomer is in the shop. Skier-generated tracks were covered w/ small amount of new snow from yesterday, but most were spotty, windswept, and hiker-tracked. River bottom south trail the best, but even then there were hikers and dogs off leash tramping things down. Signage needs improvement since hikers seem unaware of skiers-only trails. Tracking/grooming won't improve til the groomer is fixed, and hopefully soon! Still, a nice sunny afternoon. BTW, Afton State Park manager Nick Bartels would like input on their grooming from skiers.

(Sam Seltz)

Skied the Prairie Loop starting at the 50th St entrance at 11:45am. Icy conditions on all trails, but this was only concerning on the south portion of the AG-AH 0.9mi loop. Small debris (sticks, leaves) on the trail in the wooded areas, but not so many as to be unavoidable. Trails in good condition besides.

(Gerrit VanderWaal)

Afton SP trails were groomed last Friday, and tracks on the upper (NW) plateau were still in pretty good shape this afternoon. What really stood out to me is that the Park has finally made a concerted effort to keep non-skiers off the tracks by increasing signage and promoting the use of more multi-use trails. As a result, tracks that would have been quickly trashed in past years were still quite good several days after the last grooming, (although somebody appeared to ignore the skiers only).

Photos:

(Paul Lohmann)

Groomer has done a nice job over the last few days. Overall fair to good shape, with somewhat icy conditions. Level areas of north prairie loop were nice, but hills are slick. Some forest debris in wooded areas, but no bare spots, and hikers have largely kept off tracks.

(Sam Seltz)

Icy and a little spongy in parts but overall great conditions and fun time. Some animal and human tracks on the ski trails but not too bad. Fast on the hills and some nice glides.

(Tricia Turk)

No grooming yet, and per Afton park website, likely won't be groomed til Wednesday. Skier tracks only, lots of drifting on north prairie loop, so slow going. But pristine blue sky, no wind and abundant schnee (snow)!

(Sam Seltz)

Classic tracks set on all of the 10k or so worth of trails we skied and it was beautiful out there. Some of the tracks are a bit soft underneath and conditions are generally slow. Really good coverage with occasional roots and branches gracing the surface. The short "difficult" sections of trail that go up and down from the bluffs are more of a boot pack situation right now and there are rocks to watch for on those small sections.

Photos:

(Thomas Whisenand)

Ungroomed/untracked when I skied midafternoon. Lots of powder with lots of hiker tracks, but gorgeous weather and semi-backwoods conditions. Per Afton website expect they will groom Saturday.

(Sam Seltz)

Fair conditions. Only corduroy packed (Afton is only classic), with few to moderate hiker tracks. I skied the North Prairie Loop. Occasional bare spots. Per Afton SP website,: Trails closed Monday thru Wednesday due to muzzleloader deer-hunting, and no further grooming til after Wednesday at least. Fun to get out!

(Sam Seltz)