Conditions: Manmade loop in great shape; back 40 appears groomed.
I did not explore the back 40 as I had good skis on, but it appears the new snow was groomed (not just rolled). The classic track was awesome on the manmade course today; deep, straight, and running to the tops of the hills, which is how I like it. Skate lane very firm but not icy. For kick, the new snow is transformed and mixed with granular ice, so you will want something with some tack and durability like Oslo, powergrip, toko green binder, or covered klister. Or just use a warmer than recommended hardwax and reapply often.

(Zach Handler)

The Competition trails (Snowmaking loops) at Theodore Wirth Park will be closed to public skiing during the times: Friday Feb 13 NCAA Central Region Race Classic Mass Start 5:00-1:30 (competition trails are being prepared with a best line classic track early Friday morning); Saturday Feb 14 Freestyle Individual Start 7:00-2:00; Sunday Feb 15 Freestyle Sprint Race 6:00-2:00 (a small portion of the manmade loop, about 1.5 k, will remain open for Sunday, but is only accessible from the Main Chalet parking lot near the tubing hill). All spectators are welcome to attend what should be an exciting weekend of competition.

(Nels Dyste)

Conditions: Freshly groomed on snowmaking loop.
Skated the man made at 6 am this morning. Groomer was out and was taking a pretty deep cut for re-grooming. Should be in great condition once the grooming firms up.

(Patrick Johnson)

Conditions: Perfect grooming for skate and classic.
Manmade loop was perfect in all respects at noon today. Track and deck both nicely firmed up. I kicked on covered klister. Its at the point where straight klister would work as well.

(Zach Handler)

Conditions based on skating on manmade snow around 5pm. Trails are in fantastic shape even after the H.S. race. The hills have a little sugar on them with only one or two tiny icy patches showing through on the entire loop.

(Andrew Jones)

Conditions: Not too soft and held up spectacularly.
Hats off to those in charge of grooming the trails for the Loppet. Even after 2500 laps by 724 skiers, plus 134 fat bikers, the 3.3k loop was still firm and fast for the last skiers in the Sunday skijor race.

(Adrian Swanson)

Conditions: Near perfect (at 6:30am) on the snowmaking loop.
Skated the man made loop at 6:30 this morning. Only 2 other people out enjoying the nicely groomed - firm track for skate. Classic tracks also looked really nice. Hopefully with the colder temps things will stay firm for the races.

Photos:

(Patrick Johnson)

In an effort to try and get the Hap loop at Wirth to firm up, the Loppet Foundation is asking that skiers stay off the course after the following times: Thursday night 9pm; Friday night 8pm; Saturday night 8pm. Park board staff will make 4-5 passes of the course tonight in an effort to grind the ice pellets into a finer material with hope that the man-made snow will bond together and ultimately harden up for the events this weekend.

(Craig Rudd)

Conditions: Fair on the snowmaking loop. Very sugary, scraped away to icy base on a few uphills.
Still pretty solid coverage throughout the whole 3.5k loop. Chopped up and sugary throughout though. Nearly quicksand on a few uphills. Groomers are going to have to pull off a minor miracle whipping a few of them into shape---a sheet of glare ice is underneath about 4" of chopped up sugar on a few hills. The worst hill is the approach towards the groomer shed, where tonight you could barely get up. Hopefully the cold temps over the next 48 hours will start firming things up. Fingers crossed that it will hold up to all that Saturday and Sunday traffic.

(Joel LaFrance)

Conditions: Still all white and good for skating.
The manmade course is in good shape. Not as well set up today so things were sugary in the morning. Not such an issue for skate but made classic a challenge. Track was crumbing and the snowpack would shear under the force of kicking. Lots of people out enjoying the great course on a beautiful day. Very thankful for an artificial snow loop in the city.

(Zach Handler)