The extra little snow from today really helped the natural snow trails! I skied Wirth Lake, Jar Hill, Eloise Butler, the Bog, Brownie Lake, Cedar Lake, and Lake of the Isles today and I was impressed with what the groomers were able to do with such a small amount of snow. Most of the trails appear to have been de-iced today, and all of the downhills are perfectly safe thanks to the nice, light grooming. The one last big uphill in Eloise Butler is very icy, and the middle uphill at the Bog is icy, crossing 394 is icy, and the descent into Brownie Lake is also icy. Otherwise, nothing to worry about. The trails have the usual "forest" debris here and there, but overall I did not have any problems avoiding the debris. I used "B" skis and never had to take them off except for the usual road crossings. What a treat to be on the natural snow trails in the woods at Wirth!

Photos:

(Bill Oyler)

Conditions: Lots of icy spots.
I skied the Front Nine, Tornado Alley, JD Gardens and Wirth Lake in the mid-afternoon. After the warm temps last weekend there a lot of icy spots. The groomers have done the best they could given the conditions, and there are some sections that are skiable but I found myself poling a lot where it didn't seem wise to take a skate stride.

(Fritz Cleveland)

Conditions: Man-made snow, is of course, artificially perfect. Natural snow segments have been scratched up in most places, but there are scattered dirt spots and a few icy climbs.
Skied the Twin Lake Trail, Judy loop and Hap (snowmaking) loops. Snowmaking loop is obviously fine, so the real question was the natural snow. They did a decent job scratching the surface so you can get an edge on most of the course, but its thin and hardpacked. There are a couple of icy sections, including a very icy climb along Bassett Creek (the big monster hill). I'd recommend B skis if you want to ski the natural snow, and skip the Judy loop.

Photos:

(Bruce Adelsman)

Conditions: Man-made loop freshly groomed and tracked.
Like Tuesday morning, the conditions on the manmade loop were great. Yes, the cold was worth complaining about but not the trail conditions.

(Paul Larson)

Conditions: Poor off the man-made loop.
Skijoured JD Gardens, and Front 9 with my dog. Trail was in terrible shape, almost impossible to get an edge. Just sheets of ice basically. I could tell the groomer tried to run over the trail, but it will need many more passes to be skiiable again (or some fresh snow!). Poor, poor, poor!

(Eric Hedstrand)

Conditions: Very good on the man-made loop. Fair to poor on the Back Nine and Front Nine. No classic tracks off of the man-made loop.
The trail has been groomed but it is still very icy in many parts of the front and back nine. Hard to get an edge for skating and no classic tracks set. A few areas with blown snow, or shaded areas, are a bit better. Man-made loop was great.

(Patty Carlen)

Conditions: Freshly groomed for skate and classic.
Thought I'd brave the weather, and it was worth it. I skated about 3k of the back 9, and it was a bit crunchy, but hard to be picky.

(Paul Larson)

Conditions: Icy from warm weather!
We will be working the next few days on getting all of the Wirth trails into shape after all of the weekend activities and weather. We will have a full post tomorrow on trail conditions and where we stand after the warm up.

(Troy Tschida, Minneapolis Parks and Recreation)

The meager dusting we got made for decent skating in sheltered areas. But its just ice where the wind carried it away. The groomer was out this morning on the back 40 and snow making loop.

(Andy Willette)

Conditions: Fantastic coverage, snow still airy and thus slow.
I skied Wirth Lake and every trail North of Wirth Lake early this morning. Fresh cord on the manmade; everything else had not been groomed for a day or so. Bottineau way was relatively firm, but Twin Lakes and JD Rivers need to be groomed and skied in a little more before they firm up. Plenty of snow though, bust out the A skis.

(Steve Deckert)