Just skied the snowmaking loops. Skate deck was excellent, unsurprisingly. I wish that I had been striding -- they'd set a double best line for SuperTour sprints practice which would have been super sweet on some of those turns. Didn't make it out to the natural snow because I was in a hurry.

(Luke Smith)

Update on Theodore Wirth North Trail Closures for the Mayor's Challenge this weekend: Several trails will be temporarily closed to non-racers this weekend (see below for hours) and parking will be very difficult at the Trailhead. The natural snow golf course, Quaking Bog, Eloise Butler, and Cedar Lakes trails have all been groomed and open all weekend. Best place to park will be Wirth Beach for quick access to the south Wirth trail system. Racing hours Friday - 9am to 1:30pm; Saturday - 8am to 2:30pm; Sunday - 8am to 2:30pm.

(Chris Harvey, Loppet Foundation)

Perfect conditions for classic at Wirth this afternoon. With all of our recent snow, it was great to have all the North trails open. I especially enjoy the Judy Loop with it's good hills, scenic overlooks and close proximity to Bassett Creek.

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)

Still snowing pretty good at 3pm and an impressive number of kids and adults out enjoying the new snow, and eventually a little late sunshine. Classical tracks mostly skied in but doable. I mostly stayed on the Green Meadow and Twin Lakes Trails. Great to have the new snow!

Photos:

(Dave Carlson)

Got out at 7:15, before the snow really started coming down. The snowmaking section was cold, crisp corduroy that was squeaking a lot for me. Judy was soft and looked like it hadn't been groomed yet today. After one lap, the snowmobile groomers did Judy. But it was still very soft, and all the snow coming down added up fast. The snow covered my tracks in about 30min. Still great skiing and the fresh stuff didn't feel too much slower than the cold corduroy. I did have my right ski slide out of the snow filled track and get stuck in the deep stuff on the side. Beautiful out there!

(Dan Boody)

I skied JD rivers, Tornado Alley, the golf course and the man made loop. The good news is that all the trails are open. The less good news is that after months of skiing on the impeccably groomed man made loop, it feels like quite a different thing to ski the natural trails. They were fairly torn up (tracks must have been soft yesterday). The course is reconfigured this year from past years and I didn't see any signage. It's not clear which way is which, but it seems like it might be reversed from previous years. In any case, the pass under 55 is skiable as is the bridge over the parkway. Going from the natural to the man made is like going from black and white to color.

(Sam Knuth)

Skied the manmade loops and Judy Loop today at noon. The Judy Loop is soft but in good condition. The manmade loop is great as always. I did not have time to explore the other side of 55 but they had the bridge over Wirth Parkway groomed so you could get a nice, long continuous ski in. Saturday will be a great day on the Wirth trails!

(Nick Raisanen)

Skied the manmade snow loop and the Judy loop. The fresh snow has covered up all the ice. The groomers stared up around 6:15 am. As of 7:00 am the Judy loop had been rolled a day or two prior. Snow started coming down hard around 7:00 am. A really fun ski!

Photos:

(Mark Bushinski)

We went out this morning and rolled all of the ski trails north of Glenwood. The ice from the rain the other day made it difficult to pull a groomer so we have only rolled the trails. We will try this afternoon to groom it out nicer.

(Jonah Parady)

Icy. Downhills crazy fast. Typical Theodore Wirth heavy traffic. But beggars can't be choosers. Pray to the snow gods!

(Charlie Corcoran)