Skied under the lights. Outstanding conditions. The shot of fresh snow has improved the dirty areas. Very fast skate deck but easy to edge. Icy tracks - probably the fastest tracks of the year!

(Zachary Handler)

The grooming crew did a great job of de-icing Wirth this morning! At 10am, the entire 4.5K man-made loop was very skiable for both skating and classical skiing with very few icy spots to worry about. The LaSquadra drop was delightfully fast, yet plenty easy to get an edge on the corner at the bottom. Good skis are safe for the whole loop as long as you watch for the few spots of dirty snow/forest debris. Lots of happy skiers out today enjoying the trails, and the grooming crew was busy blowing more snow for the Twin Lake loop in the back woods.

(Bill Oyler)

We will be waiting until the rain stops and the temps drop below freezing tonight to start our grooming process. So, we will more than likely still be grooming at 6:00 am when the trails open in the morning.

(Isaac Kasper, Loppet Foundation)

Got out at 7:30 am. The course was fantastic this morning. All of the sections that were slow and grabby on the weekend were nice and fast this morning (even though the snow color was the same). There were already quite a few tracks by the time we started, but the deck was cold, firm and fast. It did not fall apart at all before I left, with the exception of the bottom of Trail 18, which was soft and deep. The hills were all in great shape, with almost zero shaved spots. Lots of people out, teams and classes were packing the parking lots when we left at 9. Get out and enjoy!

(Dan Boody)

Happy Hollidays from the Wirth Trials crew. We groomed and tracked the full ~4K loop last night. A couple very slightly icy spots remain. Our older PB experienced a little tiller independence as well leaving a couple small speed bumps, enjoy ;) Thanks Lindsey for the holiday lights work!

Photos:

(Lars Gaalaas)

Thank you to the groomers who must have been out on Christmas night. I found a perfectly groomed trail early this morning. The tracks were firm and well formed on the majority of the course. Upper stadium seems to have some icier snow and the tracks have been more shallow there.

(Sam Knuth)

Great skiing at Wirth this morning. The Meadow Loop was perfect, and the Stadium trails were also very good, with a little ice in the classic tracks on a couple uphills. It was nice to see some sunshine today!

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)

Started just as the sun was coming up (it was another great sunrise despite the cloud cover). I could tell the groomers had been hard at work overnight, and the deck was pretty firm to start. The corduroy was pretty well set. The dirty spots were still there, and the section from the top of Trail 18, through the upper stadium to the downhill next to the catwalk had extremely grabby snow. It took a lot of extra effort to ski across that (at least for skate). La Squadra was in great shape, and Trail 18 had barely any snowplowed areas. The downhill leaving the upper stadium had a little bit snowplowed out, but today the best line was actually all the way inside (usually it's riding the berm on the outside). As the traffic got heavier and we had all gone around a number of times, things started to loosen up and get sugary. The crusty stuff underneath started to show more. The temp did stay under 30 for the whole ski, so that helped. One biker went up the hill to the meadow in front of us. If the deck had been firmer it would have been more of an issue, but the soft and loose snow meant they luckily didn't do much damage. Overall a great ski, and we were very thankful for all the hard work of the crews at Wirth.

(Dan Boody)

Started about 8:45. The deck was somewhat firm, but the exposed uphills were already sugary on top of crusty snow. The thaws and refreezes this week have not been kind to the course. But the groomers have clearly been working hard to keep it skiable. The dirty patches were even dirtier, so while still in pretty good condition, I suggest B skis if you have them. The traffic got heavier as the morning wore on, especially with the classes out there. Everyone navigated the course well though and the classes were great at organizing on the sides, so it did not feel overly congested. Things got pretty loose and sugary by the end of our ski. Trail 18 was not bad, and La Squadra was a little choppy but not icy. The roughest downhill continues to be the one after leaving the upper stadium area (next to the top of the catwalk).

(Dan Boody)

The man made loop is holding up well. A good base with excellent classic tracks and a smooth surface for skating. Some dirt and debris as expected on some climbs and surface is corn snow on the inclines but the trail is wide and still deep with manufactured snow and all of the extended loop remains in good condition for A skis. The snow cannons were blowing snow all afternoon into the evening and the Wirth crews are working hard to polish an already very good trail. Grateful for the continued skillful efforts.

(George Wawro)