Plenty of snow still available. Shaded hills with runoff frozen and dangerous, but easy to ski around. Some standing water but easy to ski around. The railroad underpass near the trail center is flooded and unpassable. Some walkers and dogs ignoring signage but they have not ruined anything yet.

(Linda Christianson)

Beautiful day to ski. Was surprised to find that the classic tracks had been groomed, and were in very good shape. Skate skiers said the skating was good too. Tracks a little icy in spots, but mostly good fast track. Skied with my skin skis, and universal Toko liquid ski wax on tips. Worked well. All in all, a great day to be out in this beautiful park.

Photos:

(Ellie Peden)

Beautiful day, fresh snow, some fresh grooming. It was disappointing that the two of the most fun areas were not groomed: Oak Savanna and the Top of the World. The trails that were groomed were soft and icy but very fun. Good workout tracking the big hills. What a gift in March!

(Kristina Vaughan)

Most of the trails are groomed, some are ungroomed but have plenty of snow and can be skied. Classic tracks are a mix of icy and snow, we ended up needing klister to get any kick. The section coming down after crossing the train track is icy, my companion fell. The skate deck looked even and smooth with plenty of snow, not many leaves or forest detritus on the piste. Overall, a great place to ski.

(David King)

Mediocre conditions due to poor grooming. Main interior loops were OK. Outer loops were rough due to lots of ruts left by the groomer. Disappointing given our excellent snow pack.

(Rich Hoban)

We skied all of the outermost loops except Rolling Hills Savanna. In general, we thought they were in excellent condition. There were some parts of Woodland Edge and Prairie Overlook in which snow had drifted over parts of the track. But the drifted snow was soft enough and shallow enough that it was still easy to ski without flailing around and crossing tips or making any extra effort to break trail. Beautiful sunny day and no wind. One of the things we really like about the park is the three-sided shelters scattered around on the trails. Great for tea/coffee/lunch breaks. The open sides face the sun, and the shelters are deep enough to protect well from wind and precip, if that's happening (not a problem today).

Photos:

(Craig Wiklund, North Star Ski Touring Club)

An interesting day at O'Brien. The inner loop skating lane had been regroomed and looked excellent. I classic skied and the tracks had not been resent since Monday. The outer loops the best skiing in the park and, as of noon today, had not been regroomed. The last three of the outer loops featured little track, and wind blown snow. While skaters would be pleased on the inner loops, classic was disappointing on the outer loops and even the skating lane on these loops needed attention. The big downhill from the high point featured some ruts and soft spots and got your attention. Thought I was being too negative so I checked in with two classic skiers that finished the loop after me and they were much more critical than I and really disappointed that, give the great snow, skiing should be much better.

(Jim Smith)

The skate deck on all of the trails was freshly groomed this morning. I also heard from skiers that classic tracks are in fair to good condition.

(Edward Bailey)

As of 10am, groomers hadn't been out yet (nor yesterday,) but trails were great. Packed and fast! Enough to get an edge on but should be lovely when groomers take a pass over it. Lots of drifts sitting on top of the Wedge Hill Savana, so a slow trudge up there again on crunchy, thick snow. But another beautiful day at WOB!

Photos:

(Elizabeth Westerhaus)

Classic skied the entire loop including all the outer loops. Plenty of coverage, and everything had been groomed but wind driven snow has made some inroads on the outer loops, especially the last two loops, South America (Prairie Overlook?) and Wedge hill. Most of the classic track in gone on Wedge, and about half on South America. Hoping for more grooming soon!

(Jim Smith)