I skied classic today along with lots of other skiers. The track is a bit shallow and soft in spots but still great fun. There are scattered thin spots and areas of leaves and grass poking through. Overall you should be able to avoid those spots but use caution on the downhills. If you're looking to avoid the crowds, try the Red and Orange trails as well as Silver. If you're skiing to the falls, you may want to walk down the last few yards of the hill leading to the bridge. Lots of traffic has exposed gravel and rock.

(David Thofern)

Lovely morning with mild temperatures and the snow was soft but quite decent to ski on. Some leaf litter and stubble in places but the skating deck and tracked portion of the trails were in good shape.

Photos:

(David Wilford)

Really fun skiing at Willow River today. I love skiing here... lots of varied terrain, great scenery, and great grooming. They groomed the skate deck and set tracks throughout. I expected more thin spots, but coverage was quite good, even in the tracks. I was skating, but tracks were full depth with some grassy spots, which were avoidable. The falls were spectacular as always. Thank you to the Willow River groomers!

(Sue Schroeder)

The groomers did a great job of rolling and setting track for the trails. Very few bad spots on the whole trail. We spent 3 hours out there and it was just great. The skaters seem to be having fun but it looked just a tad soft to me for that as I was a skater before. Snow was like a fine powder so it was definitely great skiing snow. Thanks for making winter fun again.

(Mike King)

Overall really nice conditions, skate deck was soft but very skiable. Some sticks and leaves to avoid but nothing excessive. I really expected more thin and bare patches with the high winds we had during the snow, but the snow coverage was very good throughout. Skate deck was soft and bumpy in some areas, but generally smooth and firm enough for a very enjoyable ski. Green trail section from the falls back to the bottom of the big hill is heavily trafficked (this is multi-use so fair game) so rock skis are recommended here for sure. Great job by the groomers, thank you!

(Craig Woodley)

Surprisingly good - even tracked -- At the trails we used: red, yellow and orange! A bit soft and here and there, as well as some grass, dirt, etc. But what a treat after Hiawatha golf course the previous day (very thin coverage, with some dirt and gravel and lots of grass poking through the rolled trail).

(Janet Folina)

All of Willow’s trails have been rolled. With the exception of part of the Orange and all of the Red trails, all trails have been tracked. Hopefully we’ll be able to finish tracking those trails tomorrow. Trails are generally in good shape but you may encounter a few thin spots. The high winds brought down a lot of sticks and branches, some of which remain buried in the ski trails.

(David Thofern)

Skiing? I wound up chain sawing more than skiing. Skiing first: Purple Trail. No track when I arrived. No problem. My pole tips were contacting the hard surface below the rolled trail. The pole tips are maybe 2 1/4" long. It's gravel or dirt I am feeling in the poles. Found a down tree blocking most of the trail. Groomer Dave and I solved that. Dave was setting track. Bottom line here, skaters are probably okay on good skis. Classic skiers will be riding a very thin layer of snowpack in the track. Do not risk damage to your good skis. Use the B or rock skis. Wood is okay, that's an easy fix on minor damage.

(Jeff Bolte)

10" new snow. All trails are rolled and should be a fairly good skate deck (soft). Tracks are being set now so keep an eye out for updates as it takes some time to cover all trails with the groomer.

(Jeff Roberts)

Rolling is in progress this morning with only one tow vehicle operating. This will take a while. At the same time, "Ski trails open" signs are being put up. So right now, noonish, some trails will have open signs and some will not. The north side trails were first up with the roller. Grooming plans: After lunch there is a plan to take a Ginzu out to see how that goes, and get the open signs up south of the river. Look for an update with results from the groomers.

(Jeff Bolte)