Groomers are working their magic. Most trails are open. Base is solid with enough snow on top to make skate lanes stable and moderately fast (I skied when temps in mid 20's), and classic skiers appeared to have decent tracks in most places with good kick/glide. All skiers need to watch for tree debris, ice patches and dirt in a few places. Kick wax could get dirty. Trails with fewer branches overhead have more consistent clean snow cover (see notes on map in ski lodge). B skis are safest now.

(Bruce Kuehl)

I first skated for 12 Km. Control was good but not the best. However, the tracks were fast and fun. Therefore, I switched to classic skis for another 8 km and found that to be very enjoyable. The tracks were as fast as I have seen them here. Control out on the skate deck was much better on my classic skis than my skate skis. There were a number of spots on both the skate deck and the tracks that were frozen slush which was easy to ski around on classic skis.

(Jim Gantz)

Fabulous job by the groomers! After mother nature's giveth and taketh with the last storm the groomers have worked their magic! As expected, scattered ice/debris in some low areas and in the big pines. Much less than I expected. Much of the track set up well, with the thin sections easy to navigate. Much of the skate deck is smooth and fast, quite a joy to ski! Go out and play!

(Jim Mullen)

There is about an inch of fresh snow over a rain saturated base. Some of the trails have been rolled. But most are covered with loose chunks of icy snow.

(Will Edwards)

What a difference a little new snow makes. We got about 2 inches yesterday and that made a huge difference to the trails I skied. All the open trails I skied were mostly really nice, some a little bumpy, a little forest litter, but on the whole pretty much great. It was a lovely day.

(Kirby Schuller)

1-2" of fresh snow on a hard packed skate deck -- very good skating on Base Loop, Tornado Alley, Survivor, Nose Dive. Nutcracker, Yukon, XC Express still roped off.

(Gene Musser)

Skating was pretty good around the west side of the park (Base Loop, Tornado Alley, Survivor, Nosedive). Still some early season bumps but, for the most part, coverage was good. These trails were freshly groomed on the 22nd and offered good edge control. Explorations on the east side (Silver Strider, Nepco's Cruise, X-C Expeess) yielded areas with more forest debris and thin spots. However, they were still quite skiable. Some sections of major trails were roped off so ask in the Chalet for specifics before planning your route. Classic tracks were set in some areas but were variable in depth.

Photos:

(Erin Blow)

Things are holding up here at Winter Park, but becoming more challenging in some sections. Those areas with more sun exposure got hard and icy when the temp dropped. Those areas with less sun exposure were still in pretty good shape. This was the majority of what I skiied. Still, bare patches, areas of significant forest litter, etc are an issue here and there.

(Kirby Schuller)

Surprisingly good! I haven't been able to ski at the park the past few days and was doing some scouting of the race course for Tuesday's Lakeland Invitational high school and middle school race. In general conditions were very good, with a track set left that looked more than acceptable. If you were observant and delicate, good skis would be in order, but for peace of mind a B set would be an easy call.

(Ken Schoville)

Conditions were surprisingly good considering the amount of snow the groomers have to work with. I skied base (about 6 times around) survivor, tornado, C & D. It was demo day. I did not encounter any sections of the trail with anything more than a little forest debris. This trail system is definitely worth your time. Kudos to MWP. Always a great job of grooming.

Photos:

(Jim Gantz)