I loaded up Babe this morning and we headed out to check the trails and groom if conditions warranted. The groomable snow on the skate trails held up much better than expected, surviving the traffic, warmth and drizzle, mostly. We pulled the Godzilla screens to scratch up the skate deck. In most areas, there should be enough traction for some ok/decent skate skiing. Definitely B skis, as there are now several small thin spots where the screens are likely picking up and scattering a few small bits of the earth. Watch for a couple small patches of bare asphalt on the Prairie Loop. If my wheels were younger, I would be out skiing now. Speeds will likely be a little on the lickity split side until we get more snow. On Saturday afternoon, the Engineer brought out the track setter and laid down a few k of "Playdough Fun Factory" tracks in the warm snow that has since firmed/iced up. Enjoy with appropriate caution.

(Dave Anderson, Elk River Nordic Ski Club)

Amazing, splendid and perfect conditions. Thank you so much groomers. These are some of the most fun skate trails around. I had my best ski all year. I said B skis just because there were getting to be a few areas where ground was exposed as more people made laps. Mostly be careful near the parking lot where there is asphalt under the trail. Wash pond flats had a few bits of dirt but really it was 98% fantastic so you can use the good skis if you pay attention in those few areas - I did without issue.

(Peter Aggen)

Shear-Pin and Refuge Guy are out pulling the medium screens for our Saturday skiing pleasure. Ancient One is predicting his "plenty good" rating for your Saturday morning ski. We are hoping for only a partial meltdown Sunday and a little snow on Monday in hopes we can string together a few days of decent skiing. Enjoy, it has been a long time coming.

(Dave Anderson)

Headed for woodland trails today to try to get some shelter from the wind. Windchill was not too bad in the woods. Most challenging part was skating the cold, loose snow. I'm sure it'll be great after a few more grooming passes and a little warmer weather, but it was a lot of work today. Coverage was great and I switched to my A skis without issue. I probably should have done classic but I didn't want to switch boots and get my feet cold.

(Peter Aggen)

Four new inches of fluffy, seemingly rare, real snow, rolled curb to curb and ready to ski. Due to the elementary grooming conditions, I was permitted to accompany Chainsaw on a daylight grooming run. Babe made a third pass around the outer loop after we finished. It was a great morning to ride the Skandics. The sky was bright blue, the air crisp and seeing the world covered with a coating of almost blinding fresh white brought back memories of winters gone by. I stopped counting deer at 30, one less than the number of years the Trail Crew has been tending the trails at Woodlands. We will plan to run the screens Friday evening and will hopefully have some fun skiing for our ski friends on the weekend. Enjoy, at last.

(Dave Anderson, Elk River Nordic Ski Club)

About 2 inches loose snow over icy base. The flat stretches are comfortable, uphills are tricky as pushing on edge can reveal the ice. The blacktop trail sections show some scrapping to asphalt. Overall worth getting out to ski, but I kept to flatter trails such as Poplar Loop, North Mickey and Wash Pond Flats. Saw one other skier, one hiker on walking trail, and 3 whitetail deer. So things are starting to get back to normal at Woodlands.

(Dean Kleinhans)

With another part of an inch of new snow, coupled with the big chill, our more experienced trail testers have reported that all of the trails are currently skiable, mostly. The thin coverage over the icy base is currently well bonded with very little exposed ice. The Prairie Loop has not been groomed and should be considered unskiable due to the asphalt lurking under the fluffy covering in a couple of spots. We will keep the trails open, hoping for more snow, until we use up the little bit of traction that we have. Come with low expectations, ski with caution on your first lap and enjoy it while we can. Please keep us posted on current conditions.

(Dave Anderson)

When the dead tree cutting crew was out this weekend, we got a good look at much of the trail system. Except for the Prairie Loop, all trails had a good base, that while not skiable, was made up of more icy snow than ice. This was encouraging. Unfortunately, Woodlands was on the short end of the snowfall stick earlier this week. We received only one new inch of fluffy snow, which Babe and Captain Ken, rolled down for us to help get a start on bonding new snow to the base. There is still not enough traction on the hills and corners for safe skiing, so the trails will remain closed until we get more snow.

(Dave Anderson, Elk River Nordic Ski Club)

What was slush yesterday is now ice, as feared, and there is nothing left to groom. Woodlands is kaput until it snows, sorry.

(Dave Anderson, Elk River Nordic Ski Club)

Skating trails really incredible considering the meager amount of natural snowfall this winter. Sure there is some leaves, putting a little hitch-in-your-giddyup. Yes, there is some icy sections, requiring you to relax, rather than stand tall and stiff. It is still skiing on natural snow, in January, at Woodlands. So how can that be bad. Only thing I was missing was a few whitetail deer crossing the trail to tell me that all is normal. Kudos to the groomers (could used a bit of scratching). Saw only a few skiers and a walker. The walking trails looked really worked up nice! There are no classic track set, but I still noticed a few classic skiers out strutting their stuff.

Photos:

(Dean Kleinhans)