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)

A few inches of new snow (and still falling) on top of an amazingly good deck given the amount groomers had to work with. A few icy windblown spots east/north, but new snow was sticking to other areas really well. Downhills and corners were fun and allowed great control. Granted, conditions were not particularly fast today. Softer conditions on west side made for fun classic skiing even without tracks. Major kudos to groomers!

Photos:

(Linda Evert)

Conditions varied from very good to fair. Most of the trail east of the old RR grade - the more challenging portion - was in very good condition due in part to less traffic on it. Once you got to the bottom of the challenging hill towards the end of Scouring Rush it became more likely you would run into bare patches. Nevertheless, kudos to the groomers for getting the trail in great condition given the challenges of just enough snow followed by enough rain/melt that refroze to make the parking lot treacherous. I used last year's FastWax Red buffed with fluoro paste one I got to the top of X2. Despite temps in the high 20's and the appropriate wax, I moved pretty slow. Certainly that was mostly because I am not a strong skater but my wax did not seem right for the drier natural snow. It slowed me compared to its performance on the the corned, man-made snow at Hyland that I have skied three times previously this season. User traffic was very light. Only met four other skiers, all who passed me despite being off the trail before the Vikings game.

(Keith Carlson)

Better than expected, as fast as I care to go. Some leaf debris, but manageable. Enough ice balls and powder on the downhills to allow control. If you are familiar with the trail, you know what to expect...or know where to hold your speed. If unfamiliar, the flatter sections might be more pleasurable for you. The dense cover has even the paved trails in great shape!

Photos:

(Mark Rathbun)