On the blue loop, mid-day conditions for skating were excellent. As the day went on, the bottoms of the hills got pretty washed out, but never icy and uncontrollable. The purple loop had an area underneath the pines that were getting littered with needles, but still plenty of coverage. Spoke to there skiers that were out on the black earlier in the day who reported it to be in great shape. Grooming plans: Groomers will be out again before tomorrow.

(Mark Ehlers)

Called and the automated message said all trails were open with tracks and conditions were decent.

(Laken Hairston)

Today was fast with an icy but very skiable base. Sure, fresh snow would be nice, but Phil works wonders with what's there. Black had a decent amount of debris but green and blue were clean. Heard through the grapevine that Phil was going to work on "churning up" what he could before tomorrow, so Sunday should be good.

(Luke Kubasta)

Phil touched up the green and blue late this afternoon. Condition were sublime! Not icy, perfect edging. We introduced someone new to the sport this evening.

Photos:

(Tracy Piontkowski)

Drove up to Iola (again worth the trip), received about 2" on trails in lieu of rain so trials were great! Skied the black as well as blue and green, all were great except for the pines after cardiac hill on black. Was great to watch 30 or so munchkins on skis around 7-years-old or so with their parents.

(Dan Dudley)

Skied the green, blue, and black loops. Trails are in great condition. The black has a bit of hard-to-avoid debris in areas, especially going up cardiac hill and a section a little bit past it. Had a great day out. Thanks groomers and IWSC!

(Przemyslaw Krol)

Green, Blue, and some of the Black trails are open. All trails are tracked and have awesome coverage. The trails are smooth for the limited snow. The system received some light new snow this week. Would I ski there again? You betcha, the snow is not bad, and the grooming is good, and IWSC has great vibes.

(Nathan Koch)

Silky smooth skate deck due to fresh grooming this morning. Most of the pine needle debris has been covered by the 1.5 to 2 inches of snow the area recently received. The green and blue trails were very good and the black fair. The black along the wetlands and streamside was in fair condition. Most of the pine needle debris on cardiac hill was covered. The worst stretch was in the dense pine cover just after the hunting cabin area. A big improvement can be made if all skiers would toss a dozen or so pine needle clumps off to the side in all areas. No classic track set but tracks had been skied in on the green and blue.

Photos:

(Tim Corcoran)

Made a 2 hr drive up Iola- Was well worth the drive even though there was minimal snow but groomer was busy dressing up the trails. Skied 4 blue and 2 green. Solid base with just enough loose snow for good kick-tracks varied from good to washed out. Forgot how pleasant it is to ski on natural snow with minimal debris on the trail. Did not ski black as gentleman reported he just skied and was icy with debris in spots- thin so groomer wasn't grooming this trail. Overall a very enjoyable ski.

(Dan Dudley)

Conditions were as good as it could be for what was available for snow, Phil's voicemail was spot on. Great first day skiing this year, thanks to all of the volunteers who are involved here.

(Charles Kane)