If you have fishscales and a hearty constitution the trails off the manmade will offer a high effort aerobic experience. Hazards abound, especially on some of the larger hills. Notably the first large downhill on the lighted 5k loop: after the long fun pow downhill there is almost no snow and rocks so be ready. On Hoot Owl Hill the erosion steps are popping out like unwelcome hard moguls/speedbumps so would walk that until it flattens out. The purple trail was in the best condition by far - deep snow throughout and some great tracks too, just consider walking up Asthma hill as it is bare/rocks the top third. All in all worth it if you're seeking adventure.

(Erin Wichtoski)

Fair to poor conditions for skate and stride. Surface is soft and irregular, with numerous low snow areas and some icy spots. A fair amount of debris. No machine-made tracks, but a skied-in track near the Lodge provided the best striding experience.

Photos:

(John McCarthy)

Classic skied the lower loop with no wax skis. Temps 21 F with -7 F windchill. Sun came out and help make it feel warmer, especially after climbing the ungroomed hills. No grooming, so be prepared to blaze new tracks. Great snow, 6-10 inches with some troughs and drafts. Hills were very doable including Magic Carpet ride, which was very slow and drifting. Flat field area was the thinnest, great coverage in the tree segments. Best ungroomed snow of the year! Parking lot was plowed.

(Dave Loescher)

With the snow still falling and staff is trying to keeping up with plowing. We will not be grooming anything today and will assess things early tomorrow morning and determine if we will be grooming the trails.

(Collin Bergholz, Wisconsin DNR)

Poor, but skiable, conditions for skate and stride. Skate deck is alternately white or brown slush, ice, or water on ice. Very dirty, especially in the pines. Tracks are slushy, icy, or wet, with debris and occasional bare spots. Still plenty of base in most areas.

(John McCarthy)

Good, highly variable conditions for skate and fair conditions for stride. Skate deck is a mix of good snow, slush, and ice, with good coverage throughout. Skaters were doing very well on it. Tracks are another matter - soft sidewalls and icy bottoms, with dirty spots - tree debris - and a few small bare spots breaking through. Still worth giving a try.

(John McCarthy)

Very good conditions for skate, good to fair for stride this morning. Overnight PB grooming provided a snowy surface layer on the skate deck that turned slushy in the sun and warmth, but remained very fast, especially on the shaded downhills. Tracks were good in most places, but were occasionally washed out or very dirty, especially in the woods near the AED. A few bare spots showing up on the edges.

(John McCarthy)

Excellent conditions for skate and stride this morning. The groomed mix of new and old snow set up nicely, providing a fast skating surface and solid, snowy tracks. A couple of tiny icy spots, but much improved from yesterday. The snow is softening and slowing under the sun.

(John McCarthy)

The Pisten bully was out Saturday night grooming the 4" of snow the park received. The skate deck should be in good condition with a few icy spots. New classic tracks were set. The classic tracks are mostly full depth with a few areas of ice. We will see what this upcoming week brings for weather. Most likely this will be our last week of skiing for the year.

(Mark Janis)

Good but variable conditions for skate, fair for stride. Most of the skate deck is a decent layer of sugar snow with some dirty spots and some spots where the cover is thin and the ice base exposed. Very fast, overall. No bare spots. Magic Carpet is easily controllable, but there is an icy spot at the bottom. Tracks are easily broken down and are icy. There has been dirt tracked onto the trail at the trailhead and other locations by foot traffic.

(John McCarthy)