It only took a little bit of snow and grooming to bring the skate deck and classic tracks up to very good/excellent. The new routing is a plus. Daily and season passes available and season pass can be picked up down the road at Finn Sisu . I think that's a good deal and I'm impressed that the U has continued it's commitment to grooming through the recent lean years.

(Russ Ludeke)

Update: Excellent mechanic got us up and running. Good classic track set on everything and skate deck is in great condition. Skiing should be awesome this weekend.

Photos:

(Mitch Hoffman)

Groomed everything this morning. Conditions looked to be very good. Classic track was set on the west loop then a mechanical issue halted the rest of the tracksetting. Hoping to do the west loop if we can get it resolved. Skate deck is good to go on all trails. Happy weekend, get out there and enjoy it.

Photos:

(Mitch Hoffman)

Skated late afternoon until dark. Mostly very good conditions, with grass showing through on only a few hill crests. Classic tracks appeared relatively good, if a little shallow. After wearing myself out on the hills at Battle Creek yesterday these gently undulating trails were a welcome change of pace. I like the new trail layout, with two longer loops a lot better than the layout with three short loops of previous years. The longer loops gave me time to get into the flow better.

(Lois Braun)

Attempted classical, sporadic track, where there is a track it is a skied in track, there is a portion that is a set track. Lack of good track made it difficult to get into a rhythm.

(James Zyskowski)

Good to very good. Went out around 3pm, started with the wonderful sunshine and become overcast by our last lap. Course adjustments have a nice flow and take advantage of the subtle elevation changes of the golf course. Thanks Mitch for your work grooming this fun and enjoyable trail system.

(Scott Stanley)

Groomed all of the skate deck this morning. Shoveled a few bare spots and made a few minor re-routes to improve the flow of the trail and minimize barren windblown hilltops. Hopefully they are an improvement, new sections are probably a little soft, so we will hope to get them in shape over the next few days. If you ski in the proper direction, there are clear markings for the re-routes. Please remember to ski with the classic track on your right, there are still a lot of folks skiing the East loop backwards. We will reset the classic track when we get out of the deep freeze. Happy skiing.

(Mitch Hoffman)

Skated two loops this afternoon, generally decent conditions, though a few thin spots on some hills. Good skis are fine if you're attentive. There ware some drifted in sections that narrowed things and some soft, chopped up sections on the skate deck. With another groomer pass I think it'll be pretty good. Classic track generally look OK, if not great. Some thin spots there too.

(Scott Beutel)

Groomed all trails Saturday night. Classic track is set and should set up nice with the drop in temperatures overnight. Should be a great ski Sunday morning out here.

(Mitch Hoffman)

Groomed this morning, covered the ice pretty well. Made another pass this evening and the skate deck is pretty good. Classic track is windblown but should ski in decent. With a little more snow we will reset the track, but for now it would just uncover ice and grass. Skating should be hard and fast for Friday and Saturday.

Photos:

(Mitch Hoffman)