Hats off to the groomers for doing amazing work with what we have! Golf course and tornado alley were fast, fun, and found plenty of purchase in the reworked snow. South of hwy 55 was comparable. I’d recommend enjoying the perfect off-trail crust on the south side of Wirth lake - super fun. The north (particularly nw corner of the lake) should be avoided due to open water. (Don’t add to the Wirth lake body count!) South of Glenwood, Eloise butler is groomed and generally great fun, though some downhills are treacherous and some uphills are munched. Avoided the bog due to a report of extreme iciness from a friendly skier. Great outing - B or rock skis recommended due to rubber fragments north of 55 and occasional bare spots/dirt south of 55.

(Alan Chapman)

With all the north trails still closed for racing I thought the trails at Butler and the Bog might be Ok. They were not, pure ice. With the warm temps during the Loppette and all the hikers the trails are a mess. I hope we get some snow and grooming.

(Lars Hansen)

This morning I checked out all the Wirth South trails, and they are in fantastic shape! It seems like an extra inch of snow fell overnight, making for some very nice, clean conditions in the forest trails (Bog/Butler). Wirth Lake has been nicely groomed, and the Jar Hill segment is in great shape as well. Race skis worked out great with not even the smallest scratch. As I left, more snow began to fall, so I expect some very nice conditions for tomorrow morning's race events!

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(Bill Oyler)

I skated all Butler and Bog loops this afternoon after they were groomed in the morning. Great natural snow skiing right now, however lots of leaves and some sticks. The trail crew is recommending A skis, but I'd suggest B skis with the debris and dirty snow in spots.

(Nick Campbell)

I groomed the skate deck in bog and butler sections this morning. I left the classic tracks alone for today. Quaking Bog is A skis. Flower gardens are A skis except where the course runs next to the parkway in the southwest corner and the snow is dirty from the snowplows. You can ski around the dirt if you have A skis on. The 394 overpass is pretty dirty as well.

(Zach Handler)

South Wirth is great skiing right now. I skied everything from Cedar to 55, and it had perfect coverage with good grooming for skate; the classic tracks looked mostly good too (though not as perfect as the skate lane). The 394 overpass is slushy and dirty, but plenty deep. Ruts on the dip at the bottom of the Jar Hill downhill gave me a jolt, but besides that and a few oak leaves under the Anwatin loop oak trees, it's everything you could hope for.

(Joe Mitchell)

Skied from Trailhead down to the lakes, skipping most of North Wirth as a high school championship was going on. Trails in South Wirth were holding up well, and as of early afternoon were still skiing pretty fast with a good surface. Appeared to have been freshly groomed that morning. Used my good skis, and only area of concern was where the trail parallels the roadway and spray gets up on the trail -- even then, just skied through it, no damage.

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(Bruce Adelsman)

Inspired by all of the other reports I decided to check out 100% of the Wirth trails from the Trailhead down to Lake of the Isles. If you ski all of the trails starting at the Trailhead you can get to Chipotle on 26th Street & Hennepin in exactly 30K with a short walk from Lake of the Isles, and then it's a 10K ski back to the Trailhead taking shortcuts and finishing the remaining loops. The snow is very clean after last night's 1-2" snowfall, and there was fresh grooming on Bridge, Skyline, Tornado Alley, and JD Rivers. Bog, Butler, Wirth Lake, and Jar Hill are also in great shape with grooming from a few days ago. The only trouble spots are lots of snowplow dirt over 394, and along Theo Wirth Pkwy on the Butler loop. No rocks to worry about and very few leaves.... in other words, a perfect time to enjoy the natural snow!!

(Bill Oyler)

Three part report, as I checked out trails from North Wirth all the way to Lake of the Isles. Part #2: Tornado Alley, JD River, Wirth Lake loop are all in perfect shape for skate or classic. Butler and Bog are in good shape. Leaves are present but much less dense than earlier this year. Classic tracks good in most areas. Bog and Butler are due to be groomed and I plan to make that happen tonight or early tomorrow morning.

(Zach Handler)

It was good to get back to the Eloise Butler trails this morning. I did a couple loops around, and found fair to good classic tracks most of the way. There was quite a bit of leaf debris throughout the loop, but still had a fun ski! I really enjoy all the hills and nice scenery.

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)