I skate skied all trails from the Trailhead down to Brownie Lake and back, and I found the South Wirth natural snow trails to be unbelievably good for skate skiing, considering the small amount of snow we've had. (No official classic tracks due to low snow depth.) In particular, the Quaking Bog loops are in pristine shape - Good skis would be just fine. The connector trail along I-394 is also very good, and you can even ski across 394 with relatively good snow near the railing. Skiing down to Brownie Lake is good (you might need to dodge the sledders), and the grooming stops at the lake. The Wedding Hill (connector between Eloise Butler and Quaking Bog) is in poor shape on the uphill (lots of forest debris) but good shape on the descent back to Eloise Butler. The Eloise Butler Anwatin School Trail is also in good shape - B skis recommended, and you must be very careful on the uphill at the extreme southwest corner by 394, as it contains loose asphalt chunks under the thin layer of snow. Wirth Lake was not groomed but it's easy to skate along the edge if you want to bypass the parking lot/sidewalk trail, although the sidewalk is fairly well snow covered. The JD Rivers loop is a bit windblown but still fun. Thanks to the Loppet crew for the extremely gentle and sparing grooming, as there is currently just enough snow to get great skate skiing and practically zero debris on the trail without the need for much grooming. Enjoy the super fresh snow!

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(Bill Oyler)

Great B-skiing in Bog! No classic track but the skate deck is firming up nicely. Some damage from walkers but not terrible. The direction of the trail in Bog has flipped back to its original North to South direction and it flows very well. Butler has more walking damage and a really rough patch near the swamp on the return trail to Wirth Beach, Recommend rock skis.

(Andy Brown)

Skied the JD Rivers, bog and Eloise Butler trails. JD Rivers had a lot of very thin sections - rock skis. Bog was quite good, probably B skis and had the least walker traffic. Nice to ski real snow on rolling terrain. The bridge over 694 had decent coverage, but no grooming on the lakes yet.

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(Bruce Adelsman)

Had a great ski in the south trails today. I definitely recommend B skis, or rock skis if you are leery of getting some scratches. Bog is all wonderful and I mostly did loops there amongst the deer and a hawk. The biggest section to be careful on is the first half of Butler and the part along Wirth Lake - pretty much the areas crossing curbs and pavement. Skyline is good but does have some areas of drifting and some areas where you are skiing over grass - no problems though. The Butler trail at the school dead-ends there so it's an out and back in just that little section. Thanks for a great Christmas ski groomers!

(Peter Aggen)

We checked out the south trails today and had a fantastic time! Coverage was overall good with a couple windblown spots as well as some long grasses/twigs poking up through the snow in other spots. We are confident with our maneuvering and felt comfortable on our good skis, but others might prefer B skis or even rock skis if you are less comfortable dodging occasional sticks. No tracks yet. Unfortunately some walkers left footprints all over the trails closest to the beach parking lot, but no walkers made it over to the bog area! Thank you groomers for the winter wonderland ski today!

(Anna Hjerpe)

The Loppet trails crew and volunteers have been out during the night and morning rolling the natural snow trails in Wirth Park. Coverage is generally very good, but open areas have some wind blown spots that don’t have much snow. The big lakes don’t have enough ice for snowmobiles, and a couple ponds in south Wirth were incredibly slushy when we tried to cross them, so there are some temporary reroutes to avoid them. Please note: all natural snow trails are open, but the parts of the snowmaking loop that we haven’t made snow on remain closed for skiing until we have finished snowmaking on them.

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(Robert Ibler, Loppet Foundation)

No snow! Sorry... One day when we get snow, that white stuff, we’ll be able to cross the cities all the way from the trailhead. For now we can dream about it.

(Eduardo Arteaga)