The snow making loop was in very good condition. Predictably any uphill had a lot of loose "sugar" on it from all the holiday traffic, slowing skating. Classic track looked fine. Boulder's downhill was scrapped down to ice on upper section but I was able to maintain decent control as a I snowplowed thru it. I used skis waxed last year with FastWax Red LF. Per my car's thermometer it was 23 degrees F.

(Keith Carlson)

Enjoy the Sun!!! All 5K of the manufactured snow trails (Star, Willow Creek, Frog Town, Scenic Foothills and Boulder Ridge) are packed, tracked, and in good condition. Closed: All natural snow trails (Lake, Oak Knob, Hill, North, Nature Center)
High School Nordic Ski Races: Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 4:00 PM (Northwest Suburban Conference). Thursday, Jan. 3 at 3:45 PM (Independent Metro Athletic Conference).

(Sonja Bercich, Three Rivers Park District)

Great conditions today. Fast without any iciness and enough loose snow to give great control. Kudos to the groomers, this is an amazing transformation from yesterday.

(Steve Hum)

Kudos to the groomers for transforming a frozen post-rain surface to a non-icy, fast, firm skate deck and track. An inch of overnight helped. Great alternative to going north.

Photos:

(Rick Wheeler)

All 5K of the manufactured snow trails (Star, Willow Creek, Frog Town, Scenic Foothills and Boulder Ridge) are packed, tracked and in Good condition. Closed: All natural snow trails (Lake, Oak Knob, Hill, North, Nature Center).
High School Nordic Ski Races: Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 4 PM (Northwest Suburban Conference). Thursday, Jan. 3 at 3:45 PM (Independent Metro Athletic Conference).

(Sonja Bercich, Three Rivers Park District)

Thanks to the groomers and skiers for surprisingly good conditions this afternoon. The man-made snow trails were fast and hard - but with the little bit of chewed up snow on the surface allowed you to stay in control. The frozen corduroy was very fast and very little control. I only did the foothills and avoided boulder ridge - the boulder ridge bypass was little used and a quick down. Saw that the snow guns were powered up.

(Scott Greymont)

The conditions were good a little icy a lot of grainy sugar snow. The snow is very fast and the wind was very cold.

(Steve Dolan)

Very fast on a very hard skate deck was some loose snow forming on the more heavily used sections of the trail. Some of the corduroy on the edges was icy. The classic track was very hard, almost icy in sections - saw several on the rental waxless that couldn't move. The Boulder Ridge bypass was a little icy. Didn't ski Boulder Ridge but I heard several others say the downhill section was a little scary.

(Steve Hum)

Rain will not stop us! All 5K of the manufactured snow trails (Star, Willow Creek, Frog Town, Scenic Foothills and Boulder Ridge) are packed, tracked and in good condition. Closed: All natural snow trails (Lake, Oak Knob, Hill, North, Nature Center) Note: We need a deeper base of snow for the season; when the temps drop, we will close Boulder Ridge and Scenic Foothills trails for a few days to make more snow. We will post closure information when available.
The next set of races are scheduled Jan. 2 - 4th, 3:30-5:30 PM.

(Sonja Bercich, Three Rivers Park District)

Great skiing at Hyland this morning. Classic tracks were in great shape. Skied all but Boulder Ridge. Thanks to the groomers!

Photos:

(William Netznik)