I watched an orange Kubota groomer being pulled by a trailer roll into O'Brien around noon yesterday. I checked for signs of grooming around 9:00 pm last evening and could find none. Hopefully we get some groom trails this weekend.

(Paul Schaaf)

There is no grooming at all on the trails yet. Snow was too deep to skate so I followed the skier-made classic tracks. They are fine as skier-made tracks are, but they are not like groomed tracks. You can't go fast as the tracks are variable and uneven. Hope they fix whatever is ailing the grooming soon. Great place to ski when groomed. [ As reported earlier this season, the park is having mechanical issues with their equipment and has resorted to borrowing equipment to groom -- Ed. ]

(Tim Nelson)

I skied the entire perimeter of the park, starting up on the hill overlooking the prairie. I would estimate they've tracked about half of the trails. All of the lower east side trails have nice classic tracks. Much of the westside hilly and wooded sections do not have tracks. A great day for skating. The snow is holding up well, and not much debris on the trails.

(Glenn Hansen)

Very fast conditions. Trails not freshly groomed. Be careful on downhills. Classic tracks good. The icy crust softened by early afternoon.

(Daniel Skamser)

Skied classic, late morning. Fast and fun. Light snow coating on top of the ice. Tracks well developed. Thanks for grooming WOB park staff!

(Amber Ellering)

Skiing classic this morning at Wm. O'Brien made me think 1.) I am grateful the park staff persisted, and Afton shared, so they could groom despite equipment failure, 2.) I have been spoiled by the typically excellent grooming at W.O'B.! Wetland and Woodland trails were ok, if icy. Rolling Hills Savannah trail was untracked, rutted and icy-hard. I will wait until the on-site equipment is working again to return to Wm.O'Brien.

(Amy Cortright)

Excellent fast classic skiing this morning on skin skis. I only skied the flat loops east of the RR tracks. Firm, fine-grained molded crust. Not icy! The set track is very firm and well defined. Perfect pole plant. The light snow yesterday must have helped. There is just enough loose fine-grain in the track that wax and Klister should work. Getting to be more leaves in the track. The downhills are uneven crust but not ice. The track was set on Tuesday and is still excellent.

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(William Buell)

From the William O'Brien website: A huge Thank You for our Afton State Park neighbors who worked hard to complete their trails so they can lend us their equipment. Rolling trails started on Saturday afternoon. As of Sunday morning the trails east of the railroad tracks were rolled. The goal is to have all the ski trails rolled, groomed and tracked by the end of Tuesday.

(Bill Callas)

No grooming, no problem! A beautiful morning classical ski on deep skier made track. Classic skiing will a backcountry flare!

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(Steve Skarvan)

From DNR staff: Unfortunately, both our grooming equipment and our back up equipment has failed us and are out of service. We are searching for alternatives but the other area parks cannot loan us equipment until their trails are groomed. Therefore, it appears that WOB trails will not be groomed until next week. We feel your pain because we are stuck inside this weekend with paperwork, rather than outside grooming and enjoying the beautiful weather. Please purchase your ski pass, the park will be enforcing the rules. All hikers, walkers, people with pets need to stay off the groomed ski trails.

(William Buell)