All snowmaking trails will be CLOSED through the weekend (March 7 and 8) for snow preservation due to the warm forecast. This will allow us to also be pushing snow as needed in preparation for the World Cup. We hope to re-open Twin Lakes Trail on Monday, but will reassess after the warm weather this weekend. Please check the Trail Conditions page for any last minute updates before coming out to ski. Thanks!

(Isaac Kasper, Loppet Foundation)

I got to Wirth a little late today around noon, so the snow was transforming. The main trails open were the Meadow and Twin Lake loops. The skate deck was in very good shape except for mashed potatoes on south uphills. The classic tracks were firm, but a little icy and slushy--normal spring skiing. They're definitely working hard getting ready for the World Cup at Theo. The bleachers are up, and snow piles are ready and waiting to spread out for the races.

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)

Due to course preparations for the World Cup on March 17th we are closing some sections of our snowmaking loop now. Starting Tuesday March 3rd, Ridgeline, North Finger, Lasquadra and a portion of Trail 18 will be closed. Twin Lake, Green Meadow and the World Cup Sprint Course (portions of catwalk, the snowboard hill, and trail 18) will remain open (about 4k). However, these open sections will be closed periodically in the next two weeks for course work and course preservation through the warm temps. Please check back to the Trail Conditions for any last minute closings before coming out to ski. Thanks! See picture: White = OPEN, Red = CLOSED.

Photos:

(Isaac Kasper, Loppet Foundation)

I got to Wirth around 1:30 so the snow had transformed quite a bit on the exposed trails. The classic tracks were in pretty decent shape with a little slush or ice. Lots of mashed potatoes on the south facing uphills, but I still had a good ski overall.

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)

Fresh cord and solid classic tracks this morning at Wirth! With temps a few degrees below freezing the skating was incredibly fast and fun, especially the La Squadra drop. If you didn’t get quite enough laps in during 24 hours of Wirth, there is still plenty of great skiing on the 6.5k man-made snow loop! Also good if you have World Cup Fever!

(Bill Oyler)

The sun had turned most of the snow to slushy snow on the made-snow loop by the afternoon. And with bikes and skiers on it, the deck was choppy and mushy. The tracks were still there in places, but extremely soft and they would periodically disappear. It was nearly impossible to move between tracks or to the deck without erasing some. Coming down the catwalk hill, the tracks disappear and then zig zag after reappearing. 24 hours skiers were still zooming on the slush- hopefully things firm up a bit.

(Dan Boody)

Skied all the snowmaking trails. Tracks in good shape except one sloppy section of curve on the upper part of the back 40. A little more glazed than normal. Variable snow, but decent out of the tracks - didn’t look like it was groomed overnight (perhaps due to 24 hours of Wirth going on). Leaf litter common on the trail in the trees.

(Dan Hutjens)

The fastest conditions I've experienced yet this year--yee ha! So fast I did seven laps on one mint-chocolate Cliff bar. That is a Vasaloppet classic's worth of k's (though I was skating). When I arrived around 2 the course was perfect almost everywhere, the only exceptions being a few south facing slopes, which were getting a little slushy in the bright sun. I was worried those would get worse as the afternoon went on, but clouds moved in around 4 pm, cooling things off to such an extent that I started to worry about the opposite problem: the ruts on the slushy uphills freezing solid. But several teams showed up at the same time, and it seems that their traffic kept that from happening. Instead, the slush froze into sugar, but I'll take sugar over frozen ridges any day. So my 7th lap was still almost as fast as my first.

(Lois Braun)

I skied the manmade Loop and found lots of dirty snow. A mix of freezing slush and hard packed snow. Not too icy. I received a number of light scratches from the dirty snow. B skis are recommended.

(Adrian Swanson)

Spring skiing was super at Theo this morning with excellent tracks and skate deck. By the time I finished a couple loops the March sunshine was taking a slight toll on the southern exposures.

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)