Loppet Festival and races start tomorrow night in Theodore Wirth Park with sprint races at The Trailhead. Please see the following list of trail closures for the event (closure details subject to change based on conditions):
Natural Ski Trails (Theodore Wirth & Chain of Lakes)
7 p.m. Friday, January 31 through 2 p.m. Saturday, February 1 — All Natural Ski trails CLOSED for Loppet Winter Festival and Festival prep
7 p.m. Saturday, February 1 through 2 p.m. Sunday, February 2 — All Natural Ski trails CLOSED for Loppet Winter Festival and Festival prep
Snowmaking Ski Trails (Theodore Wirth)
Friday, January 31, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. — Lower Stadium, Green Meadow, Twin Lake and Ridgeline to Coaches Corner CLOSED for Loppet Sprints. All other trails open to the public.
Saturday, February 1, 6:00am through 2 p.m. — All Snowmaking Ski trails CLOSED for Loppet Winter Festival and Festival prep
Sunday, February 2, 6:00am through 3 p.m. — All Snowmaking Ski trails CLOSED for Loppet Winter Festival and Festival prep
High School Races:
Monday, February 3 through Thursday, February 6 — All Snowmaking Trails CLOSED DAILY 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for High School Sectional Nordic Championships, All NATURAL snow trails open.

(Isaac Kasper, Loppet Foundation)

I just had my best ski of the season this morning at Theo. The grooming was perfection, and there wasn't any kind of debris in the tracks anywhere! Green wax, great kick and glide, fast downhills--perfect!

Photos:

(Bill Lundberg)

Trails were in great shape. I did laps on the basic snowmaking loop to get an quick evening ski in and it was great conditions. Many lights were out so it was tough to see the tracks some times, even after a few laps. Really want to shout out to the Loppet groomers for keeping the trails in such great shape.

(Andy Marty)

Started out with classic at 8. The tracks on the made snow loop were phenomenal. Deep, double in most spots, and every so slightly crusty (which was great). After a few laps my quickly applied single coat of liquid klister was gone (or my technique was just getting too sloppy). I switched to skate and tried the Judy loop. It was mostly good, though narrow and with minimal classic tracks. A few spots at the tops of hills had grass or twigs poking up through and some scattered leaves. The re-route around the ice spot is handy, but also had deep, frozen ruts. The made-snow loop stayed firm on the deck with no icy spots despite lots snowplowing happening. Overall a stellar day out there.

(Dan Boody)

The green meadow loop was in good shape, though there was only one set of tracks heading up the hill. Also, watch out for fat bikes. There have been some coming out onto the ski trails. The snow across the road is very hard packed. There’s a lot of snow around still, and the tracks are mostly there. Skyline wasn’t too thin yet.

(Dan Boody)

Back in town after a week away. Wonderful conditions around 9:00 this morning on the natural trails north of Glenwood. I skied JD Rivers, Tornado Alley, Skyline, Bridge and Wirth Lake. The groomers were out, and it looks like they got everything except Wirth Lake trail, which was in fine shape from a recent grooming. I didn't see any concerning spots. I don't see any directional signs out on the Wirth lake section and several folks going the wrong way.

Photos:

(Sam Knuth)

The made-snow trails were a little dirtier than I would normally expect, but still in good shape. The inner meadow is open, it does have some wide ridges running down the middle of the deck. Lots of high schoolers were getting a good ski in. The fresh snow piled up fairly quickly and once it did, my skis started grinding to a halt on downhills (I need fresh wax). I took a break and then went out with the Founders. It was a delightful snowy evening.

(Dan Boody)

Three part report, as I checked out trails from North Wirth all the way to Lake of the Isles. Part #1: North Wirth is in perfect condition. The trails from the upper stadium down to the tool shed are closed for snowmaking. All snowmaking trails are in world class shape. On the plus side, the north finger of snowmaking is now open, as are the natural snow "Judy" trails that go past the Courage Center. Watch the flooded area with glare ice when descending the big hill on Judy loop. Sky line trail (flat side of golf course) is perfect.

(Zach Handler)

Started when it was still cold in the morning, but was way overdressed. The temps warmed really quickly and the sun was blazing. Stuck to the made-snow loop so I could be near my food, but was wishing I had got to South Wirth because of the beautiful day. The deck on the loop was very firm and pretty well skied in, with some mostly-untouched corduroy off to the side. I hopped into the tracks for a number of the downhills and they were very solid and a bit faster than the deck. Everything was super clean. As others mentioned, Trail 18 was still closed and the inner meadow wasn't open. Looking forward to the North Finger opening, but there was a fence across the tracks leading down there.

(Dan Boody)

Great conditions overall at Theo Wirth snowmaking and natural snow trails. Skied all of the North trails and through the JD River Trail and across Wirth Lake. Skate deck was set pretty well in the natural snow trails and was very fast in the snowmaking. One thing to note was that coming down the big hill on the Judy Trail the trail turned icy and then had a big ice patch at the bottom that could take you out if you're not paying attention.

(Joe Kane)