Skunked! Willow got nothing from the latest snowfall. I was at Willow doing trail work as snow fell and then melted on the spot. The trail work was prep for more buckthorn / invasives control test plots. I got some very positive feedback about buckthorn control efforts along trails from Willow skiers at Birkie Fest. Yes, I gave up a day of trail work for Birkie Fest.

(Jeff Bolte)

Skate skiers, here is a ski and walk route that may work for you. Bring solid intermediate or better skills. The trails are too hard today for skis. Park at the Group Camp. Ski the Brown till you see the big ice puddle. Walk that last up hill and out on the Red. Walk up the first hill. Clip in and ski most of the main loop. You should be able to double pole past the discolored snow. Skiing ends at the cut bank. You might glide to a stop before the ice. Walk from there or simply turn around and ski. For this to work, the trail needs to be border line squishy soft. The B skis would work. Hiker traffic will be light Friday. I would not suggest this for Saturday. Classic skiers with bomb-proof out of track skills would probably be okay.

(Jeff Bolte)

Willow's ski trails were opened to hiking today. Consider all trails to be multiple use at this time until further notice. Reports shared among the groomers indicate skiable snow still exists in scattered areas, but it is essentially not worth the effort or risk. I had a brushing crew on the paved nature trail yesterday. We saw asphalt to ice and evrything in between. I was not skiing at Kinni SP today and its about the same; ice, puddles, grass, dirt, and scattered snow. The grooming gear remains ready at both parks.

(Jeff Bolte)

The skate deck on all of the trails except the prairie loops was scratched up with the Ginzu. No track was reset. Classic track is icy and has numerous bare spots. Classic skiing is generally poor, with the 300 campground loop and the main Red trail being the best. Skate skiing on Silver, Red, and the campground loop of Green should be quite good. Orange and the west end of Blue are poor with lots of solid ice and dirt.

(David Thofern)

The rain that we recently received was just enough to ice coat the trails making them pretty tough to navigate. Any existing ridges that were in the snow are now ridges in the ice. The good news is that what is under the small layer of ice is still decent snow so if skiers and/or grooming break through that thin ice layer, we should have a decent trail again. Open areas were the worst as the wind blew any little bit of snow there was off to expose pure ice. Trails in the woods were the best.

(John Oman)

I classical skied this afternoon, temps in mid 20's, used Rex Power Grip purple on one pair of skis, and Power Grip red on another. The red worked best due to the semi icy tracks. I must say that some of the downhills on classical skis were quite exciting, especially on the silver trail - I admit in order to preserve life and limb, I walked down a few! The trail in poorest condition was the red trail. All the others had sections that were quite good, and sections that were a bit icy. I skied most of the trails - a pleasure to not ski repeated short loops again. All in all, a good day of skiing.

Photos:

(John Strand)

As one guy said, conditions are complicated. We did get a couple inches of dense snow earlier this week and everything was groomed last night. The skate deck overall is pretty good. There are icy pebbles in places but never slick. Everything has plenty of base. The tracks are shallow with an icy bottom but very few bare spots.

(Ted Bliven)

I skied Red and Brown Trails this morning using using both skate and classic track. Trails were freshly groomed, (classic and skate) conditions were excellent! I was on B skis but conditions on the trails I skied would have allowed the use of good skis. I can't speak for snow depth on rest of trails but maybe bring your good skis with in case everything is as good as the trails I skied this morning. Great job grooming, Ted! Thanks!

(Michael Phernetton)

I groomed tonight. All the trails look great except for red. Skate deck is covered and firm. Tracks are set shallower than usual but overall they look good.

(Ted Bliven)

Overall good snow coverage compared to other trails in the area. The snow has held up well in the woods and on most trails. It was snowing when I was out there, but the trails had not been groomed/rolled yet. This did not prevent the skiing from being great. The classic tracks were snow covered, but skied in by others making them ok. The skate deck had an inch or two on it making it very skiable, but just had to lift the legs slightly higher.

(Gary Simon)