With the exception of Silver, the skate deck on all trails has been scratched up. The surface is a bit kibbled but should ski well. Classic track is in good shape with only a few washed-out spots.

(David Thofern)

Skied the south side (did not ski the Burkhardt or Nelson loops)- all in fairly good shape, no bare spots. But with the sun and warm temps, it will be hard to say how good the skiing will be later today or tomorrow. Overall a very nice ski!

(Kris Miller)

Candlelight ski is Saturday Feb 17th 6:00PM-8:30PM.

(Tyler Busko)

On the shelf with a muscle pull. Lots of skiers out today as I did easy walk run laps on a nearby hiking trail. The JD Gator was driven without grooming gear out the Purple trail today to assist a skier. The trail now has tracks from the Gator on it. Candlelight ski is scheduled for Saturday night.

(Jeff Bolte)

It was a mid distance loop from the Nature Center, Blue out and back, up through the Group Camp, down the Brown, and out. It was coolish at 4 degrees. There was a fresh inch minus of snow over the fresh grooming. Track had scattered soft spots where the skis washed out. One of the goals was some downhill in track. Look out for the crazy deer that almost ran across the trail in front of me in the dip at the top of the Blue return. If you heard the yelling, thats what it was about. On the Brown, the track swerves in an S on the first downhill. You can see it coming. On one of the upper Brown down hills, the left track is wiped out. Expect the right ski to hold track only. It might have been the lower part of the swerve or directly below. If the swerve got snowplowed out completley, the difficulty factor drops back to its normal rating. Do what you need to on this sharp down hill. I may just go rip the swerve out with the Ginzu and attempt to set straight track there on Monday. If I do this and get it right, it will be reported here on how its done. I find this situation commonly (not just Willow) when towed equipment is used for tracksetting, the swerving down hill. The swerve aside, Willow is in excellent condition in track and on the deck.

(Jeff Bolte)

All trails at Willow were groomed and tracked Saturday evening. Hopefully the soft conditions on the skate deck will set up a bit overnight. The day's snowfall allowed for setting really nice classic track.

(Dave Thofern)

I snowshoed in this morning to do some marking for future buckthorn cutting. Lots of skiers were out. It was slow for both styles as snow fell. Grooming plans: Grooming will go tonight with both vehicles working. Hope is to get everything groomed and tracked for tomorrow.

(Jeff Bolte)

Skied Brown, Green, Blue, Yellow loop twice and was most pleased with the condition of the trails given the thaw a week ago - hats off to the groomers who have done exactly what they should when they should have. Tracks had not been groomed since the last snow but were skied in and in good condition, full to 75% depth in most places and washed out in others. Used the good classic skis and the only obstacles were leaves for the most part. Looking forward to a few more inches of snow and hitting loops at Willow again.

(Sarah Hartung)

The morning trip was on classic rock skis to just check things out for the afternoon drills session. I was glad I had the rock set on the Purple. I pulled the big branch off the trail. The Lowland loop has some tricky, off camber side hills and corners too sharp for in track skiing. That will change next season. I took a couple of laps on the Silver training loop. An A set of skis would have been fine on the Green trail from end to end. I took an A set for a short run after the rock ski session on the Green. Track on the Purple varied from excellent to a hint, depending on how hard the trail ice was when the tracksetter cutters got there. Generally, the shaded areas have a deep, full depth cut that squeaked this morning. I did not expect such good results! Sunny areas did not track so well, but it is present in most. On the deck, the rock skis just skittered around by skiing on top of the groomed surface, rather than in it. The deck surface varies from powder to kibble. The afternoon session was all drills on the Green, including the entry road. The A classics skied in the groomed surface on the deck as needed with no issues. The Atomic Redster skins (set up by Matt at Pioneer Midwest) are turning out to be a deluxe set of touring skis, in and out of track. Skate style skiers looked comfortable on the transformed snow / ice deck. Willow was groomed both Saturday and Sunday nights by the volunteer grooming team.

(Jeff Bolte)

Kudos to the groomer at Willow River SP. We had an awesome ski on our first visit to these trails. Grooming chopped up ice from the recent thaw-freeze cycle. The skate deck was excellent on most trails, a few areas with an high icy center area or ice chunks. Nice classic tracks throughout the system, full depth most places, thinner in others. There was some tree debris, but not a problem. All in all, we were very happy with conditions. What a beautiful, diverse, and extensive trail system. Get out and ski it while they have a good base! All trails were fun, but the brown trail roller coaster was just a hoot (had to do it twice!).

Photos:

(Sue Schroeder)