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)

All trails are re-groomed and re-tracked as of 8pm tonight - except for silver which is scheduled to be completed early tomorrow morning. It all looks great. I heard Saturday was a little rough but we re-groomed late Saturday afternoon and ended up with a lot of good reports on ski conditions today.

(Ted Bliven)

Night prowl. I classic skied on B woodies to test wax for possible use in the Marine O'Brien event tomorrow. Full grooming was in progress by Dave and Rita. I am not one to blow up the new track. The new track was shallow and very fast on the wood skis. The old track was also rocket fast and featured wax grabbing leaves. The deck was fast and the woodies tracked well out there. It was just the boat launch through the 300 campground. Knowing the skis were a bit grabby, I lifted one out of track on to the deck to hold the speed down through the easy turn down to the boat launch. Not used to that kind of speed on the wood. That being said, Willow trails will ski rocket fast. Its all ice pellets now, not snow. Track is shallow so expect to ski on the deck, planned or otherwise. Expect track to be blown out with use as Sunday progresses. Consider a softer, and thus slower, set of skis if you have them. Thanks volunteers, Dave and Rita, for doing what other trail systems are not, according to reports on this web site.

(Jeff Bolte)

I've been grooming at Willow for many years and I've never seen a system so thoroughly trashed by hikers. We've now regroomed and retracked the entire system. The new track is a bit shallow in places but at least it's not solid ice and frozen footprints. The skate deck has been leveled. It's a bit kibbled in places but should generally be smooth and fast. Hopefully with the cooler weather the hikers will be less numerous.

(Dave Thofern)

The trails are very icy following Friday's thaw and refreeze. The groomers plan to be out tonight at least resurfacing the skate deck and repairing damage from hikers. If every skier would point out to every hiker that they are on a ski trail it might at least make the hikers who are unaware of the rules think about staying on the designated multi-use trails. Stay friendly and report hikers to park staff.

(Dave Thofern)

Skate skied starting at the parking lots near the nature center. Did part of the purple trail, over the bridge, all of the Nelson Farm Trail back around to the Falls, and took the Willow Falls trail to the green trail back. It took awhile:) The skate deck was packed down, but snow was already getting slow by 11am due to the warm weather and sunshine, and lots of big divots/chunks out from walkers/hikers on most sections of those trails. Another roll from the groomers would no doubt clean things up and flatten it out a bit more for more skate enjoyment. Classic tracks still looked to be solid most of the way on all those trails. Regardless, beautiful day to ski and we'll take whatever snow we can get!

(Elizabeth Westerhaus)

I went easy on an A set of classic skis this afternoon. It was the Purple River loop, Green through the campground, Blue to the Falls, and Silver to where the hills started. I turned around. Classic track varied but it was there and solid in most places. The deck was good but narrow in places. The deck had plenty of till still bonded to the deck. Classic skiers need to keep that right pole plant in close or it punches through. The Silver track was soft. I was a bit surprised to see the Silver double tracked since the original plan was for a one way trail. The second tracking run wiped the first track run out in some places. There is no track on the shared use stretch of the Blue from the Gray hill to the Silver. Track skiing was the best I have seen in some years at Willow. Same out on the deck; firm but pliable enough to get edge control for straight runs, skid turns, or step turns. Downhills ran fast as expected on A skis. Big snow sure helps. Both tow vehicles are ready for action once again. The grooming team put in some big hours and it shows.

(Jeff Bolte)

All of the ski trails have been groomed and tracked. We made multiple passes with the roller and Ginzus to get this heavy snow packed and leveled. Skiers are reporting excellent conditions with only a few scattered soft spots.

(David Thofern)

First of all, one of Willow's towing machines is down for repairs as of last night. Dave T was out on the snowmobile setting track this early afternoon. It is a long job with just one machine running. I skied briefly on the untracked Purple. Not feeling well, I had to bail out. As of 2:00 pm, classic skiers will find trails packed. The pack is firm so skier laid track will vary. Skate skiers are good to go. A skis for all. Take the good skis off for road crossings.

(Jeff Bolte)