Dave and Rita had the grooming gear rolling when I arrived. Classic track was being cut full depth due to more than the predicted snowfall. I ran an A set of classic skins on the deck mostly. Newly cut classic track is fragile, especially after dry snow like we got Sunday. It takes some time for track to set up. Plus, the full depth cut was occasionally exposing material beneath in enough places to not run A skis in track. Having said that, there was a short stretch of track that was firm enough and clean. It ran fast. The trip was the Purple, the Green through the campground, up the hill on the Yellow and across the road to the Brown. It sure was slow on the deck on a fast set of skis. I skied track on the Brown through the group camp up to the high point. Skiing down the series of hills the Brown offers cooled off any overheating concerns. Out of track I almost flew the S turn. At the double drop I carried the third little roller also. Overall, I would say the Brown ran about medium speed on the deck. Classic track skiers, stick with the B set. If you are solid on your out of track skills, you could run the A set. Be careful on road crossings. Skaters can run the A set and you might have to dodge organic stuff like pine cones and needles. With the wind, drifting is filling in groomed work.

(Jeff Bolte)

The trails are looking very good considering we haven't had much snow. Huge thanks to the hardworking (volunteer!) grooming crew! As a classic skier, I'm looking forward to tracks as right now there are none, but I skied from the 200 loop to the falls and back and had a great time. Probably saw a couple dozen other skiers out there. SKOL Vikings!

(David Ritter)

It was late night rolling on a few trails so there is something skiable Monday morning. There is something for everyone; Brown, Blue, Green, and Purple main and River stems. The short Yellow link from the 300 camp entry road to near the group camp is in also, which gives a loop option. There is no track set. I found two inches to perhaps three plus of base using the sharp stick test as I made random stops. Those tests were on packed base that was rolled any time from minutes earlier to a couple of hours ago. Snow was still falling at 11:00pm. I doubt that a full depth track will be possibe. Some areas may be skipped altogether. The trick will be to get the machine to cut a consistant partial depth track on uneven trail. If we level the trail, we scalp it down to dirt or worse. Two of us will be out to continue the work on Monday morning. The trails seemed to be flattening out somewhat with the new snow and skier traffic. Lots of skiers out today including this reporter.

(Jeff Bolte)

Brrrski! It was a short trip on the classic rock skis from the boat launch to the Blue return and back. The base is firm enough that skied in track will not occur in any useful depth. Skaters have it great today. The base is lumpy, which is typical of early packing runs. The base is not deep enough to put teeth to it via drag or Ginzu in order to level and flatten the trail. I took the no wax rock skis today. The B set would be fine. I saw a mix of dirt/sand and snow as I skied down the Blue hill out of the campground. Glide varied a lot. Sheltered areas had the best glide. Looking ahead, I am speculating that a shallow track can be set selectively if we get the upper amount of the predicted snowfall on Sunday. For example, the base on the Blue hill out of the 300 camp will still be too shallow for track, as will the flats below until the trail turns away from the lake bed. The campground loop could be double tracked but not full depth. Again, trail width has increased, so it will take the grooming team longer to complete their work after the next snowfall.

(Jeff Bolte)

Awesome snow cover for 4th ski of season. I was the Second person to Skate the inner loop of Prairie at 4:30. Decently rolled. Relatively slow compared to early weeks, so a wax is very much suggested. No classic tracks set yet. Goggles help to keep face warm, and fingers begin to warm up after about 20min.
Get on out! It's not too cold.

(Catherine Olson)

All the ski trails have been rolled as of noonish today. I cut the treetop off the Orange trail today so that trail is full width. Trail conditions vary widely. Check it before you commit to that big down hill. The Yellow hills are messy. Best conditions on the south side would be the Green in the woods, Purple, and Blue. Worst is the ice on the Orange on the south facing prairie. Our other groomer Jeff rolled the Silver so I have not seen it. He also rolled the north side training loop.

(Jeff Bolte)

Heads up on the big hills on the Yellow. These hills can ski quite fast but lack enough snow coverage to fill in the bumps and washouts. In my opinion, walk them. I rolled the trails south of the river tonignt which inclded the Yellow, Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, and Brown. Time got late so the Brown hill got only one pass. The morning groomer has that message. Everything else got multiple passes. It was a learning experience so you will see some blunders along the 200 camp on the mentioned Yellow trail. The snow packed a base as deep as two inches, to almost nothing. The Orange on the prairie has splotches of ice and a 1/4 inch base. Wooded trails were much better. These depths were determined via the sharp stick poke test. Start on the rock skis and choose if you go to the B set. No classic track will be set. Trails are rolled wide where possible. Hundreds of volunteer hours have gone into trailside brush removal over the past year. We did not get it all, but enough to improve the skiing experience in some areas. Lets see how it works. There is a down tree on the Orange in plain sight. People had been out classic skiing before the rolling so there is no need to wait. Be aware that the Silver Trail (two way) on the north side carries a black diamond difficulty level in the middle section hills. Its easy going rollers for a mile or so below the Falls.

(Jeff Bolte)

Skied Green and Blue Trails today down to falls for a few laps. Trails are good in some areas and poor in others. Definitely do not bring any skis you don't want scratched up. Twigs, leaves, pine debris are quite common on all trails but overall the conditions are as good as can be expected with the small amount of snow. It would be better if the people hiking and walking their dogs could read and follow the signs saying "Skiers only" as there wasn't a single stretch I encountered without boot marks all over the place. Theres barely enough snow to ski on as it is and I saw many deep heel marks exposing the ground on the trail.

(Ben Harris)

The ski trails at Willow are now closed to everyone except skiers. The trails have been rolled and some leveled a bit with the groomer. The base is quite thin but generally OK skiing if you are careful. Lots of sticks and leaves poking through along with occasional gravel. Skiers report Red trail is in better condition than others due to its grassy base. Not enough base to set track.

(Dave Thofern)

I skated most of the park today (all but the pink trail) and was pretty happy with the conditions. Skate deck was bumpy, but for the most part completely covered and firm. There were a few spots with rocks sticking through (mostly on the big climbs). Personally, I would still use rock skis for that reason. Not enough snow for classic tracks yet. Thanks to the groomers!

(John Oman)