The approach on the West looks awful, icy, bare and rutted but once around the first turn there was surprisingly good skating on the West. The groomer was out and made multiple passes while I was skiing. To be sure there are patches of ice, bare ground and lots of litter on some parts of the lower loop, nothing that can't be avoided. The big hill was in great shape, the second less so but still skiable. I didn't try the hill at the end since it looked very thin and littered, didn't look like anyone else tried it either. The East appears to be groomed as well and I plan to try that later. A very pleasant surprise.

(Robert Abendroth)

Excellent skating and very good classical on both hills, full cover and freshly groomed. Classical would have been excellent were it not for quite a bit of leaves in many sections of the west. I needed to step out of the tracks for stretches. It would have been worse if I'd been using a softer wax.

(Robert Abendroth)

Skied at 3pm. Lots of skiers before me, but it's so cold that there is still very good coverage. Some grass in spots, a bit of dirt, but pretty avoidable. I used good skis.

(Dave Minden)

Fair to poor classical tracks on the West, lots of grass, dirt and bare spots visible, best advised to ski on the skate deck as I did most of the time. Much better on the East, the only bare spot was a short stretch on the Gammon Rd downhill where you'll need to step out. Skating on the West was good although a little choppy in places. What seemed to be a pretty good snowfall when shoveled hasn't produced a very substantial covering. Several more inches are needed. Can't complain too much, it's still Autumn!

(Robert Abendroth)

CXC, Madison Winter Festival and MadNorSki Club started snowmaking! The goal is to have 2.1km trail ready in the next 4-5 days with sledding hill.

Photos:

(Yuriy Gusev, Central Cross-Country Skiing)