I was excited to ski these trails for the first time in two years, but the conditions were rough. The snow was probably too thin and soft for tracks in the first place, but the high volume of foot traffic did not help. Many areas had exposed rock that could be avoided, but I ended up with my share of new scratches.

Photos:

(Dan Carlson)

I skied the north prairie loop and north river bottom trails. Trails were corduroy but not tracked. Downhills, especially in woods, had some trail gravel, rocks, and roots partially exposed or just under thin base, so tread carefully (couple of falls attest to that!). B skis or better yet, rock skis. Nice to be out at the park today!

(Sam Seltz)

I skied from the 50th St. parking lot and a park employee was rolling the trail at the lot as I arrived, behind their tracked 4-wheeler. We got 6" of snow and coverage is pretty good. I was using old metal-edged touring skis and had my dog in a skijor rig. The park has made the smart decision to designate the north-south trail from this entrance as a hike and snowshoe (multi-use) trail, along with the western half of the northern part of the Prairie Loop and the entirety of the Trout Brook loop, to accommodate the large number of neighbors who like to walk the trails year-round. The rest of the Prairie Loop is designated as classic ski only, as in the past. Coverage on the rolled sections was good, and I experienced few scrapes. Where the trail was not yet rolled, hikers had moved enough snow that I scraped fairly frequently. Staying out of their tracks helped.

(Tim Power)