I arrived around noon with the temperature around 34 degrees. I skied Long Rider and Bruce's Roundabout. The skate deck was not particularly firm but not soft either. Control on the steep downhills with sharp turns at the bottom was poor. I crashed on four of them. The deck slowed down considerably about an hour into ski. There was a lot of stubble showing through the deck. The skate deck was shallow with turf showing through in a number of spots but it was easy to navigate around them. All things considered, I would rate conditions as fair. It ended up being more of a workout than normal on a course that is a workout in even the best conditions.

Photos:

(Jim Gantz)

With about four inches of fresh powder on the trails this morning I was able to roll all loops with the panning bar down behind the roller. Rock hard ice underneath but decent coverage of snow. Not enough to set track but mostly fair to good skiing for both skate and classic. There are patches here and there with stubble sticking up due to not being able to mow until early December when extensive logging operations were completed. Until I can set tracks, classic and skate skiers are welcome to ski all loops even though the system is normally split with skate loops to the west and classic groomed loops to the east.

(Will Maines)

All loops except for Bruce's Roundabout have been rolled. It was late getting it finished after waiting for logging projects to be completed, but trails are now mowed/hand brush whacked and skiable. As many of you know, Razorback Ridges is usually split with half the loops groomed for skate only and half for classic only. With the current lack of snow and poor conditions, classic and skate skiers may ski any of the loops that they choose until we get enough new snow to begin setting tracks. I would suggest using rock skis or other skis reserved for poor conditions.

(Will Maines)

I have been behind the eight ball getting Razorback trails fully ready for skiing this fall. The Sayner-Star Lake Lions operate Razorback Ridges through a land use agreement with the DNR, and this year's spring and summer the DNR had two major logging operations going on the trails on both the south and north ends of the system. The loggers were supposed to be done and out by late summer but didn't get all their logs out and trails graded back to usual condition until early Nov. As a result, with deer season also interrupting normal prep I could not get all trails mowed and ready for grooming before snow fell. At present time I have all the loops except Long Rider and Bruce's Roundabout mowed--yes, I mowed in December. I am hand clearing those two loops with a brush cutter. I have been out and rolled all loops, but with a hard as a rock ice base underneath and about three inches of powder on top there are places where significant stubble is sticking through. A few skiers have been out. I would advise using second or third best skis and exercising caution on steep downhills because of the hard ice base. I will update as soon as additional snowfall happens.

(Will Maines)