I skied the 6K loop at noon and I thought the conditions were marginal. Very thin skate deck and some debris. Southern exposure and sunny areas had thawing and then froze as ice overnight. Grooming did the best they could to chop up the ice. Definitely B skis and probably rock skis until more snow comes.

Photos:

(Scott Frazier)

Did some 10k loop repeats today. Some parts of the first 5k were pretty gnarly...straight ice. The downhill after that caution sign had a rough bare spot. The second half of the loop had some of the best conditions I've skied all year (from MKE county). Great to get out! Compliments to the groomer.

(Christopher Sover)

We regroomed the skate deck on the 6k 10k 20k and lit loops. Track was re-set on the 6k. Expect fast granular conditions. There are bare spots and ice patches on the 20 k. And 10k. Snowshoeing is open.

(Barb Maguire)

Trails at Nine Mile are very icy after the rain on Tuesday. Groomers are out with the PistenBully chewing through the ice. By the end of today, we're hopeful to have the skate deck and classic track back on the Lighted Loop and Y. We will continue grooming through the weekend and working our way out to the 10k. The 20k is seeing some bare spots on the south facing slopes.

(Bradley Mroczenski)

I skate skied from about 11:30-noon. The lighted loop and Y had been tilled. Everything else was still ice. Still full coverage. Light scattered debris throughout. Where it had been tilled it's about 80% pretty decent ice powder and 20% still pretty icy. Overall you can make your way around and still have a good skate ski. One spot on the southeast part of the lighted loop where there's a downhill corner had a smattering of gravel poking through. Recommend B skis. Classic tracks where set on Y, but it's ice and I would only attempt do double pole those tracks with rock skis. Not good for striding I'd think. For skating I'd recommend the north half of the lighted loop and return down Main Street. That's pretty good skiing, all things considered. They were continuing to till when I left, so maybe more sections will be opened. 9-mile is definitely doable, but it's hanging on by a thread. We need more snow!

(Brian Ross)

Nine Mile Chalet will close today at 3 pm due to the impending rain and will tentatively reopen Wednesday at 3 pm. Trails are still open to those that brave the rain. Those that need trail passes can purchase them at the kiosk by the parking lot.

(Bradley Mroczenski)

Skied the 6K and the 10K today and had a good time. Tracks had some leaves that stuck to the bottom of my skis. Tracks were a little icy but nothing too bad. I skied outside the tracks on downhills to avoid the ruts. I used blue extra wax and that worked pretty good. The temps were perfect. There was a ski club from Milwaukee visiting so the chalet was full and busy. It's nice to see everyone out and enjoying the winter.

(Diane Schwartz)

Classic tracks were well groom. I did the 10 k and the 6 k. My daughter and her husband (Stephanie and Tom Koceja ) skated and I don't know what trails they did but they said the lanes were good. They do a super job grooming.

(Tim Doemel)

I skated the 20k and the 6k, both on Saturday and Sunday, and the conditions were excellent. Firm skate deck, yet not icy. Some leaves scattered once in a while, but always easy to maneuver around. Tracks, OTOH, looked like it might a challenge to keep tree debris out of wax pocket.

(Mark Ehlers)

Oh mercy, I skied 10k+ this morning and by the end, I thought that I'd skied off all my Special Violet, steady slipping. When I got to the truck, I saw that I had 75-80% debris coverage in the kick pocket. Use the hardest wax you can. This is no way the groomers fault, there is just so much material to work with.

(Dave Moritzen)