Lots and lots of snow in Blue Mounds SP. I skied the entire outer loop of trails including Pleasure Valley. Tracks are in good shape except for a few washouts. A slow ski due to bitter cold weather. The only concern is how rough and uneven the downhills are becoming on the steepest hills.

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(Ron Fabrizius)

Beautiful conditions. Lots of snow. Quite a few vehicles in parking lot but didn't see too many folks on trail. Correct gear was important in the cold but once you warm up, all good. Very slow skiing due to cold snow. I had glide wax on which helped a bit and I did not stick at all but definitely slow moving today.

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(Christopher Quandt)

They finished up grooming late this morning. Trails are in excellent condition, groomed for skate in the campground and classic everywhere. Things are a bit soft given the sheer amount of snow received in the last several days (somewhere around 2 feet I would guess), but honestly much firmer than expected. Use wider baskets. The road to the top of the mound was inaccessible while we were there, so I'm not sure if they groomed the top of the mound for skate yet. Be careful on the downhills, it's really easy to get stuck in someone else's deep rut.

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(Kyle Richard)

The trails were rolled but not tracked Wednesday evening. Then a few more inches of snow fell on top on Wednesday night, and it was not rolled or tracked. Some morning skiers had broken the trail, so there are some of their tracks to ski in. It's slow but still enjoyable. A couple people were out there skate skiing, and there were some hikers as well, such that the tracks weren't great. It was still nice to get out and way better than the barely skiable thin base from last week. I skied pretty much all the trails, and even the campground was skiable.

(Matt Raboin)

I called and they said they rolled all trails yesterday and it's partially corduroyed. It sounds like they'll do at least another pass on Friday or Saturday. Some great news: park staff told me they've deferred the tree removal efforts in the park due to the snow, so the campground loop should be skiable. I am not sure how far out they're deferring this effort, but it sounds like skiing at the mound will be excellent for the near future.

(Kyle Richard)

Trails are ungroomed. I skied Ridgeview Trail (backwards) and Walnut Hollow Trail, including the cutoff (part of the blue loop). I included Military Ridge to make a little loop, since there is a narrow path to the Walnut Hollow Trail towards the road. There are spots where coverage is good (pic included), but there are also tons of bare and dirty spots you'll need to ski around. The worst was at the bottom of the steep and narrow hill that connects the Military Ridge Trail Access to Ridgeview Trail (pic included). The hill itself is okay (I skied up it instead of down), but you'll really need to put on the brakes on that downhill if you don't want to muck up your skis.

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(Kyle Richard)

First ski of the year which felt good. Blue Mounds received only a dusting overnight. A rare occurrence where Madison got more snow. Ski was frustrating. You could have 30 seconds of good followed by a minute of bad. Skis went backwards, sideways, and sometimes the right way. There are few roots, sticks, and rocks. You will likely hit at least one each loop. The park has not signed the trails so hikers are mucking the trails up. We did not try campground loop as we were told from other skiers that the road was plowed and there was logging or tree removal in progress.

(Michael Engel)

Stay out of the campground! Everything else is good. I tried to bushwhack thru campsites to avoid the pavement. It didn't work. In my opinion, the hills are not icy. The segment by the park entrance to the lower part of the campground, where all the good hills are, is way under used. There are still mini-moguls I made from turning on BC skis. I tried to stem-christie that path on full XC skis and fell. Anyone who can do it, high-five. But really, I feel you can straightline all the hills -- I found there is nothing to be afraid of. The heavily trafficed parts are so firm and wide you can skate. New snow wasn't much here.

(Paul Blichmann)

Skied the entire red loop and also the yellow loop (John Minix Trail). Trails are ungroomed and the snow is hard packed from use, but overall snow coverage is still decent in the woods. The diciest place, as usual, was the hill leading down to the campground, which had small vegetation sticking out through the snow. The snow was soft, though, and I was able to snowplow down without issue. The campground road itself is plowed down to the asphalt, so I had to ski along the snowy road shoulder for a short bit to get back to the woods portion of the trail, but it was doable. The road crossing is bare, so taking off skis to walk across the road is recommended. I brought B skis but probably would have done fine with my better pair.

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(Susan Parsons)

Ventured onto the Green/Yellow/Red loops from the shelter. Trail has been very packed down and have a lot of craters from all the foot traffic that has made its way onto the trails. Went out using using my waxless fiishscales. Wouldn't use anything more until we get snow and grooming on the trails as it was a challenge to keep a rhythm going.

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(Josh Heurung)