As a grand finale for our 2-day quadrathlon of skiing 4 NHAL State Forest ski trails, Joanie and I strided the blue and green loops and the tracks were still in very good condition after being groomed 2 days ago. The hills were groomed perfectly, some with solid tracks and some with just loose powder, depending on the steepness. Thank you to all the NHAL State Forest groomers for their efforts during this low-snow year.

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(Darren Blankenship)

All loops were cut and tracked. Some spots with thin snow cover and lots of debris on red and yellow loops, but otherwise great conditions.

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(Joe Fieweger, Wisconsin DNR)

Skied the red loop. All trails are groomed for classic. Soft in spots from all the fluffy snow that came in over the weekend but overall pretty firm. Still was able to get some decent speed on the hills, and felt more control with the turns from the fresh powder. Some debris in tracks but they can be avoided.

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(Tyler Carrico)

The trail received 5"+ of light, fluffy snow. All loops were leveled and tracked. Somewhat soft with the new snow, but overall very good conditions. Areas of thin snow cover and lots of debris under thick conifers on parts of red and yellow loops.

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(Joe Fieweger, Wisconsin DNR)

This was my first time at Raven Trail this season. I skied the Blue, then the Green, and then the Blue again. I also skied into the campground and back for a total of 15.5 kilometers. The track was deep and firm. Outside the track conditions were a little soft. Control on the steep downhills was just so so. I managed not to fall. Overall I would rate conditions as very good.

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(Jim Gantz)

Great day for skiing. Beautifully-just-groomed red, blue, and green trails and sunshine. Had occasional difficulty herringboning uphills in the (narrowly) set track. Yellow (hiking) trail was groomed, but it was over my skill level, better as a nature trail, my opinion. Thank you, DNR groomers!

(Madeline Uraneck)

The trail received 3-4" of snow today. All loops were leveled and tracked. Overall conditions are good to very good. The red and yellow loops still have some areas of thin snow cover and shallow track.

(Joe Fieweger, Wisconsin DNR)

Approximately an inch of new snow fell on the trail over the weekend. Green and Blue loops were cut and tracked and are in good condition (ok for good skis). A new track was set on the Red and Yellow loops everywhere there is enough snow to do so. There are still some significant thin areas on the Red and Yellow loops, especially where there is thick conifer cover (also lots of forest debris on the trail in these areas). Red and Yellow loops range from good to poor (B skis or rock skis).

(Joe Fieweger, Wisconsin DNR)

Green and Blue loops were leveled and tracked and are in good condition (good skis ok). There are still a few thin areas. A new track was set on the Red loop everywhere there is enough snow to do so. Overall condition of the red loop is fair with some areas of very thin snow cover. The yellow loop is less than 1/2 tracked. Thick conifer cover on much of that loop means there is little snow on the trail. The yellow loop is in poor condition overall due to poor snow cover. B skis or rock skis on the red and yellow loops.

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(Joe Fieweger)

Skied blue trail that was tracked and in good shape. Good skis were fine on blue trail. Did not ski red trail, but saw it was tracked. Reason for selecting B skis is because with the relatively small amount of snow the red trail could be thin under trees and rocky in places. Again, thank you to DNR / state groomers for doing a good job with minimal snow.

Photos:

(Dave Higgs)