Trail Detail

Minneapolis, MN
13K
Skating/Classic
Yes
Yes
[ NWS ]
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Notes

North Wirth Park includes 13 kilometers of groomed trail. The North Wirth trails include a mix of beginner, intermediate and advanced trails. Trails include Hap Lutter Loop (lighted, 3.3K snowmaking), Skyline Trail, Back-40/Twin Lake Trail, Judy Lutter Trail, and Tornado Alley Trail.
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Trail Reports

2014-2015 season
Reports 49 to 58 of 103    Month: Mar | Feb | Jan | Dec | Nov
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Evening
Firsthand: Classic Crime 
[ Good skis ]
Conditions: Nice trails on a Saturday evening. Hard to go up steep hill due to nothing to grip.
Dropped my brother off at Target Center with his mini van and then skied until 8:40 pm. Shocked to find passenger window broken into my brother's briefcase taken. Awful feeling and cold ride to pick him up and tell him the news.
(Danny Tolle)
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Afternoon
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ Bare ground ]
Conditions: Scattered mix; most sections are B ski quality, with a few rock ski sections. Fast on the natural snow, slow on the man-made.
Skied this afternoon over most of South Wirth, then came back up Tornado Alley to ski the Twin Lakes loop and part of the newly opened snowmaking sections. Definitely B skis on the natural snow, with a few areas that can add some stonegrinding if you aren't watchful. The curb crossings (like Eloise Butler parking lot), and the passing under the railroad bridge (Front 9) are some of the worst. Some leaves and twigs make it look worse than it actually is in places. Had a nice ski, and enjoyed the good speed on the real snow. Construction and trail disruptions still in the JD Gardens area (east of Wirth Lake) Most of South Wirth has not been groomed since the last snowfall, but it is skied in pretty well. Full snowmaking loop is now open, but a little mushy with the ski traffic today and felt pretty slow (snow is fresh -- hasn't been transformed). Lots of people out!
Photos:
(Bruce Adelsman)
Friday, January 9, 2015
Evening
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ Bare ground ]
Conditions: Quaking Bog - good skating conditions (it's relative...).
Skated bog Thursday after storm, the 3" fresh covered the base and had us excited for the trail to be groomed and firm for the weekend (the base under the fresh snow is thin, but solid and skiable). Went back Friday at 5pm: sadly, the groomers didn't bother roll the bog but only the two way trail between the parkway and highway...perhaps they were too busy making snow by the chalet now that it's cold enough (again)?
(Steve Anderson)
Friday, January 9, 2015
Afternoon
Firsthand: Freestyle Grooming 
[ B skis ]
Conditions: Pretty firm 2 inch base of the snowmaking loop.
Five of us were out with shovels and snowmobiles today. We added snow to spots on the back 40 and Judy loops. I then skied the loops and added some more snow. When you leave the lower stadium and enter the woods (natural snow), you can feel tar with pole plants. We added snow to the little berm entering the woods, a couple spots on the prairie loop, and roughly five toboggans of snow the first hill (oak hill). You can also feel tar with pole plants after the hill through the woods, but the snow has set up fairly firm with the cold weather, so it's a firm track. Back to the artificial snow loop, you climb the hill, and then take a left and climb. We added snow to the top of the hill (windblown), to the next major climb, and the next minor climb. On the long downhill (heading west and you make a U-turn at the bottom) the snow is thin, but you're gliding and on grass, and the next uphill is covered and firm. The major project was at the top of that climb. We added a number of loads of snow up there since the area was windblown. Then the loop enters the artificial snow again. The artificial snow that is brand new is incredibly slow, zero glide, so fortunately the Preloppet is not on that! The main question is how much abuse will the 1.5 to 2 inch packed snow take on the back 40. Right now it's solid. I'd leave the good skis at home but guess that most will get through the race without much ski damage.
(Jay Wenner)
Friday, January 9, 2015
Afternoon
Firsthand: Classic 
[ B skis ]
Conditions: Good to fair, fresh snow, rolled in most places. Skied the other side of Wirth lake, Eloise Butler, flower gardens back behind the grade school.
Lots of fun on the classic skis. The kick was good and the downhills were fast. Looks like this will be a good base for the City of Lakes.
(Kris Koch)
Friday, January 9, 2015
Morning
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ B skis ]
Trails were rolled and windblown, good coverage in the woods but windblown in the open areas. I would recommend rock or B skis. Manmade loop still not finished.
(Nathaniel Tollefson)
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Morning
Firsthand: Classic 
[ Good skis ]
Conditions: No new grooming, started to snow.
Classic skied the man made loop at 10:00. They did not regroom since yesterday so the classic tracks were washed out or non existent in some areas. It started to snow while I was skiing so it was nice and soft out of the tracks. There is still only the 1.5K loop open (sadly). Skied to the top of the long hill and there is a ton of snow, it just needs to be groomed out so hopefully the entire loop will be open soon?
(Kathleen Miller)
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
Afternoon
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ Good skis ]
Conditions: Beautiful grooming on the manmade course.
Nice deep Classic tracks and level skate deck. Race skis are at no risk with the current snow depth. Maybe the remainder of the artificial snow loop will open soon? There are certainly some large piles of snow being made.
(Zach Handler)
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Morning
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ B skis ]
Conditions: Surprisingly good!
Skied the entire system down to Brownie Lake. The inch of snow we received Monday night made a huge difference. Park Board crew did a nice job grooming things up. Another burst Thursday and we would really be in business . . .
(John Munger, Loppet Foundation)
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Afternoon
Firsthand: Freestyle 
[ Good skis ]
Conditions: Very good on snow-making loop.
Wirth was a buzz with high school teams this afternoon. The snow-making loop was still only 1.5k, but it looks like the complete loop should be ready soon. My only gripe is that the course seems to have grown an extra steep hill this year. I don't know how that can happen since I think it follows the same route as last year. Maybe we're climbing a mountain of snow. At any rate, it's way too steep for most people to actually ski up it (as opposed to herringbone skate). I'd like to see a bypass option, but on a 1.5 k loop there aren't many options for that.
(Lois Braun)

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