Lime Creek Nature Center - Mason City

- just back from a run up to Mason City - SMILING! great grooming job and the skating is Good, and very fast. The classic tracks look great, I jumped in and out of them a few times and would give them a good to very good. It's a little rough there at the beginning of the first loop, but settles down fast. Definitely Worth the trip!!! planned to stop at Webster city on my way back to check that out but ran out of oomph. ~

Big Creek - Des Moines/Polk City

Kevin was out putting the finishing touches on BC this morning when I got there. All of us out there should probably have let it set up before we skated on it but it was already 10:30 and I guess we just couldn't wait to get skiing.

Between Tom's work Wednesday night and Kevin's work this morning, there is a very nice classic track and the skate lane was fantastic. Frankly, I'm not sure how Kevin & Tom did it but BC is about as good as it has been since early in the year. Sure it's a little icy/hard packed in some of the transition areas and there are some classic track depth issues in the windswept areas but all in all it is great skiing. So if you have been worried that there will be too much ice or not enough good snow, stop worrying and get on out while you can.

Thanks Tom & Kevin!

Mines of Spain Recreation Area - Dubuque

Trails were groomed on Friday. Iowa Winter Games Cross Country Ski Races are today, Saturday. 10:00 am is the Classical Race and 2:00 pm is the Skate Ski Race.
Trails may not be groomed again this year due to major damages to the SnowMobile. While grooming the trails yesterday, the opperator failed to disengage the parking break causing severe damage to other parts of the machine. Hopefully, funds can be found to make the necassary repairs. Will make notice if we are able to go back to grooming.

Adams Nature Preserve-Sioux City, 1/28

Thursday, Jan 28: temperatures in the upper single digits, minimal to no wind. Skating trails fast and fun; thanks go to Cody and everyone else involved in grooming for breaking that proverbial and, in fact, real and very hard ice.

Ames - Carr Woods

despite snow depth, I had the most magical, gorgeous night out there last night (Wed) - a wash of quiet moonlight over the trails, no wind. NOT GROOMED. The in-woods classic tracks are good what little I tried them, but outside woods classic seem a little icy to me. Skaters - keep your tips up! Inside woods skating was the best, outside woods was tougher - a lot of chop.

MNRA- MacBride, Iowa City/North Liberty

MNRA was groomed and classic tracks were set tonight in preparation for Fridays Ski-n-S'mores event (see previous posting). There's a little bit of everything out there depending on how the wind was blowing. Some sections are fantastic, packed powder and deep-set track... other sections are sheet ice. Most classic track is pretty shallow but skating should be OK other than the skating rink sections, be careful on your first lap!
Don't forget, this is better than most of the skiing we had three years ago so get out there and enjoy it.

Big Creek S.P. - DSM/Polk City

Wed. 1/26 - The trail was groomed tonight. The skating lane is in good shape throughout - very firm and level, not icy. Classic tracks are mostly shallow or non-existent in wind swept areas. Best classic skiing is to be had in the disc golf loop and prairie loop. All things considered, this is still very good skiing for Central Iowa. I encourage everyone to make the most of it.

Tom W.

Webster City Trails update

Webster City now has three groomed trails. The most popular, and groomed today, 1/27/10,

starts at the southeast parking lot at Briggs Woods Park Lake and is a 3 kilometer loop across the dam, through the woods, and then back along the lake on part of the Boone River Trail. The snow is 2" of new powder on top of about an 8" base.

The second trail starts in Webster City by the parking lot at the east end of Ohio St. at the entrance to 7B Ranch. I groomed the 3 mile section of the Boone River Trail out to the lake parking lot in Briggs Woods. There are two 30 foot sections of almost bare concrete under the bridge where US 20 crosses the trail, but otherwise the trail is packed and tracked powder.

the third trail is a 4.3 kilometer race course on the east side of the Briggs Woods Public golf course. It starts at the south end of the clubhouse parking lot near the golf cart sheds. (See small sign.) After the rain, thaw, and blizzard, the trail was partially re-groomed today, but has some icy and drifted sections. I hope to finish the grooming by the weekend. The trail is well marked with over 300 flags. Keep orange on your right and green on your left.

Johnson Co. backcountry update

It's tough out there, but there's stashes of good skiing to be found.

Woodpecker/Squire is challenging, but features a soft, semi-speedy powder on a bulk of the system. Foot traffic was limited to 2 rangers as of yesterday afternoon. Some spots are completely wind-blasted ice, so keep your eyes peeled. It might be best to go with metal-edged skis only at this point. However, the trail can be done.

The hill between the corps tower and the visitor's center at the rez is completely wind-scoured ice, so if you were going to go out there to practice your telemark skillz on the last 2 inches, forget about it until we get another 2 inches that falls straight, not sideways. If you want to practice your crud-busting, go for it.

Turkey Creek disc golf course is in surprisingly good form. Sheltered from the wind, this area offers all the snow that fell in the last two days. Eighty percent of it is soft snow on top of a bulletproof ice base. There's no trail per se, however you can follow the golf holes (look out for steep drainages that end in creeks wider than a ski is long) or just make it a free-for-all.

MNRA is ungroomed and the blue trails are in great shape for BC users. Even skinnier BC-type skis, cruisers, or elf-toe skis could probably navigate well as the formerly groomed snow made a bulletproof ice base for the new stuff, which was not too thick. The drifts have been busted by fat skis. Some scoured sections are bare ice, so be careful charging around the corners if you don't have edges. Very little foot and ski traffic as of this afternoon (2 men, 2 dogs, 3 skiers, 1 turkey). The normally ungroomed trail from down the road to the back wolf campsites and pole barn is spicy: be prepared for speed, lumps, and a creek crossing over a small log. For this trail, bring metal edges and some heft underfoot.

Might as well take what they give us. Happy skiing everybody, and pray for snow!

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City 1/27/2010
In what continues to be a challenging grooming year, we are back in action. We got 2 or 3 inches of snow on Sunday through Monday accompanied by 50 mph gusts which made for some large drifts over our ice crusted trails. We got another 1/2 inch this morning. I skied last night and, for the most part, the trails are in decent good shape given the warm and rain. The ice was able to be broken up and mixed with new snow to make for some fast skiing in several sections. There is still some work to do but I would anticipate we'll be in great shape by weekend with an attempt to reset all of classic tracks. Cody

Ames Carr woods

Joe Lynch, Jeri Neil, and I spent 3 hours today moving sticks off the trails. We basically raked the entire trail system which I must say, was dang hard work. It probably doesn't look like much was accomplished but you should have seen it before! I'm not saying we deserve medals but we'd like some.

We didn't do the western-most river trail but we did cover everything else. There are still a lot of little sticks all over but with things re-freezing it was the best we could do.

I don't know a thing about grooming but I suspect that the trails would benefit from at least having something done to crunch up the crust and smooth things out a bit. If our groomer could do this it would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully a couple inches of snow will fall Mon which would help too.

Jeri and I skated everything late in the day and it was fast but pretty challenging to stay upright. The upside was that we enjoyed some good laughs picking ourselves up several times.

Adams Nature Preserve, Sioux City 1/24

On Sunday, my wife and I were down for an hour and did some cleanup on Lake Loop. Yet the wind is far from being over. Somebody, probably on Saturday, did some skating on the soft and melting snow, which won't make any repair grooming any easier.

I wasn't able to measure the hard ice base.

The fresh snow made classic skiing quite enjoyable, let's hope for a bit more.
On the lake, there is a dead deer.

Big Creek - Des Moines/Ankeny

Walked and raked some of the disc golf sections this afternoon and while I'm no groomer, it sure looks like the base is holding up well. The skate lane is solid and still deep and the classic track was still pretty well defined. If I didn't know better one might have been able to classic with the right klister. Maybe I'll give it a go tomorrow night. I didn't check out the lakeside or prairie loops but from the road I did see one area where the trail had melted to bare ground.

Tom or Kevin (BC's groomers) will be able to tell for sure but I think with a little new snow they will be able to set Big Creek up again. Here's hoping for a few inches of new white stuff.

Ames Carr Woods clean up

I inspected the trail on Thursday afternoon by skating around on the ice and falling down a lot. There are a lot of sticks and branches, mostly small stuff, all over the trails. It's enough to block the path in some areas. It would take a LOT of snow to cover it all up. And, if all that debris gets packed into the base we'll be encountering it for weeks in the spring when we could otherwise be skiing between thaws. If we only get a few inches of snow we wont be able to ski at all and we'll have a really tough time picking sticks up.

I'm planning to get out on Sat and/or Sunday (before the predicted snow Sun night and Monday) and try to clean up the worst of it. I'm hoping for other volunteers to help. I think it would take only a couple hours if we had half a dozen people. I think those large lightweight poly rakes would be the ideal tool.

If anyone wants to coordinate with me to form a team send me email at wby0nder at aol dot com or call me at 515 451 1068

Matt Michael

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City

Adams Nature Preserve, Sioux City, IA
We have had freezing rain since Wednesday and more is forecasted through the upcoming days with some snow expected on Sunday. Given the conditions, we have decided to suspend all grooming until the freezing rain clears out of the forecast. With our substantial base of snow, I am optimistic that our trails will survive the rain and forecasted warm up on Saturday - Cody McCullough

MNRA - Iowa City/North Liberty

The gate at MNRA will remain open but travel into the park is not advised.

Adams - Sioux City on Jan 19

Mid twenties around 5 PM, perfect skating, particularly along the power lines. 11 cars at the parking lot at 6 PM.

Wickiup Hill (NW of CR)

The temperature this afternoon was around 27 deg. F., there was very little wind, and it was overcast.

The classic track was very fast and for what I could see there was snow cover in the bottoms of all the tracks. Of course some of the track was missing on the steeper hills on the small loop.

The skating trail was freshly groomed and was very nice for skating. The skis were sinking in about 1/2 inch which gave good grip to the side strokes, but did not retard the glide. Thank you Linn County groomers for doing such a nice job on the skate trail.

Hoar Frost is Fast in Decorah

If you haven't skied on a layer of fallen hoar frost, you haven't skied! We have had terrific frost on all of the trees for the past two days. When it falls off of the trees, you get a nice new layer of slippery stuff on the trail.
Temperatures have hovered around freezing during the past few days, but not much of our snow has melted. South- and west-facing slopes are very fast.

Conditions in general are fast today. Hope that the predicted sleet and freezing rain do not materialized and spoil it.

MNRA - Iowa City/North Liberty 12PM (Tues)

MNRA - Iowa City/North Liberty 9AM-12PM, temp 27, wind E 5, overcast.
Classic track was untouched at 9AM and gliding rocket fast on the downhills.

Skating Lane was a mixed bag, early the skating was fast and treacherous and then slowed down a little bit. Today is not an inexperienced skater day as there are spots with kick, some without, beware.

Considering the heat up and cool downs Paul did a hell of a job to make anything out of the snow!
I would say go traditional as it might be faster and more in control but have fun either way.  Brett

Big Creek - Des Moines/Ankeny

Pretty much the same Monday night as Tom experienced in the morning. Skate late fast, icy fast in spots with hiker damage but manageable even for this novice.

Classic track a bit trickier. It is in reasonably good shape but getting very shallow and thus washed out in quite a few places. The combination of ice and transformed snow makes waxing a challenge. My softest hard kick wax is red/silver and that just about did it. I tried more layers and longer but in the end a very light layer of swix quick klister helped alot in all but the iciest of spots.

MNRA - Iowa City/North Liberty

MNRA was groomed and new tracks set tonight. should be good skiing. Have fun!

Big Creek - Des Moines/Polk City

Monday morning at Big Creek was firm and fast. Small frozen ridges in the skate lanes from Sunday's melt and traffic, but they were manageable. Classic tracks appeared to be holding up well, but I didn't test them. Some foot traffic divots from people that appeared to be playing frisbee golf. If they are out during the next warm spell, please remind them to stay off the groomed areas (or at least to the extreme edge of the lane). - Tom

George Wyth-Cedar Falls--fast and dirty

That's what she said: George Wyth is fast and dirty. Temps in mid 20s this a.m.--lots o' twigs, dog doo, and walker damage to skate trail, but still speedy and skiable. Hope groomers till it up and/or we get more snow soon. Another appeal to all: please respectfully ask hikers, dog walkers, skiers with dogs to keep off the trails!! It's just ignorance, but the number of piles o' poo on the trails here is ridiculous--Nobody wants to ski on that. More signage/education would help...

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City

Yet another great day, low twenties, no wind, but with quite some fog. Classic good, skating perfect.

Morgan Creek Park - Palo

Trail Condition: Firm and fast early in the morning but softening quickly

Temperature: Way too warm

Damage by hikers and dogs: Off the charts

Wickiup Hill (NW of Cedar Rapids)

The temperature was 28 Deg F., there was no wind, and it was very hazy.

The classic track on the large western loop was very fast and in good condition. There was only one spot that I noticed that needed a little snow.

The skate trail on the western loop was a little rough, somewhat hard, well covered with snow, and had a lot of footprints and skate ski grooves in it. It would be nice to have it smoothed out.

I did not get up to the eastern loop on the hill so I don't have a report for this section of the trail.

Ashton - Iowa City 10:30 AM slow running

Ashton - Iowa City 10:30AM, temp 30 wind W - 5, mashed potatoe snow.

The skate lane skied fast till around 9:45 and then slowed way down and was turning soft.
Classic lane was OK but running slow as well - Brett

Ashton - Iowa City, 12:30 AM

Ashton - Iowa City, 12:30AM - temp 25, wind SE 5, thick freezing fog.

Worked up the skate lane at Ashton in the fog this morning and past evening. It was a 3 pass session to break up the surface and smooth it out. Should be pretty good skating if the temp stays down for 3-4 hours. Note: There is a course change on the East side of the course when skiing. The wind blows the snow off the up/down hill, I've moved the trail towards the center of Ashton on the corner by the cross over.

The classic lanes are static until we get more snow. The grooves are the most compacted snow on the course and there isn't much to play with. If I start working the classic track aggresively to beak it up what snow is there will get pushed off the trail. If someone thought to being a shovel and toss a little snow on the thin spots that would help. I was unable to see much with the dark and fog so sorry for not getting any snow moved on the classic grove.

Go ski and enjoy, Brett

George Wyth - Waterloo

No sign of any recent grooming but pretty good skating conditions anyway. Lots of people in the classic track too. The bad news is that as the temperatures rose to levels where it was best to get off the trails, the heavy traffic was starting to arrive.

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City on Sat, 1/16

The warm weather conditions have yet to inflict any serious damage on the tracks at Adams. Today, there was a strong southerly breeze. Skating was just perfect. With that amount of snow and with that professional grooming, we should be OK for a while. Enjoy!

Hidden Gem - Lime Creek Nature Center Trails, Mason City

Our Saturday at Lime Creek -> !!EXCELLENT Excellent Excellent and awesome!!! Word is (from Cindy who I met on the trail) that we have "Todd (?)" and his merry band of swim team recruits to thank for an amazing grooming job. What a gorgeous day, wonderful skiing, skate and classic trails are in very very good condition. and take a moment to bop into the visitor's center. And the coffee at the Coffee Cat in town is quite tasty!

Story City XC ski trail

The classic trail on Story City's River Bend golf course was re-groomed Saturday morning, and it's holding up well. Just a couple of thin spots near the trees along the river, but otherwise it's as nice as ever. Thanks for Evan and Sam for making it happen.

Mines of Spain Recreation Area, Dubuque

Trails at the Mines of Spain were groomed on Friday.
Skate trails are in pretty good condition. No open spots.
The classical trails are good to fair. There are some places where grass is coming thru. Not bad for the warm days last week. Lost some snow.

Cross Country Ski Clinic will be held this Sunday, January 17 at Bicycle World in Dubuque and then out on the ski trails for further instruciton at the Mines of Spain. Go to http://www.minesofspain.org/ then programs for further details.

Enjoy and Thanks, Wayne

Lime Creek Nature Center - Mason City

High temps this weekend to hit 32-34F. Winds should be low. Skate trails are still in great shape even with the warmer temps we've seen. The skate trails at Lime Creek were groomed Friday evening thanks to Mr. Friday :). Finishing around 11:00PM. Should set up nice for the weekend overnight. Classic tracks were set on all prairie skate loops. Come on over to MC and enjoy!
Todd Juhlin

MNRA - Iowa City/North Liberty

MacBride was groomed tonight. New tracks set through most of the trails (including along the lake) . SHould be rocket fast early but too warm later. Have fun!

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City

Adams Nature Preserve, Sioux City, IA

Despite some warm afternoons, our trails are holding up nicely. The skate lanes continue to be groomed on a daily basis. I checked some interior spots last night and our base of compressed snow is at least 8 inches and in some areas quite a bit more. That should be sufficient to keep us skiing for awhile despite the warm afternoons.      Cody McCullough

Ashton - Iowa City 9:30 AM Friday

Ashton - Iowa City 9:30AM, Friday - temp 28, wind ENE 5.

Ashton's skate lane set up well overnight, the set up process isn't helped by higher temps. 7 AM, the glide was fast and controlled, 9 AM the snow was slowing down a bit, and 9:30 AM the glide was a little slower and the surface was getting a bit soft.  If today's temp hover at freezing with overcast skys, we may get another good PM (tonight after sunset) ski. If overnight temp drops to the predicted 20 then Saturday AM should be one more day of decent snow.

I jumped into the classic groove on the downhills, it was gliding well - Brett

Big Creek - Des Moines/Ankeny

BC has not been worked this week but given the temps, was holding up well as of last night. I waited a couple hours after the temps got back below freezing and the classic track quality was all over the board. Shaded areas seemed unaffected by the thaw, there was corn snow and ice. Some of the track would have been unskiable without klister so all in all it was a mixed bag.

As for the skate lane, I only skied a small section in the disc golf area and it was doing ok but it too was showing signs of ice in several areas.

For both skate and classic the base seems to be holding up well so far.

Ashton - Iowa City, 1:30 AM

Ashton - Iowa City; temp 25, wind N 5-10

The Ashton skate lane has been worked over. If it sets up well over night it could be very fast with a couple of hard spots around the course. Too bad the forecasted temps will destroy this snow as it was ready to be titled rocket snow.

Had to leave the classic track as is for now. We need new snow to to any work on the classic grooves - Brett

Ashton - Iowa City 9AM

Ashton - Iowa City 9AM, temp 24, wind SE 10-15

Ashton's skate lane skied well this AM, on the verge of rocket snow. All will depend upon how long this warm up lasts. If the temp is up during the day and your skiing after work try to wait a bit and let the temp come back down.

The classic grooves were going OK, they really slow down as the temps go up.

I'm not liking the long term forecast with temps over 32, woe is me - Brett

Big Creek - Des Moines/Ankeny

Hit both the classic track and skate lane last night and BC was in overall great condition. As I'm still learning to skate this may not be accurate to someone with more experience but the skate lane was very firm, offering an excellent edge and glide. However, I only skated the Disc Golf area so cannot speak to the rest.

The classic track was in really great condition. Other than some skating damage in the narrow sections and deer damage, the classic track rocked. The track is set deep and it is very fast with the right waxes.

Get out and enjoy!

Ashton - Iowa City, 3:00 PM

Ashton - Iowa City, temp 20, wind SSW 10-15

The skate lane was medium  in firmness and not setting up as well as I would like. I wasn't dropping through when polling and the glide was OK, just not quite there yet. Better go race tonight and get out early tomorrow and the following mornings while the temps are up as the skating will really stink once the mercury goes over 28.

A good number of classic skiers out compacting the groove this morning. I didn't see anyone flying about but all I talked to were happy with the mornings new classic tracks.

Oh, and I don't mystery groom, I would have posted to the Update, so it was not me - Brett

Ashton - Iowa City, 9AM & freshly groomed.

Ashton - Iowa City, 9AM, temp 10, wind - calm.

The skate lane was groomed and seems to be firming up well. Sorry to the poor chap who got out right after I worked the snow I'd guess it was pretty soft since it hadn't had time to set up yet. Also thanks for only doing one lap and I hope you come back when it has settled. I usually try to work at night but circumstances are dictating otherwise right now.

The classic tracks have been reset and are ready to ski. Someone please get out there and do some trail structuring for me.

Overall snow conditions should be excellent for classic and possibly very fast skating for the TT to go off tonight at 7PM - Brett

Adams Nature Preserve & all Groomed Trails in Iowa

Courtesy of the folks working the Adams Nature Preserve in Sioux City and applicable to all groomed ski trail across Iowa.

This is the third year for groomed trails at Adams Nature Preserve in Sioux City. It has been an evolutionary process in many respects. It started with a friend and I securing some low budget equipment and a hand shake deal from the park to allow us to groom the trails. Since that time, a four stroke utility sled with equipment from YTS has been purchased. All of the grooming is run through our club which was qualified as a 501(c)(3). I receive contributions, many unsolicited, almost daily. We also negotiated a deal with our park where part of the trails are cross country ski only. Since we groom all of the trails, this is a "win-win" for everyone since the trails would be nearly impassable for walkers but for the grooming. In the end, our trail system has been great example of a public-private partnership. Yesterday, I saw at least 60 skiers on the trails and the parking lot is almost always full on the weekends.

Like many of the posters have indicated, education has been the key for limiting damage to the groomed trails. This year, we upgraded our signage which has significantly helped to educate non-ski trail users. Below are the signs I designed after finding a few examples online. They are metal signs with vinyl graphics and are reflective. They were about $50 per sign to have made locally. The signs were mounted to a post and placed in a five gallon buck with about 6 inches of concrete to secure the post. This has made them easy to transport and move while grooming.

We have not taken any position on dogs and frequently see them on our trails. The damage caused by dogs is insignificant when compared to the deer and walkers. Frankly, our groomed trail system exists at the pleasure of the Park so we have been careful to create as little friction as possible with non-skiers. Interestingly, now that our snow is thigh deep in areas, we have essentially created deer highways on parts of our system.

If anyone wants the contact information for the sign company that produced our signs, just e-mail me at cmccullough at craryhuff.com. Cody McCullough

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City

Adams Nature Preserve, Sioux City. Adams got another six inches of snow last week accompanied by high winds and large drifts. Amazingly, we have had over 45 inches of snow so far this season. By Saturday morning, the Lake Loop, Mary's Avenue and the trail to the Barn were all groomed. The River Loop was opened up last week but reportedly has a 10' drift over part of the trail so it may be some time before this trail is reopened. Attached are pictures of a segment of the Lake Loop taken Saturday morning. Cody McCullough

Big Creek - Des Moines/Ankeny

Sorry this is late but the home PC took a crash this weekend and mostly I just can't stand the thought of going to the office on the weekend unless it is absolutely necessary.

Both skate lane and classic track were groomed Friday or Saturday morning - Thanks Kevin! Several skaters out Sunday mid-day and judging by their smiles they looked to be enjoying skiing. The classic track was in awesome condition, deep, firm and fast and getting some use too. By 2:30 however the wind was starting to blow some of the track over on the Lakeside Loop plus that same wind was still blowing oak leaves into the track. That area is still very skiable but makes for a choppy stride. The Prairie Loop and Disc Golf area were really fun with excellent snow, a great track and protection from the wind.

If you see Tom or Kevin out there folks please consider a donation to help defray the expenses they incur in grooming this great ski area for us.

Pinicon Ridge

The trail could not have been in any better shape, although I can't say the same for myself. An hour and a half skating on this trail was great fun but completely exposed my feebleness. I can only assume from the lack of skiers that people living in the vicinity just don't realize what they have on their doorstep.

Matsell Bridge

WOW! Who has been hiding these trails! The grooming was spectacular. These Linn County groomers must have gotten a new toy or discovered a new grooming secret they are holding out on. I would think that anyone looking for a serious workout might want to consider Matsell as a destination. These trails have the kind of length that make it possible to ski for a longer period of time without getting dizzy from circling so often. I'm looking forward to returning here after the next snow in hopes the classic lane has been moved a little closer to the edge so I can try skating the trail this time. If someone were to drop me here and tell me I was in Northern Wisconsin I wouldn't have any trouble believing it.

MNRA - Iowa City 3:30pm

MNRA (MacBride) - Iowa City; temp 15, wind SW 20-25mph.

MNRA's skate lanes firmed up way faster than Ashton has, not sure why perhaps due to more drifting at Ashton. Anyway the skate lanes were skiing pretty fast and holding up well. After the next grooming session MNRA could be on the verge of rocket snow.

The classic lane was getting heavy use and holding up very well. LOTS OF SKIERS AT MNRA, wow! It's great to see large crowds getting out and skiing together in groups and having a good time. Oh I was told the classic track was gliding and gripping well - Brett

Wickiup Hill (NW of Cedar Rapids)

The temperature was about 10-14 deg. F., winds were out of the south at 15-20 mph, and it was partly cloudy.

The classic track was in excellent condition on the large western loop, but was missing on part of the eastern hilly loop. The track was very well formed, straight without waves, and made for a very nice glide without being icy.

The skate trail was soft and had seen some use. It also had had walkers on it as well as dogs. It might be beneficial to place signage at the entrance asking those people without skis to please stay off the groomed ski trails. I think most people would pay attention.

Mines of Spain - Dubuque

Some photos at Mines of Spain on Saturday. Enjoy the snow.

Thanks, Wayne

George Wyth Ski Conditions

The trails at George Wyth State Park were groomed for both skating and classical on Friday. Conditions are very good for both techniques. The classical tracks off the bike trail are especially good for anyone wanting to explore the back trails.

MNRA

MNRA was groomed last night. I laid new Clasic tracks this morning. Looks to be in excellent shape for today.

Decorah Conditions

With this week's new snow groomed, Decorah trails are in excellent condition. The temperatures should be a little better this week.
A group of people have made a trail around Silvercrest Golf Course. There is a nice base until the new layer of powder. If you go there, the trail begins to the left of the clubhouse and goes clockwise around the course.

Lime Creek - Mason City

DATE: AS OF JANUARY 8, 2010 - TOPIC: LCCA CROSS COUNTRY SKI TRAILS
The Lime Creek Conservation Area cross country ski trails have been groomed. The skate ski trails are being groomed after snow events, and maintenance grooming is being done as needed. The woodland-diagonal stride trails have been set with additional grooming after significant snowfall. In addition the trail around Quarry Lake is packed for hikers, dog walkers and snowshoe enthusiasts. For more information contact the Conservation Board Office at 641-423-5309 and ask for Fred Heinz/Director.

Cedar Valley Nature Trail (Sugarbottom)

The Sugarbottom recreation area road is highly tracked by snowmobiles. The Cedar Valley Nature Trail is almost virgin for those who like breaking trail and fresh powder. As usual, the trail can be tricky in spots and once again, near the Indian cave, you might want to dismount to avoid scoring your bases on rocks. I did not track the entire thing with my big skis, so if you want to do the entire thing you will have to follow a lone snowshoer to the end.

Woodpecker and Squire Point

Foot traffic was light Saturday. The snow was powdery and cold, and afforded good turns in the steeps near the stairs. As usual, the trail was best farthest from the trailheads as foot traffic petered out. In total it was good skiing throughout for backcountry users. With Sunday's higher temps, traffic will probably be higher but there were no really thin spots, so skiing should be good until the next warm spell.

Matsell Bridge

The temperature this morning started out at 15 deg F below 0, the wind was mostly non existent, and sun was shining.

There was a group of 6 of us to be the first to ever ski on groomed trails at Matsell Bridge Natural Area.

The grooming was excellent with a well formed and consistently level classic track and smooth skating area. As you can see the classic track was somewhat centered on the groomed area for for most of the trail. This worked fine for us since we were all on classic skis, but I am sure skaters wood prefer a classic track closer to one edge. I will say that there was minimal room to skate if one so desired.

I had never been to this location before, but the rest of the group goes there quite often. I can see why. Part of the timber is made up of pine trees which are rare in Iowa, you could hear the turkeys gobbling in the woods, and last week the group saw three eagles. They all felt that the grooming was a great plus. Thank you Linn County groomers.

Wickiup Hill

Mixed bag at Wickiup today. The good news is there is now enough snow so that all the ice on the trails is covered and you don't need to worry about the base of your skis if you stay alert in the low areas. The skate lane was about 50/50. Half was good and half was still extremely soft. I'm sure it will firm up soon. I didn't ski the classic tracks but from what I could see they seemed to be in EXCELLENT condition.

Pinicon Ridge

What a great feeling to pull into the parking lot and see a ribbon of sparkling corduroy without so much as a leaf on it. This is what Pinicon Ridge looked like this morning. If you have not skied on these trails you are missing out. Beautiful grooming, super wide skate lane and lots of rolling hills with beautiful scenery. Just a comment for the groomers: when enough snow is left on the road crossings so people don't have to take their skis off (like today) it makes all the difference in the world. The skate lane was extremely firm and the classic tracks were so perfect it made you feel bad to ski in them.

Carr Woods, Ames

All the trails were rolled this afternoon, and I managed to get classic tracks laid out over most of the trails. Because the snow is now so deep, I was able to roll a portion of the river trail that was previously ungroomable. Also, I added a couple of alternate routes out along the powerline trail.

Even after rolling, the surface snow is still very light and airy. Skate conditions are pretty poor and will remain so until we do another pass or two, probably tomorrow or Monday. This should help to further compact our newest layer. Also, increasing temps forecasted for next week should help firm things up.

Wiciup Hill

Skate trail was very good. It was soft in some spots but overall everything was in good condition. There were a lot more trails than I expected.

Ashton - Iowa City, 2PM

Ashton - Iowa City; @ 2:00PM Temp - 5, Wind WNW - 9.

Skate lane medium/soft-medium and the speed was about the same. The skate lane needs to be groomed again to work some more air out of the snow. Heavy labor skate skiing today.

Classic track according to Brian D. was gliding rocket fast with good kick. Very good day for traditional skiing and I'll bet the classic folk were getting a little boost from humbling the skaters today - Brett

Lime Creek - Mason City

Ashton - Iowa City Groomed as of 8:30AM

Ashton - Iowa  City; Temp (-7), Wind NW 5-10 mph, skate lane medium soft to medium, classic track(s) new or reset.

At 5:30AM I  groomed the skate lane and cleaned up the tracks. If the skaters will try to wait until after 10:00AM the skate lane should have set up somewhat. Very cold temps speed up the settling process and we should have some decent skiing. It's still going to take another grooming session or two to get the air out of the snow for a firm surface.

Two new classic tracks have been set so get your groove on traditional skiers. I've moved both the skate lane and classic tracks inward. I've been trying to get the classic tracks on some well compressed deep snow and I think I've got what I wanted.

Now if we can keep the walkers, hikers, joggers, runners, snowshoers, and puppy dogs off the groomed ski trails. Seriously folks, help me out here and ask the afore mention parties to do their thing elsewhere as the snow is fleeting - Brett

Lime Creek Conservation Area - Mason City

Approx. 4 inches on cold, dry snow fell Wed PM thru Thurs AM with high NW winds creating drifting and thus grooming challenges. Had to let the wind die down Thurs. All skate trails were leveled and groomed for approx 5 hrs today (Friday). Trails are flat and wide and will be great...but need some time to set up. Finished groom around 3PM. Would be ideal to let set overnight. As usual some skiers took to the trails right away and noted slow post groom conditions. I concur with other entries...got to let it set up ya'll...patience is a virtue. All skate trails on the prairie grass loops have head a classic track set to one side as well.
Unsure with regard to condition of dedicated classic tracks "in the woods."
Todd Juhlin

Twin Pines Golf Course (NE Cedar Rapids)

This afternoon the sun was shinning, the temperature was around 4 deg. F, and the winds were out of the NW at 15 mph. Over the last couple of days CR received around 8" of new snow.

The parks department created two parallel classic tracks that cover a large share of the golf course. There is no groomed skating trail.

Mines of Spain Recreation Area

Trails have been groomed today, Friday, at the Mines of Spain Recreation Area. The Prairie Ridge Trail has both skate and classical skiing and the Cedar Ridge Trail has classical only. total classical trails are five miles. Good snow over the last couple of days. May be some drifting in areas, but otherwise in great condition. Enjoy.


Thanks Wayne

Decorah - Grooming Update

Scott groomed the City Prairie and Luther this morning, and also redid "Dug Road" and the trail along the river. Nothing more will be done until we have additional snow.

MNRA update for weekend

Darren (the old groom boy) is going to groom MNRA tonight. This means there should be a skate lane tomorrow. He will probably not update this blog so, if you ski out there, please comment here and let people know conditions. I will then freshen the trail up Sunday morning. Have fun!

Squaw Creek Park

The grooming equipment will be moved to Squaw Creek Park on Saturday. The trail grooming should be completed by Saturday late afternoon.

Wickiup Hill Natural Area

The trail at Wickiup Hill will be groomed today and should be ready for use by early afternoon assuming no equipment problems.

Morgan Creek Park

The trail at Morgan Creek Park was groomed on Thursday. Some touch up may be needed following the winds last night. The gromming equipment will be at Wickiup Hill today, so any touch up will likely occur late on Friday or early Saturday.

Pinicon Ridge Park Update

The Pinicon Ridge Park ski trail should be groomed by the end of the day on Friday assuming no equipment breakdowns. Following grooming at Pinicon Ridge Park, the grooming equipment will be moved to Squaw Creek Park.

Matsell Bridge Natural Area

Linn County Conservation has started to groom a trail at Matsell Bridge Natural Area north of Viola. The best access is from either the shop parking area or the parking area 1/2 mile north of the shop along Matsell Park Road. The trail should be completely groomed by noon on Friday. Trails in this area have not been groomed in the past, so let us know your ideas and experience in using this area.

MacBride

MNRA was rolled tonight... fat lot of good it's gonna do considering the drifting that's happening as we speak. I will be out of town Friday-Saturday and the usual replacement is out of town too, so it may not get groomed again until Sunday morning.

Story City XC trail now open

The classic ski trail at River Bend Golf Course in Story City is now open. The trail is about
4km (unmeasured), and much of it follows the Skunk River. It's mostly flat, with one gentle
hill. All of the trail is skiable, including the bridge over the Skunk River. The trail is groomed by
volunteers on an as-needed basis. The trail starts at the club house on Forest Ave, just a block north of Broad St. It's a nice
warm-up or cool-down from the trail at Carr Woods in Ames.

For information: Jay Newell newelljj@iastate.edu

Ski Grooming Update in Decorah

Scott was out grooming this morning and did all the trails with the exception of Luther and the City Prairie. With the wind picking up and blowing things around, it was deemed a lost cause to do anything more until it dies down. He will be out again tomorrow or Saturday.

MNRA (MacBride) - Iowa City/North Liberty

MNRA - Iowa City - 1-3:30PM, temp 6, wind WNW-5mph, snow - firm & fast in the sun with a touch of drag in the shade. MNRA is in good shape right now and should remain so for another day unitl the next snow fall. The skating was excellent as the skate trail hadn't been packed down yet. The Classic lane was gliding well on the downhills and looked to be in decent shape - Brett

Adams Nature Preserve, Sioux City

Adams Nature Preserve, Sioux City

Istvan - drop me a line for posting access please, Brett aeripedis at yahoo.com

From last Wednesday through Sunday morning, we received over 5 more inches of new snow. As a result, we have seen over 40 inches of snow this season and another 5 inches is forecasted starting tonight through Thursday morning. With so much snow on the ground grooming has not only been time consuming, but quite challenging. Even the slightest deviation from the packed trails results in a buried snowmobile. All of the regular trails are now groomed. We intend to groom as much of the River Loop as time permits. As they say, be careful what you wish for - Cody

Mines of Spain Trails

The trails were last groomed on December 30, 2009. Not much good snow to groom. Some areas that are in lower areas have ice built up from rain over Christmas time. Snow is forcast for Wednesday and will hopefully make for better grooming conditions.

We will have a cross country ski clinic on January 17 starting at 1:00 p.m. The clinic will start at Bicycle World in Dubuque for an indoor session. The clinic will resume at the Mines of Spain after the indoor session for outdoor training. You will need to bring your own equipment. Bicycle World does rent skis and boots and poles.

Thanks,Wayne

Jester Park - Des Moines

Made it back out to Jester yesterday (1/3) and the trails had been groomed again last week although I am not sure when. Regardless, the tracks are in very good shape, set well throughout most of the network and very fast. Note that I skied only the lake and golf course loops and stayed out of the trees.

MNRA

By request from many, MNRA was freshened up a bit tonight. I tried not to get into the classic track since setting new ones is impossible in 3 inches of packed snow. Skate lane should be looking better by morning, it was pretty chopped up so I just ran the groomer across a couple times to make it look pretty. Have fun out there.

Big Creek

January 3, 2010 - It was a cold day for skiing today, but not intolerable without wind. The skating lane was groomed earlier and conditions were very good this afternoon. The classic tracks are still hanging in there - best in the Disc Golf and Prairie loops. Watch out for leaves in the Lakeside loop, particularly going downhill (sudden brake engagement)! The bad news is that more leaves came down overnight; the good news is there doesn't appear to be many left on the trees. Another dose of snow this week will help cure that problem.

Twin Pines Golf Course (NE Cedar Rapids)

The sun was shinning, the temperature was around 4 degrees, and the winds were light out of the NW. There was a well established classic track that circled the course and I added some branches.

It was a good afternoon for skiing. The snow was a little crunchy, but skied very nicely. There were a few spots where the wind had thinned out the snow cover and were a little icy, but for the most part I was skiing in tracks that were 2 to 6 inches deep.

Buchanan County

There are several parks in Buchanan County that have cross country trails groomed for classic skiing. These trails are probably not for the serious skier but are very nice for families and beginners. The trail at Fontana Nature Center runs along the lake and does a nice loop through the woods. The trailhead is west of the dam above the lake.

Morgan Creek

The trails had not been touched since our last snowfall but skating was doable and the classic tracks were firm and well established. There should be a good base in place when the next snowfall comes.

Wickiup Hill

Looks like these trails really took a hit from the rains. You can leave your skate skis at home. That being said the classic tracks weren't half bad and there were several people out doing the best they could in spite of the cold temperatures. Hopefully we get a few more inches of snow soon so the groomers can get back out.

MNRA

MNRA was groomed and new tracks set this morning. Tracks are shallow due to snow conditions. Skate lane should be as fast as it can be considering the temps. Have fun.

Big Creek

January 1 - The skating lane was groomed today and conditions were very good for skating. The classic tracks are holding out fairly well - I elected to not attempt resetting them because of the cold, hard packed trail surface. They are generally deep and solid, but showing wear and tear from skier use. Quite a few skiers out today despite the chilly temperature and light wind.

Big Creek/Ames ERV (Carr Woods)

Big Creek (Wednesday during snowfall) was well leaf littered along the lake, but disc golf loops and prairie loop and most of the linking lanes between the two were very clean and wonderful for both skate and classic. don't see any recent posts, but i'm betting you can ski right over those leaves in these temps, if TW hasn't already groomed them all into place, which he may well have done!!!
Ames Carr Woods - man, it is lovely - classic tracks (I skied them yesterday) are just in excellent shape, and the skating (earlier this afternoon) is very good. go forth and enjoy. --

George Wyth trails were groomed yesterday (Thursday). Skating conditions were very good except close to the 218 bridge where snowmobiles had torn up the trail some time during the recent warm weather. Classical tracks appeared to be fairly good as well, with fairly deep tracks.

Peter Northug, for your viewing pleasure

Peter Northug for improving your form - Brett

MNRA (MacBride)

MacBride has not been groomed since our most recent snow. I assume it is still in pretty good shape for skating based on Mondays grooming and the amount of snow we received. I will get out there and freshen it up first thing tomorrow morning. Sorry, holiday festivities took precedence over work. Go enjoy the ski race and Bretts professional grooming at Ashton today.