Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco, Iowa

Skating wasn't too bad today. Classic track wasn't real great, but you could get out into the skating lane when they broke down and that worked okay. Temps didn't cool last night, they went up, and the tracks never firmed up. I would say the trails will probably be skiable tomorrow, but the temps are going up on Tuesday, so all bets are off after that.

We are winding things down here. Grooming for a day's worth of skiing at this time of the year isn't the best use of limited resources. Thanks to all of you who came to ski our trails, and thanks to Brett for the time he puts in keeping us all connected! We hope to have some new trails, and some widening and flattening of trails in store for next season.

2011 Berkie results

Click here to see Berkie results for Iowa Skiers.

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco, Iowa

Groomed three trails tonight: Bike Trail, Dry Creek Trail, and Ridge Trail. We received 3-4 inches of new snow today, fluffy stuff that was hard to keep in place. The base had a layer of ice on top, and the two didn't mix very well. However, I think after a few passes with the rejuvenator, there is a skiable surface. The three trails are combed and tracked. If they set up tonight, they should be fairly good for tomorrow. Spring skiing at its finest!

Berkie Participants

The Eppens of Iowa City preparing for the 2011 Berkie.

Union Grove State Park, North of Sioux City

Union Grove State Park

While the snow has disappeared from Adams Nature Preserve, it's still Winter at Union Grove (which is about 35 miles North).  This place holds snow amazingly well and I am guessing there is at least a 4 inch base in most areas (compared to Adams which is limestone and brown grass).  We groomed while it was still below freezing and it took several passes to break up the ice.  However, by the time we were finished we had nearly perfect corduroy.  During our ski the temperature rose from 28 to 46 degrees and we finished up in short sleeves.  We are on the line between snow and rain tomorrow, so it's hard to say how much longer Union Grove will hold up. Cody McCullough

Webster City 5k Trail Modifications

Using this 60 degree weather and 0 % snow cover to advantage, today we made two modifications to the Briggs Woods Five Hills race course to benefit our more novice skiers. Observations of "involuntary snow angel" locations, and word of mouth indicated a need to make the following changes: The downhill at about 2 3/4 k which left hand traversed next to a big white pine has been changed to a right hand flat traverse along the ridge followed by a more gentle straight downhill across the valley to the left. The next uphill has been shortened about 30% with a corresponding 30% shorter downhill on the original track. The net changes leave the course at exactly 5k. Now all we need is cold weather and a foot of new snow!

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City,
02/15/2011 08:56 AM, Trails have not been groomed due to weather conditions being above freezing.  Starting to see patchy snow coverage in areas as expected with such high temps. The Fundraiser is a GO for this Friday, February 18th - snow or no snow.  Should be a great moonlit evening for a hike on the trails and great food, people and conversation!

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco, Iowa

Went skiing tonight after work, not too bad. We have snow, but I don't anticipate grooming anytime soon. As Brett said, it's crust skiing time. If you do go skiing, be careful as the downhills can get scary fast in these conditions. Don't want to break any bones or equipment before the Birkie!

If we get some new snow, I will groom. At this point I don't want to tear up the base. The Bike Trail has the best conditions once you get past the first 100 yards of oak leaves on the trail from the winds Sunday night. I also skied the Upper Meadow and Campground Loops and they were pretty good. The Dry Creek Trail was good, also, but the hill area on the north end is soft and racing poles were going into the trail 8-12" in most places.

If you do hit the trails, I'd leave the best skis and poles at home, not because there's bare ground, but these conditions are hard on equipment, and it's pretty easy to take a fall. I've broken several poles and at least one ski tip doing this kind of skiing.

We have a lot of snow yet, but the next two days don't sound good, so I don't know what things will be like by Friday when the temps are supposed to go down again.

Good, Bad, and Ugly; Johnson Co. (ungroomed)

Well, so much for posting my "last post" for Johnson County on Sunday. Got a chance to go solo today. The missus is still out for the season.

We'll start with the Bad:
Kent Park. Don't bother. It's very, very melted out and muddy. Patchy as heck. Lots of sun and wind exposure, and with this chinook-style wind, that's bad for us skiers.

The Ugly:
Woodpecker Trail. Very wet. If you need to stay on-trail to ski, don't bother going there. If you can handle variable conditions, hop off-trail occasionally, and can turn/stop quickly while rolling downhill, you'll be fine.

The Good:
Tree skiing near the rez and Lake MacBride, off-trail. Corn snow, and still deep enough in most places in the trees to cover the most dangerous deadfall hazards. If you are a beginner BC skier, I don't recommend this. Also, the hill at the rez Visitor Center is in OK shape for those who are hard up for a few laps.
Visitor Center:
Visitor Center:
Tree skiing:
Tree skiing:
Good luck, all. If you are a weekend warrior, sorry, but it'll be hard to say what conditions will be like Saturday. If I get out Friday I'll let you know.

off-state ski adventures

a lot of DEEP snow for the Mora Vassaloppet skaters today, my oh my, but the sun shone and crowd is super friendly - lovely day if a bit scary of temps (all time high of 45? for that race). This is a really nice scene and if you haven't done it you should give it shot. I'm smiling!!!

hey all you site surfers -- Please keep us posted if anyone finds any regional spots that are doing a good job of holding onto snow --

Last Johnson Co./SE Iowa BC report

Like the MNRA report below indicated, the goods are rapidly shrinking. Get them while it's still OK. Waxless skis are going to be in vogue for a few days. Anything with traditional walker traffic in this area is stomped out. Create your own lines at Kent Park or get creative at the rez for Johnson Co. BC action. The Washington Co. stuff is still going to hold out for a while as people down there don't walk or exercise. Pick an out-of-the-way park and go for it. Beware the Iowa, Skunk, and English Rivers with these temps and groundwater flow. I'd keep off them.

Even with more snow, this is probably the last BC report for my region. My ski partner, Mrs. C.T., blew an ACL and/or MCL yesterday while skiing. Going to put the storage wax on her stuff this week. Sad day in the C.T. house. Send +++vibes+++ her way. She's a hell of an explorer and a fun skier.

Good luck in the woods, all. And remember, "when it's time to use klister, it's time to go fishing."

Later
CTK

MNRA/Weather

MNRA was groomed this morning, I'll get up and check the weather in the morning but don't count on any further grooming unless temps are below 27. Meanwhile, go out and ski, the snow may not last and we won't be able to rehab it after this warm-up anyway (unless we get some more).

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco, Iowa

Tracked and packed most loops late afternoon, early evening today. Conditions are very good to excellent. Did not redo River Loop and Nature Center Loop, but I skied them today and they are quite good. Everything else was re-groomed.

A couple of notes for skiers on things I have encountered this last week. First, had some novice skiers that got onto a trail that was over their abilities. They took off their skis (a good thing) but they walked out down the middle of the skating lane (not a good thing). There were several of them, so there was some significant chewing up of the skate lane.

If you get in over your head, take your skis off and walk somewhere on the side of the skate lane or outside the diagonal track - somewhere it won't damage the trail surface for others.

The second issue is dogs on the trail. We have a dog, and he loves to go for walks and/or a run. My wife takes him every day, but not on the ski trails. You just can't predict how a dog is going to react when someone comes around the corner and surprises the dog. Skis don't make a lot of noise, I have been able to ski right up to several deer and they didn't know I was there.

We don't want dogs hurt, and we don't want skiers hurt. Also, from a grooming standpoint, when I have just put down a classical track, it isn't very solid. I want it to set up over night and then it can take some abuse and last for quite awhile. That's why I do most of my grooming late in the day and at night. No traffic.

Tonight as I was finishing up, someone was skiing with a headlamp. They had their dog with them, a very nice and friendly dog who was having a great deal of fun running - a lot of it on the classical track - and just that one dog on a track that wasn't set up, did a huge amount of damage.

Please be considerate of others and think about how your actions may cause an unsafe condition on the trail. Have fun, ski hard, enjoy it while you can, spring is just around the corner.

Nordic Wisc Trails - Reforestation Camp & Greenbush

Awesome skiing on manicured trails undamaged by foot traffic!! I skied with a seasoned 60 year old who was dropping me on the big climbs on the Greenbush trails. Monster hills there. He said he had 800 miles in this year! The Reinforestation Camp in Greenbay was more of the same minus the monster hills. Both places kickass.

Nordic Wisc Greenbush

Nordic Wisc Style

Well yeah they got it goin on up dar ey!!!

Matsell Bridge Natural Area

Trails were groomed today at Matsell Bridge Natural Area.

As a reminder, you will want to park in the parking lot that is (3/4 miles) north of the Maintenance Shop. There are some logging activities going on near the equestrian camping area and access will be limited for skiers in that area. Some trails were not groomed because of activity on them from the logging company. However, there are several miles of trails that are still groomed.

Trails were also groomed at Pinicon Ridge Park in Central City this week and it appears no one has been on them yet.

Enjoy the weekend!

Aaron Batchelder
Wapsipinicon District Resource Manager
Linn County Conservation Department

Beat the thaw at Webster City!

Skiers who get out early this weekend should be rewarded with good to excellent trail conditions. Grooming of the 5k Five Hills race course and all sections of the Woodland Loop trail was completed while the temperatures were in the mid twenties. The Race course is hard packed powder with no ice. It is double wide and has a refreshed classic track laid. As of noon today there were only three small thin spots on the course. The Woodland loop is fast, with a good base. Since it is shaded it should hold up well. Grooming will not be performed during the thaw, but will resume with the proper conditions. Birky practice on the Five Hills course should be great. Please post a comment if you try it. Thanks, Pete.

Ashton - Iowa City

Ashton - Iowa City 9 AM
Classic tracks reset and have set up/frozen so ready to go. Skate lane was finished around 9AM so should be getting optimal around 10:30AM.

Please keep me posted via comments regarding wear and tear on Ashton through Saturday. I'm considering getting back out Saturday night as that might be the last grooming with pending temps on the rise. Sorry for not getting out and grooming sooner folks, wrenched my back the other day so I wasn't able to pick up the groomer and hook it to the back of the snowmobile.  Brett

Big Creek - Polk City

Tom was out grooming Thursday evening when I left. This morning at 5:30 I went out to check on the fruits of his labor and the skate lane was awesome. It is very, very hard but Tom was able to scratch a really nice lane. There is great coverage everywhere (a little prairie grass poking through on the Prairie Loop) and it was fast. Oh, and it never hurts to be the first one to ski a freshly groomed and setup trail (yes I'm gloating).


He decided against trying to do anything with the classic track but I made a loop on it as well and it's in pretty good shape. There is some ice, the corners are un-tracked and the big transition from the Disc Golf Loop to Lakeside Loop is its usual hairy adventure but 70% of the track is good, abeit mostly shallow. I tried to use the same kick wax as the night before (Swix V30 covered with V40) but with temps just a few degrees warmer this AM I had to change so I tried V45 and no go. Went back down to V40 and BINGO near perfect kick. One of the first pieces of advice I received when I bought waxable skis was this; if your kick isn't exactly what you want, STOP and change your wax. It only takes a couple of minutes to make a change and it could turn an otherwise so so ski into a great one. Never settle. Now I never leave the parking lot without at least 2 waxes and a cork in my pocket and this morning proves they are words well heeded.


Get out and enjoy before the warm up takes our snow away!

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco, Iowa

Amazingly, the trails are in fairly good shape even though they haven't been groomed since last Friday. I skied after work today, and it wasn't bad; not very aesthetically pleasing, lots of little deer hoof prints, but certainly okay.

The Ranger is in for repair - hopefully, the electrical issue we've been dealing with for the last two weeks will be fixed and I'll be grooming at some point tomorrow. If I do get it back, I will post conditions by midnight so you know for the weekend.

Maffitt Reservoir

Sorry for the late post, but in case you haven't been out there it is groomed and it is wonderful.

Linn County Conservation Department trails

Pinicon Ridge Park was groomed today with moderate success. The traditional ski tracks were layed and are in good shape but the skate trails are in fair to good condition. At the time of grooming, the teeth on the groomer were not working and could not bite into the snow so there are some ruts in the skating trail left from tracks of the pulling unit.

Matsell Bridge - we moved grooming equipment from Pinicon Ridge Park to Matsell and started this afternoon. We are going to get assistance from the staff at Morgan Creek Park with their grooming equipment tomorrow so we should have two groomers going. As a reminder, there are some logging/forestry activites going on in the south section of the ski trails. It is best to access the parking lot that is 3/4 miles north of the maintenance shop/park ranger residence. We hope to have Matsell Bridge completed by Friday afternoon. With eight miles of trails at MBN it takes some time to get them completed!

Squaw Creek has been groomed and I believe the staff from Morgan Creek Park were going to touch up the trails today they take care of at Morgan Creek Park and Wickiup Hill Outdoor Learning Area.

We will keep you updated as grooming in areas are completed.

Aaron Batchelder
Wapsipinicon District Park Ranger
Linn County Conservation Department

Ames - Carr Woods/ERVP

Ames skiers rejoice! The snowmobile has been repaired and despite the cold temps, 100% of the trails are now back into shape. I rolled and groomed all trails last night and set plenty of classic track on both sides of the trails, so hopefully the skaters will be able to finally have a good lane to ski. Thanks for all your patience while the snowmobile was out of commission, Ames skiers. I will do my best to keep things freshened up out there, just keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't warm up too much this weekend.

Pilot Knob State Park

Also from North Iowa Nordic. For those of you that don't know, NIN grooms Pilot Knob each week on Friday night or early Saturday morning in hopes of providing trail access in the park. While I've not been there I've spoken with several who have and their report is that it is beautiful. On a down note, they only groom the one time each week because the snowmobiles ruin the trail leading into the park almost immediately after they are groomed and the groomers simply get tired if seeing their hard work destroyed. Once inside the park the trails are ok but it's the road in the machines tear up.

Go and enjoy, and please let the folks at North Iowa know you are in support of their efforts.

Lime Creek - Mason City

An update from the North Iowa Nordic Club, Lime Creek received what sounds like a significant amount of snow over the weekend. It was light & dry, consquently the groomers had a bit of trouble working it into the trails. They evidently have had success and word is the trails should be set up perfectly today.

EAst River Valley - Carr Woods Ames

skaters ho! we have a repaired groomer AND we have Todd out on the trial tonight as dark approached. he was just getting started and determined to finish, but it's darn cold and it's going to be quite a job to get the trail back into shape. It's in pretty rough shape for skating, but you can still classic. Updates forthcoming! and BIG HUGE THANKS to Todd!!

MNRA - 4 pm - North Liberty, IA - Wednesday 2/9/11

MNRA is freshly groomed throughout with a new classic track laid. Enjoy.

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City

02/09/11 - 10:09 AM, Skate lanes have been groomed at Adam's Homestead and Nature Preserve.

Ashton - Iowa City 12PM

Ashton - Iowa City is groomed along with the bike path. I did fill in the pit of despair on top of the east side hill. However and in the same place, I was having turning issues which resulted in a classic groove goof up. In other words I wanted to go one way and the sled went another. The classic groove will get reset as soon as possible. Go SKI please.  Brett

Lime Creek

skated at LIme Creek today, it had not been rolled so I got in a rather good workout with 1-2 inch snow cover! suppose that everyone is off to various races?! they do still have great snow cover there, though.

2011 City of Lakes Loppet results

Some results from the 2011 City of Lakes Loppet
25K classic; Kim Eppen, Iowa City, 6th women overall
25K classic; Brian Eppen, Iowa City, 14th men overall
33K freestyle; Anders Osthus, Des Moines, 35th men overall

Congrats to all who finished!
More results listed here;
http://www.mtecresults.com/race/show/245

MNRA

MNRA was groomed and tracked and looked stellar at 9:00 this morning. By 11 the parking lot was full and cars were lined up quite a ways down the road and the trails were beat to hell. still great though. Have fun.

ideal classicking at Wyth!

I'm no fool and with an inch of new sugar this a.m. I pulled out the skinny long boards and had a go on the swix purple kick wax left over from last weekend. Perfect! Great glide and kick. Great to see lots of Cedar Fallopians out there. But tracks may get icy fast with all the traffic and warm temps. Still, get out there, and classic over skate- that looked slow.

Wickiup - Cedar Rapids

Wickiup - Cedar Rapids
Classic lane had a touch of snow in it but was holding up with little to medium traffic. Skate lane looked to be groomed here and there and the hills had been rolled. Some easy skiing and some tough skiing where not worked.  Brett

East River Valley -Carr Woods, Ames

I have verified with my own eyes, and it's a sad sad sight with all that fine white shoe dappled snow on the trail area, but here the update: ....skier set, classic only.....
It's very white. very beautiful. I suppose if one was Very Determined and into a HighStepWorkout, and hopefully had a number of like minded Determined Skaters with you, we could start skating it down. ......... long pause.....however, my inclination is to explore all the excellent trails that valiant groomers are keeping corded for us!

Brinton Timber, Washington Co. (ungroomed)

I defy you to find better single-track classic sking in SE Iowa right now. Broke all trails today in virgin snow of the best quality. Any ski is now usable here. This is a hidden gem, so very few if any walkers will be out there anytime soon. If no readers of this report go out there, it will probably be as I left it next week when I go again.
Trailhead:
Fantastic soul skiing. This is not for those who like tights and want to just cardio themselves into a lather going in circles--those folks can stay at Ashton. This is for the classic skier wanting excellent glide, rolling hills, and a wonderful nature experience. If your order of priorities are 1. To Be Sublimely in the Woods, 2. To Have Fun, 3. To Get Some Exercise, this is for you.
Skunk River:
There are several loops of trails that range from riverside bottomland to hardwood blufftops to creek-carved valleys. Tracks today included coyote, bobcat (sorry, real bobcat, not cougar), turkey, deer, rabbit, possum, coon, mouse, and raptor. Woodpeckers of all sorts and songbirds abound. Also barred owls, who were curious about two bipeds in the winter woods and came by for a look. Big suckers. Eagles hang over the Skunk River.
Barred owl track where a rabbit met its end:
Directions: HWY 1 south to Brighton, keep right on HWY 1 through town. About a mile west of Brighton is Fir Ave. Turn right. When the road ends in 3.5 mi., you're there.

Yeah Cresco!

Prairie trails at Cresco were fantastic. Mark added another loop, and it's a great addition! I skied for over 2 hours and didn't get bored. How could you, with such a beautiful day, temperatures mild, sun, and beautiful hills through prairie, forest, and creek? Only question is--why was I the only skater out there besides Mark? Only saw a couple other classickers too. If you love skiin' you gotta try these trails! Thanks again for an awesome job grooming--the 13 hour shift (!!) is much appreciated!!

Ashton - Iowa City AM

Ashton - Iowa City in the AM
Classic groove was gliding fast and plenty of kick if waxed right. The channels are holding up to traffic so far. Skating lane was gliding fine with a touch of pole break through here and there. Grooming on hold until after snow fall ends.  Brett

saturday at Big Creek

tom on top of the grooming, and generally good conditions overall for both skate and classic. Lovely day!!! There are a few places where we've got a bit of icey pack where wind scrubbed away all the fine snow, but they are few and far between. SMILING!!!!

Morgan Creek Park - Cedar Rapids

Skied Morgan Creek today and found the overall conditions pretty good. There is about a third of a mile stretch on the prairie loop that is very thin where the wind scoured the snow off. Still ski-able but be careful if you have your good skis. The two smaller loops are in good shape.

Larry Howe

MNRA Groomed

Cabel worked the Bluebird skate and classic all day yesterday. Difficult loops were groomed and tracked this morning. Condiitons are OK but will get better with a couple more groomings to take out drifts. Have fun!

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco, Iowa

It's 11:26 p.m. and I just got in. Started at 10:30 a.m. I have been grooming for 30 years in NE Iowa and I have never seen snow depth like this!

Everything is packed and tracked. Get here fast and enjoy it, we are supposed to get more tomorrow late afternoon.

I never thought I would say I'm sick of seeing snowfall, but I am just about ready.

See you on the trails!

Story City Cross Country Ski Trail

Story City Cross Country Ski Trail has been groomed (thanks, Evan). The trail is at Riverbend Golf Course on Forest Ave, just off Broad St. Come on out and enjoy the weather and the view.

Woodpecker/Squire = broken (Johnson County)

Get out early Saturday to take advantage of best conditions. Broke trail around entire loop. Tried to stay distinguished from walker trail, but you know folks will walk in it anyway. Walker path could be okay for skiing if you can handle busted crud. All the major downhills are very slow in the deep stuff. Staying in track or on walker trail will get you speed if you need it. Bless the heart of one skier with very skinny skis who tried to break his own way before I had a chance to lay the fat planks down. He made it farther than I expected, but not all the way around. The Woodpecker side near the lake is heavily drifted and has sastrugi. The Squire side is softer with sections of loose powder.

MInes of Spain Ski Races, Winter Games

We had good conditions for the Winter Games in Dubuque. Mines of Spain hosted the Cross Country Ski Races again this year.

36 entrants for the free style 10+ K race

29 entrants for the traditional 8+ K race

Here are the results. If you know any of these skiers, please congratulate them We had one skier from Germany, via Chicago. He is here short term.

Results of 2011 Iowa Winter Games Cross Country Ski Races.
Ideal conditions greeted Iowa skiers for a change. Plenty of snow, ideal weather, and great grooming. Thanks everyone for all your help.

Mines of Spain

TheDubuque area was able to keep 13 inches of the snow this past week. Hope we left some for the rest of you.

We groomed trails yesterday and today, Friday. Not good conditions to groom. We had some 5-6 foot drifts on the trails. Unfortunately we were not able to groom all the trails that we normally do.

The CedarRidge Trail was groome for traditional only.
The Prairie RidgeTrail was impassable. No grooming was completed.
We did put a free style lap in from the parking lot out to the over look on the Cedar Ridge. Take left as you would to go to the Prairie Ridge trail. Cross the bridge and take a left back to the parking lot. Not a long trail, but for those that free style it will give you a good short lap. Hope you enjoy the snow.

As a reminder- snow shoers and hikers please do not walk on the groomed trails. It is hard on them.

Skiers if you see someone hiking on the ski trails, please, politely ask them to hike one of the other 15 miles of trail or go cross country. THere is a sign at the start of the ski trails advising to not hike on ski trails.

Thanks and enjoy the snow. Wayne

Linn County Conservation Department trails

Wickiup Hill and Morgan Creek Park trails have been groomed and would be the best place for skiing currently.

Unfortunately, our tow unit that we use at Matsell Bridge Natural Area and Pinicon Ridge Park has broken down again while rolling the trails (at Matsell Bridge) yesterday. The earliest it will be fixed is sometime early next week. The majority of the trails are rolled at Matsell Bridge but not groomed so we apologize for the poor trail conditions. Also to let you know there will be some forestry activities starting there soon so some of the roads have been plowed. These areas will not be groomed while the forestry activities progress at Matsell Bridge Natural Area.

Squaw Creek Park plans to start grooming their trails on Monday.

We hope to have all trails groomed next week in all areas.

Aaron Batchelder
Wapsipinicon District Park Ranger
Linn County Conservation Department

Ames Carr Woods/ERVP

Ames Skiers: the report from the City regarding the snowmobile repair is that the recent storm has affected deliveries and Ames Powersports still has not received the replacement gas tank. As a result, grooming by the weekend at Carr Woods is not likely. They received Monday's expected delivery yesterday, so he thought Saturday at the earliest for delivery and the better part of a day for installation. Sorry for the delay and thanks for your patience. I will be out there to groom as soon as I can.

Birkie Car Pool

Anyone up for carpooling to the Birkebeiner? Look to the right and head over to the Forum - Discussion page for details.

Decorah Trails

After the snowing and blowing, all trails in Decorah are packed and tracked. I skied one of the newly packed classical tracks last night at sunset. It was beautiful.

Adams Nature Preserve - Sioux City 2/3

Adams Nature Preserve, Sioux City  08:06 PM
Adam's is freshly groomed.  All the classic tracks are set and the trails are in great shape!  The plan is to re-groom Saturday night.

Snow fall totals around Iowa

Not official but I keep hearing figures of 14-15 inches of snow fall around Iowa City and a bit more up in Cedar Rapids. 7-9 inches in Des Moines.

The snow map is showing the usual suspects, Mason City, Cresco, and Decorah getting plenty more snow. Dubuque and Davenport got smacked, too bad no grooming is going on around the QC area.

MNRA

Cabel spent the day at MacBride grooming. He made several passes on the skate loop and it is beginning to shape-up. I worked the difficult loops tonight but there is still much work to be done. Drifts have caused some sections to look like flat mogul runs but we will work them out over the next few days. We recieved enough snow to widen the classic-only trail from the Sailing Club to the two-way section, so, feel free to skate it. Tracks will be set by Saturday morning. Beware grooves, moguls and the places we lost control of the sled and created new trails.

Big Creek trail

Thursday, Feb. 3 - The trail probably received about 7 inches of snow from the storm - it was definitely not evenly distributed. The entire trail system was groomed tonight. Overall, it is in pretty good shape considering this snow was delivered with a lot of wind. The skate lane will be a little soft at first, but should improve with time and additional grooming. A new classic track was set and it is mostly very good except for where it plows through drifts and short, windswept stretches. You will encounter several 1-2' drifts on the trail that could not be leveled out - think of them as moguls or speed bumps. Have fun!

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco, Iowa

The plan is to start grooming between 10 and 11 tomorrow morning (Friday). The wind was still too strong tonight. As Brett said on Wed., it's going to take quite a bit of time and weight to get all the snow packed to a good solid base. I'm sure it will be later Friday afternoon before the skating lanes are packed decently. I will lay the diagonal track last so it will get as little use as possible on Friday and have time to set up well for the weekend.

I did post a new, two page map. Use the Maps to Iowa XC Ski Trails link on the upper right to access it or you can use get it from the Howard County Trails page. I will update trail conditions tomorrow night.

Ashton - Iowa City, 6PM

Ashton - Iowa City, is groomed.
I got out around 8:30AM and finished off the day about 5:30PM.
The skate lane could be a bit soft, I worked all areas multiple times today so we could have some pretty good snow and quickly. Two classic tracks have been put down and I think Matias was flying around in the outside lane 1/2 hour after grooming so the groove looks to be on. Go ski, have fun, and thanks for keeping off the trails today. Brett

Maffitt Reservoir Update - Snowmobile in the Shop

Per JJ: Maffit update: our snowmobile is in the shop this week with an electric issue ... we hope to have it picked up by tomorrow. As the core Maffit group will be up in the Twin Cities racing the City of Lakes Loppet this weekend, we hope to start grooming the prairie area Monday.

Linn County Link

http://linncountytrails.org/maps/find-a-trail/groomed-cross-country-ski-trails/

Linn County Trails

Updates on Linn Co status pending. Should be groomed by tomorrow.

Grooming after big snow falls

Anxious to ski, aren't we all???

Please be patient with the grooming after a big snow event. New snow grooming is all about compressing the snow by squeezing the air out of it. So more snow equals more needed squeezing or in our case rolling and grooming.

The other part of grooming is allowing the trail to rest, set up, or freeze after grooming. Grooming breaks down the snow structure to compress the snow and clean up the surface. Once groomed and depending upon temp, the snow firms up (refreezes). Gravity helps with the compression and aids in the set up process also.


If you see or hear the groomer out working go home or go break some trail. The snow will be soft and slow and you'll leave snow scars that take time to clean up.
This includes the classic track(s) as you'll bottom out and tear up the groove. Being snow is cold 2-4 hours is a good rule of thumb for set up time, colder = quicker, warmer = slower.

Again be patient as your groomers will do their best to get you skiing but you need to help out as well.  Brett

Racing Events

Hey y'all--City of Lakes Loppet, Mora Vasaloppet, Birkie of course, but there are other little races too--I found this one Feb 19-20 in Madison, which might be worthwhile for some folks. http://www.winter-fest.com/site_pages/Participate/register.html
Also check out http://www.skinnyski.com/racing/calendar.asp
Shred snow!

Sioux City area, Union Grove and Adams Nature preserve

Trail updates 2/2/11, 9:46 AM
Union Grove was groomed 2/1 and the main trail on the road
was reported as good,  watch out for exposed patches on the lower road as the
wind blew off some snow. 

Adams was rolled yesterday to pack in the soft light snow, and
is being groomed this morning.  The trails Should be ok to ski by early
afternoon.   With the cold temps the snow can set up pretty quickly.   

See you on the trails!

Check over trail maps please

Heavy duty skiing folk, help me out please. Go to the Maps page on the Update, there is a link on the upper right. Please look at your favorite ski trail and let me know if the map to the trail head is spot on. Is there another map of the area showing the actual trail, so on and so forth.  Brett

Macbride Nature Recreation Area

The Macbride Nature Recreation Area is currently closed. Roads leading to the park have not been cleared and the park road is currently drifted in. We are not planning to open the park today. With this much snow it will take a few good passes to get a real nice base and classic tracks set. Please continue to watch the blog for park, trail and snow condition updates.

Thanks, be safe and enjoy the snow!
Rob

Benton Street (Iowa City)

Mrs. C.T. has had this one on her tic list since we moved to Iowa City in 2009. I told her then that it would have to be a nighttime snowstorm, deep, and intense enough that the city pulled the plows for the night. Well, tonight's the night, folks.
With the snow falling hard and blowing deep on south-facing aspects, getting to and along Benton Street on skis was a breeze. We did much better than 2WD cars tonight, as the city appeared to have pulled their plows well before our 8:45 p.m. start time. Snow in the center of the intersection of Sunset and Benton was about as tall as the gearbox of a Chevy Celebrity (I can't believe something like that's still running at all). It was easily deeper than the bumper of a PT Cruiser. This is in the street, mind you. South-facing aspects off-street drifted to knee deep with wide skis on. It was a good evening for gaiters.

The Benton Street hill down to the river wasn't nearly as exciting as either of us had hoped. The snow was deep enough that you could not generate any big-time speed to power turns with. However, you could slowly cut semi-elegant turns across the fall line (which coincides with about the center line of the street itself) down to about Miller Street. Watch out for cars if you're in the middle of the road. You can lap this hill until you get bored or chased off by cops, then ski home. Hope you enjoy breaking trail, though, because with this wind, the trail you broke to get to the Benton hill is gone by the time you're done with your laps. Poof! Like you never were there.
Anybody who thinks this sounds like a good idea needs to either go out now or get up dang early and go tomorrow. If it's too late for you and they plow the street, you might give the sidewalk area a try. Until folks really get after their driveways on the north side of the street, that sidewalk and parkway is an easy go. It's very slow, though, because it's really, really deep there.

Decorah

All of the trails in Decorah, except Luther College, have been packed and tracked. The wind is blowing snow back into the tracks pretty quickly.

Scott will go over it again as soon as the winds die down. They are predicting more snow tonight and more wind tomorrow, so it might be Thursday before he gets out there again.

SE Iowa general area

Good news out of Andalusia, Ill., if you look at the news the right way.

Ski Snowstar announced today that it will close at 4 p.m. this afternoon and remain closed until noon on Thursday.

Bad news: The hill's closed.
Good News: A snowstorm good enough to close a ski hill (even in Illinois) is certainbly something to look forward to.

For those who like to explore new places on skis, SE Iowa will look good at the end of this week. Lake Darling near Brighton will be very nice, I'm sure. Lacey-Keosaqua down on the Des Moines River might be awesome, too. These are places that are almost impossible to ski in normal years, I've been lead to believe. I've skied Darling in decent conditions. It's a peach. Keosaqua's got superb hiking trails that I've never skied, but that I've dreamed of skiing.

All of Washington County's parks should be good to go after tomorrow. I've skied every trail in this county and can vouch for all of them. They are nicer than Johnson County's parks. Brinton Timber, Clemons Creek, and Sockum Ridge are all great, but might be too steep or too tight for some. The Kewash Nature Trail is great for mostly flat skiing. You can ski 13 miles from Washington to Keota and have a beer at The Roost Tavern before your return trip or to wait for a pick-up from your driver. Or go halfway and turn around in West Chester after a warm-up at the gas station there. None of these trails or parks listed in this post are groomed to my knowledge.

Yeah, blizzard!

Lime Creek Conservation Area (Limey), Mason City

We've had blowing snow last 24 hours.

Limey woodland trails and Wilkinson Park in Rock Falls, IA had a classic track set on Monday. In all likelihood it has blown in.

Limey was rolled Monday evening. Forecast is for STRONG winds and some snow Tues and STRONG winds Wed. Hope is to roll and level trails Tuesday PM. And then roll and groom trails on Wed. Will not set classic track on prairie loops until winds calm.

That's all...
Todd Juhlin, NIN

New Trail UP and nearly online in Coon Rapids

Heads Up Ski Folk! A new trail is up and grooming and soon online. It is in Coon Rapids IA so look for conditions soon if you are around that area. I believe for starters they will be grooming classic only but with the growth of the sport in both disciplines you might see some skating trails come along quickly.  Brett