Nordic ski, snowshoe, & fatbike race in Coralville Feb. 14th

Don't miss your chance to sign up for the Brown Deer Bone-Chiller,  a ski race happening at the Brown Deer Golf Club, in Coralville IA,  February 14th!

Events in Fat Bike, Classic Cross Country Skate Ski, and Snow Shoe! The Brown Deer Bone-Chiller will be another hilly, but scenic race venue. The race courses will lead you up, down and around the beautiful Brown Deer Golf Club.  In case of cancellation due to inclement weather, the reschedule date will be Feb 28th, 2015. 

Main website:  http://oneraceevents.com/snowdown-showdown-series/

Registration: https://secure.getmeregistered.com/get_information.php?event_id=11964

Webster City Briggs Woods Woodland Loop Groomed and Tracked

Monday afternoon we groomed the Woodland Loop, and a practice 200 yard loop by the Red Barn. The snow is from 5 to 7" deep. You can park by the Lake, or drive around to  shelter #2 and enter the woods by the outhouses. Access the practice loop by driving to the Red Barn.

Irv Warren Golf Course - Waterloo

Skied Irv Warren Golf Course yesterday (Saturday).     The groomers packed a 4 km skating lane (but no classical tracks) doing a good job considering the minimal snow cover.   There are a few spot on the loop where the wind blew off all the loose snow.   In those spots there is just enough snow encrusted with the grass to be able to ski across.  The west half of the course is excellent skating.

The attached picture shows the groomed trail.

Linn County

Kudos to the Linn County groomers! Headed south to ski at Wickiup on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised at both the skate and classic conditions. There wasn't much to work with so you have to be grateful for the skill of the groomers. Let's hope for more snow soon.

Big creek

The disc golf loop was re groomed Friday night (thanks Scott) resulting in a firm base and a very good ski today. Will give it a touch up tomorrow AM and hope to have another. The depth is too inconsistent to set a continuous track, but might try some partial stretches.

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco

We rolled trails today. I would say that there was a fairly consistent 4" of snow. All trails were rolled, but anything in the woods does not have enough depth to be skiable. We combed three that we felt were the best.

There are three trails that I think will be in pretty good shape if they set up solid tonight. The Bike Trail (1.65 miles out and back), the Campground Road and Campground Loop (.75 miles out and back). Here's a map showing those trails. The Campground trail is four lanes wide and a good climb so if you are training, it's a good workout.

Brown Deer, Coralville

We will not be grooming Brown Deer this weekend per the course being wind blown and lack of snow depth.

Pilot Knob Road Forest City

The road at Pilot Knob State Park has been groomed this morning for both skating and classic skiing.  The Lodge and Majopa have been groomed for skating.  The golf course has had too much snow blow away for decent grooming or skiing.

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco

We will be packing trails late Saturday morning (January 10). We have four to six inches of snow, but have had major blowing this week. We believe that we will be able to open some trails for skiing, but we won't know for sure which ones and how many K until we are done. There is not enough depth to set tracks, only packed surfaces will be available. I will post conditions after we finish tomorrow.

Also, we just received a new Ginzugroomer and Tracksetter by YTS so we are looking forward to great trails once we get some decent snow depth.

Mines of Spain

Parrish got the trails rolled this afternoon.  He says there are a few spots with grass showing through, but its ready for skating.

Linn County Parks Update

Morgan Creek has been rolled and groomed.

Wickiup has been rolled, is being groomed currently.

Pinicon Ridge and Matsell were rolled, but will not be groomed due to poor snow conditions.

Big Creek

The disc golf loop has been groomed. The snow was surprisingly fluffy and packed considerably. There was not enough base to set a track at this point, but I will re assess after it sets. Will try to do more of the trail before the weekend.   -Kevin

Brown Deer in Coralville

ICNC (Iowa City Nordic Club), a newly formed club, with help of numerous contributors, has recently purchased a snowmobile and groomer.  We will be grooming Brown Deer Golf Course in Coralville.  The course was recently groomed for skate and a track for classic.  The recent snow was very fluffy, so the condition is a soft deck and thin classic tracks.  Hopefully with the cold weather the deck will firm up and make for some good skiing this weekend.  Please be patient with us, as not only are we working with new trails and equipment, but we also have lots of rookie groomers.  Learning curve is in effect.  Cheers and enjoy!

http://www.coralville.org/index.aspx?NID=510

 

Webster City received 6" will groom on Thursday

Not having a cab on our groomer means that we need a little less wind, and/or slightly warmer to groom, but the plan is to have the Briggs Woods Woodland Loop done by Thursday. Hopefully we can put in one classic track on the 5k course too. I will update as soon as we groom.

MacBride Nature Rec Area

MacBride Ski trails were groomed and tracked this morning.  The skate deck is quite soft due to the dry snow, hopefully cold temps tonight and tomorrow will help firm things up.  The classic track is set but lack of snow depth left a track that is thin in a number of places.

Extensive brush clearing was done at MacBride over the summer and despite the best efforts from the trail crew not all of the branches, sticks, and debris are 100% off the trail.  With another few inches of snow this will not matter at all but as of now be cautious of stray sticks, especially in the classic tracks.

Ashton Rolled

Ashton, Iowa City has been rolled in the AM
The snow deck has had some time to set up and is skate worthy.
Thanks for Greg Duethman for braving the cold this AM.

New Year's day ski. Forest City.

The lake at Pilot Knob State Park near Forest City has been rolled.  It is a very thin layer of snow but was surprisingly firm with good adhesion to the ice.  It made for some good skating conditions today.  We are looking forward to more snow anytime soon!