Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco

We groomed last night.  All trails combed and tracked.  Conditions are very good right now with 2-3" of new snow.  This will be short lived according to the forecast.  Thursday through Sunday temps are predicted to be in the upper 30s to as high as 50 F on Saturday.

Irv Warren Golf Course - Waterloo

The skating lane was regroomed this morning at Irv Warren.   Conditions are a bit slow this afternoon with temperatures hovering around freezing.  Should be great skiing later today and tomorrow morning.

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco

Most trails have been groomed. Did not do River Trail as I thought it was in good shape when I skied today. Posted a few pics. Weather the next three days could be a challenge - low temps next two days and winds tomorrow; a couple of inches of snow for Sunday. If you ski the wooded trails, wind won't be a big problem. See you brave souls on the trails!

Iowa Games

We just haven['t had a good year for snow here in Dubuque.  Unfortunately, there isn't enough snow at Mines of Spain to hold the event tomorrow, which was the rescheduled race date from the original race date of January 30th.  Save your pure fluro powder for next weekend.  We won't be needing any race wax in Dubuque this weekend.

Pilot Knob Ski Race

We ended up with super weather and trails full of snow for our race this weekend.  We had 16 skiers ski through the park starting with a lap on the lake, going up the sledding hill to do four laps on the road, then coming down the sledding hill to finish with another lap on the lake. Total race distance was 27 km.  This was a freestyle race where most used the skate style of skiing but I believe we had four using the classic style.

Thanks to North Iowa Nordic(http://northiowanordic.com/) for donating buffs to the racers.  Thanks to all of the people (local skiers and racers) who brought food to share.  And thanks to all of the racers for giving this race a shot!

For more pictures see our facebook page under "pilot knob ski race".

Jeff

I know that I have extolled the virtues of the ski trails in Cresco many times on this blog but it needs to be said again. Regardless of what you are looking for in a ski experience Prairie Springs has it all. Hills, meadows, rivers and woods, it is all there. So many times these trails have been groomed to perfection with very little to work with. At the present time conditions are perfect and every inch is pristine. It was encouraging today to see many cars in the parking lot. If one of them wasn’t yours, you are missing out. I’m going back again tomorrow!

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco

Skiing was excellent today.  Thought I'd post of couple of pics.  First two are from the Bike Trail (the backbone trail for the system) and the bottom one if from the Campground Trail.

Prairie Springs XC Ski Trails - Cresco

Groomed trails for both classical and skate skiing tonight.  All trails in excellent condition with 8+ inches of new snow.

George Wyth State Park, Waterloo

George Wyth State Park was groomed for skating yesterday.  The surface is relatively firm and fast today.  No classical tracks were set but a number of skiers have started to create a shallow classical track.