Irv Warren / Byrnes Park – Waterloo

 Irv Warren skating lane was regroomed this morning.   The skating was excellent.

 Unfortunately, the classic track was not reset and only about one half of the track around the course has not blown in with snow.

 Hopefully the coming warm up will not ruin all of our snow.

Irv Warren Golf Course/Byrnes Park - Waterloo

 Waterloo Leisure Services regroomed the ski trail at Irv Warren this morning.  The skate lane is in excellent condition other than being a bit slow due to the new snow and cold temperatures.   The classic track was reset as well but unfortunately parts of it have blown in with new snow.

 Overall good skiing.   Thanks to Waterloo Leisure Services for their dedicated grooming.

 Get out and enjoy this weekend before next week’s warm up.

Jan. 18--Morgan Creek, Cedar Rapids

 More night skiing last night...this time with blowing snow. Base is solid but tracks for classic were covered by the blowing snow--this made it a bit more difficult than last week's trip. Still enjoyable! Hopefully the tracks will be regroomed for the weekend.

Just checked the website...looks like they were groomed this morning! Time to get out and ski!

Cedar Rapids: Sac & Fox, Wanatee, Wickiup

I've been out skiing Sac & Fox, Wanatee, and Wickiup in the past week. 

Sac & Fox has a single-wide packed track without any ski tracks in it. That has been overtaken by snowshoers. Portions of the trail have worn-in ski tracks from numerous skiers using the same trail. 

Wanatee was ungroomed. I called Linn County Conservation on Tuesday, and they said the grooming machine is broken for Wanatee and Matsell Bridge. They did not have any estimate on when that would be fixed.

Wickiup had been packed once after the initial snowfall last week, but it was completely drifted over when I skied there on Tuesday. I saw on https://www.skinnyski.com today that it had been tracked this afternoon.  

I continue to post updates almost daily on https://www.skinnyski.com and encourage other local skiers to do the same. It takes 30 seconds to post a quick update from your phone when you get back to your car after a ski.  

If anyone who reads this is located in Linn County and would like to join me in advocating for better and more consistent grooming of our ski trails, you can contact me at ebaertlein at gmail dot com.  

~Betsy Baertlein

Brynes Park/Irv Warren

 A lot of snow at Brynes made for a soft ski, but such great conditions. I believe Waterloo Leisure Services are going to get out and groom/pack tomorrow morning. Get out to Brynes this weekend for some good skiing!

South Side River Trail / George Wyth State Park - Waterloo

Skied the loop of South Side River Trail and George Wyth State Park this afternoon.   Excellent classical track laid down for the entire loop.   As of this afternoon little other traffic so the track was holding up well.  Big thank you to CVAST for their grooming efforts.

 Tomorrow’s temperature is predicted to be in the teens so get out enjoy before it gets colder again.

Morgan Creek--Cedar Rapids

Fantastic ski conditions last night at Morgan Creek. All trails rolled and groomed--in great shape! Wish the temps weren't dropping so much this weekend. Thanks, groomers, for all of your hard work!

 

Irv Warren Golf Course – Waterloo

Skied Irv Warren this afternoon.   We received about an inch of snow overnight and that was worked in as the trail was regroomed, both skate lane and classical track.   The skate lane is still a little soft but overall, in good shape.   The classical track looks to be in good shape too. 

 Overall length of the groomed trail is close to 3 miles.   For those not familiar with the set up at Irv Warren the trail head is next to the Byrnes Park Swimming Pool parking lot, 801 Campbell Ave, Waterloo.

George Wyth State Park, South Side River Trail and Hartman Reserve - Waterloo

 A classical trail was groomed today through George Wyth State Park, South Side River Trail and Hartman Reserve.   Conditions looked very good!   Get out and enjoy!

Brynes Park

 Thanks to the Waterloo Leisure Services for their grooming. Skate trail was firm, but wasn't fast. They did a fantastic job of packing the snow.

New Ski Season (finally)

 Hi Skiers,

 Finally – snow, at least parts of Iowa are getting snow today.   Hopefully your area is one of them.

 As we head into the new ski season just a note to encourage skiers to again post conditions here on the Iowa Ski Blog if you know of a place that has been groomed and the skiing is good.   Thanks to all of the folks that have posted in the past – please continue to do so.

 For those skiers that would like to post on this blog but don’t have access, please send me an email at xc.ski.wloo.cf@gmail.com and I will add you to the list.    Posting on the Iowa Ski Blog is a great way to let a broader audience know that you have skiing in your area.   Getting more skiers to your favorite ski trail is a great way to let your parks people and/or local groomer know that their efforts are worthwhile.

 We welcome posts from all parts of Iowa.