Trail groomers were busy early Thursday morning after several inches of snow coated much of the Northwoods.
But the sticky snow and warm temperatures posed challenges.
“It definitely slows us down,” says Erin Blow, the operations manager with Minocqua Winter Park. “Groomers were out reporting lots of trees down in the park. They had to stop quite a bit, so it does slow down the process of grooming.”
Blow says the snow came just in time for the park’s opening weekend. She anticipates classic ski tracks will be set soon as temperatures drop.
Snowmobile trails, on the other hand, still have a while to go.
Those trails largely remain closed in the area.
Lori Rogney, with the Northwoods Passage Snowmobile Club in Tomahawk, says the recent snow will offer a solid base to area trails, but it’s just a start.
“We’re really looking forward to the start of a good season if we can get some more snow on top of this,” she says.
Groomers are clearing snowmobile trails now, but Rogney says consistently cold temperatures and an additional layer of snow will be needed for them to open this season.