[XC] Blue Mound ski

[Don Fariss]

XC Die-hards,   Am writing to inform & brag, not to entice.   Karl Heil may be the only man in Wisconsin with his own glacier albeit long & skinny. And I may have been the last person to ski on it at Blue Mound this season. I skied yesterday in 35 degree temps.   Had to hop from patch to patch portaging over mud & gravel to the bottom of the hill below the parking lot at the pool, but from then on both John Minx and Willow Springs trails in the woods were 98% covered. Covered mostly with a clear looking material (ice) that was rotten enough on top to be rough and warm enough to be soft enough to get purchase with no-wax skis. About 25% of the time there was actual white, skiable snow along the edges.   A very strange experience to ski on this thin ribbon with only patches of white on a mass of brown all around.   Would I recommend it? No. Was it fun? Yes, to be able to say I skied in April in southern Wisconsin on natural snow (well, ice). Am I certifiably crazy? Nearly.   All hail to Heil the guru of the groomer, Don Fariss