When backers of a University of Wisconsin-owned golf course were pushing the project some two decades ago, they promised to open the property during the winter months for cross-country skiing. Offering groomed ski trails to the public was intended to counter criticism that University Ridge, the Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed layout on 560 scenic acres west of Madison, would cater only to well-heeled golfers.
But once the course opened in 1991, skiing was put on the back burner — although a few hardcores ignored the “no trespassing” signs and blazed their own way around the hilly back nine anyway.
Now, with the blessing of UW athletic director Barry Alvarez, University Ridge is finally ready to regularly groom 17 kilometers of trails for both classical and skate skiing. Plans include opening the clubhouse daily to skiers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and serving hot food in the “W Bistro” over the lunch hour.
The pre-Thanksgiving snow that fell last weekend added to the enthusiasm among local cross-country skiers, who encountered the season’s first groomed paths at the course. The golf course staff worked with the Madison Nordic Ski Club on the layout of the system, which includes both beginner and advanced trails.
The landscape is ideal for gliding around on skinny skis. University Ridge draws its name from the features left by the retreat of the Wisconsin Glacier some 12,000 years ago The course sits atop the terminal moraine, with rolling hills and sheltered wooded valleys offering options for skiers of all abilities, with many interconnecting loops. The beginner’s trail starts right from the golf clubhouse.
“Our members are extremely grateful to UW-Madison’s athletic department for developing this incredible trail system and making it available to the public,” says Jennifer Sereno, co-president of the ski club. “They worked with our own volunteers to design skate and classic trails that make the most of the beautiful terrain.”
University Ridge is also home to the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, one of the nation’s premier running venues. The new ski trail will follow parts of the Zimmer course while also skirting the Ice Age Trail segment that bisects the property.
“With those sweeping turns and long, steady climbs, it really offers perfect training conditions,” says Sereno, whose daughter, Gina, runs on the University of Michigan cross country team.
The elder Sereno is no slouch either, racing with the elite wave women in the annual American Birkebeiner. That event is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 20, in Hayward.
The UW budgeted about $30,000 to get the project off the ground, including the purchase of the grooming equipment. University Ridge also purchased skis and boots for rental with an emphasis on getting families to take advantage of a facility that gets little use from November to April. Adults will pay $9 for a one-day pass or $54 for the season, with discounts for kids and UW students and employees.
University Ridge head golf professional Ryan Wieme says the cross-country ski idea is a a way to keep the staff busy during the off-season while introducing new visitors to the course.
Faced with a $250 million cut to the University System in the recently approved state budget, some lawmakers had floated the idea of selling off University Ridge to a private owner as a way to make some quick money. (The course operates in the black.) But that idea was dismissed in part because of deed restrictions and the popularity of the course itself — which played host to 27,000 rounds of golf this season, an 8% increase over 2014, although well off the record 35,000 rounds played in 2001.
But Wieme says the idea isn’t to try to plug a budget hole with cross-country ski fees: “I think we’re looking at this more as a community outreach, rather than turning a profit.”
