Warm temperatures have turned this winter's snow and ice into puddles and patches of grass.
"Mother nature hasn't been as cooperative," said Central Wisconsin Visitor Bureau Executive Director, Darien Schaefer.
The warm weather and rain thawed parts of the ice-covered pond at Sunnyvale Park in Wausau. It was a close call for the Midwest Freeze Classic Pond Hockey Tournament.
"We had to get that off the ice and had to make sure that the temperatures were cold enough so that the remaining water would freeze up and that's exactly what's happened," said Schaefer.
Organizers said it took a team effort to get the ice back into shape.
"The Marathon County Youth Hockey Association, the Marathon County Parks Department, they've been doing a great job of trying to maintain the rinks and responding to the rain," said Schaefer.
Which meant the games were on. Something competitors, waiting to play, were happy to hear.
"Everything's frozen up good, so a slight delay, but you know, we're going to play in the dark tonight, we've got some lights going out, so it's going to be great," said Scott Rye of Vancouver, B.C.
But skiers stopping by Nine Mile Forest weren't so lucky. The trails were closed and for good reason. Much of the snow was gone, leaving patches of green grass.
At Sylvan Hill, the slopes were covered in far less snow. Those conditions closed one hill completely and forced workers to try to fill in melted areas.
"Through the weekend, we hope to give people a winter experience, a safe winter experience, and that will mean a lot of hard work for our people to very carefully maintain safety standards on the balance between having an experience and just closing completely," said Recreation Superintendent Karyn Powers.
As people work hard to make the best of what's still here.
