MARQUETTE -- The warm, sunny weather we've been seeing in Marquette, followed by freezing cold temperatures, has kept Chris Zorza working around the clock these past few weeks at Marquette Mountain, grooming the trails to keep them from getting slick.

Zorza uses the blades in front of his groomer to break up the ice, and the back tiller chews it up.

"You can go out there and you can just hear the people coming down, especially the racers.  Instead of hardly hearing any noise, when they start making those gates, you can hear them grinding.  It's kind of like taking a shovel across the black top," says Zorza.

And where the icy trails might be fun for highly skilled racers...

"The snow is in excellent shape--a little firm, very fast," says Pat Soucy, a Marquette Mountain skier.

For others, it can make things a little more challenging.

"It's harder to slow down, harder to turn; it's a little bit slicker out there," says Amilyn Houghton, a snowboarder.

Because it's been so long since there's been a substantial snowfall in the Marquette area, the snow on the slopes has started to get a crunchy, icy texture.

Zorza says he's seen fewer skiers on the slope this winter, and he suspects that the lack of snow is what's been keeping some skiers away.

"The conditions out here have been decent, but everybody else around here has been getting a lot of snow, so some groups aren't coming because they don't have to drive all the way up here because their slopes have a lot of snow," Zorza says.

But the snow that's in the forecast for the next few days will hopefully help the mountain have a good rest of the season.