Snow, Sleet, & Rain - March Weather High's & Low's
Well, Mother Nature finally delivered the white stuff… well kind of.. Most of the upper parts of the Midwest received tons of natural snow starting last Monday and going through Wednesday. Places like Spirit Mountain in Duluth received 18" of snow and over in the UP, several areas reported well over that, including the US Ski Hall of Fame - which clocked in over 40" of snow in just 40 hours, enough to bury a baby elephant - talk about a trunkload of snow…
But it wasn't all fun and games for Midwestern resorts as those located a little more south received sleet and rain instead of snow during this storm. But just a couple of days later, on Thursday night, most of those same resorts got revenge and received several inches of fresh snow.
On top of that - many resorts across the Midwest fire up the guns to do some snowmaking to refresh their hills this past week.
And this will not only help the snow quality going for this upcoming week but will also help resorts maintain their base as we edge into March… and yes, March is officially here.
The extended forecast is looking generally favorable over the next week, with a decent warmup and some rain over this weekend. Still, temps are staying mostly below freezing overnight. But as you know - the Month of March can giveth and taketh with the weather being more finicky than McDonald's Ice Cream Machine.
Spring Is Here - Which means Fun Events & Great Skiing!
And as much as we hate the season winding down, it does offer up some of the funniest events and best skiing of the year. Many resorts announced their spring events, including pond skims and cardboard sled races. That said, check in with your local resorts and get out there and enjoy the last few weeks at the majority of our hills.
On that same note, we have been getting many questions on how long resorts will be open this season, so be sure to check our blog post that includes all of the closings dates from last season to get a rough idea of when they will be open will be closing this season. Click here to read that blog post.
And of course, don't forget to circle Lutsen, Boyne, & Nubs Nob for some early April skiing that never disappoints!
Midwest Olympians Welcomed Back
The Olympics have officially wrapped up, and we are happy to report that the Midwest brought home a few medals for the US team, including Nick Baumgartner. He won gold in the inaugural mixed snowboard cross race with Lindsey Jacobellis. Ski Brule will be hosting a celebration for Nick the Weekend of March 11-13, so make sure you mark your calendars.
Perfect North's Nick Goepper took a silver medal in the Men's Skiing Slopestyle, and Justin Schoenefeld also took home a gold in Mixed team aerials. Perfect North will be hosted a welcome home and celebration party last Sunday for their Olympians.
Congrats to all Midwesterners represented at the games, and we are looking forward to Italy in 2026.
The Paralympics Are Kicking Off
And although the Olympics have wrapped up, the Paralympics will be kicking off later this week, and we have Powder Ridge local to keep your eyes on. Mike Schultz or Monster Mike is a Saint Cloud native competing in the Snowboard Cross and Bank Slalom event this week. Click here to see the entire Paralympic Schedule - and best of luck to Mike!
Ski Like A GRL Program at Giants Ridge
Last week, Giants Ridge wrapped up their Ride like a girl program, and, yes, that's spelled GRL for Giants Ridge Ladies. This was a six-week program where women taught women for an afternoon of skiing and riding in a friendly environment, and of course, every session wrapped up with some /ôr ˈdərvs at the Burnt Onion.
What a great program that helps introduce and grow female representation in our sport, and we hope this program makes a return for next season.
World Record for Most Ski Areas in 24 hours Broken in Michigan
This past weekend, two Michiganders attempted to beat the record for the most ski areas skied in 24 hours. Kyle Kelly & Brad Dykstra - started their journey this Saturday at noon and hit 22 resorts stretching the entire state of Michigan. This bested the old record of 17 that was set in Japan back in 2017. Congratulations to Kyle and Brad!
Midwest Avy Pup?! Snowstar Has One!
Snowstar held a meet and greet last week with their Ski Patrol Dog - Jossie. Jossie is a 15-month old Australian Shepard born in Denver and spends time in Colorado as an on-call search and rescue ski patrol dog. However, Snowstar doesn't have any risk of avalanche. I mean, who doesn't love avalanche pups?!
So if you see Jossie and her owner Mark over at Snowstar - make sure you say hello!
Granite Peak's Grom Park is Legit!
Last Week Granite Peak posted a video of their Grom Park - which looks like it could be straight out of the x-games. And if you don't know what a Grom is - well, it's short for grommet, which probably doesn't help.
But the word originates from surf culture and means a young shredder. The label eventually made its way to skate and snow culture, meaning some young shredders.
The grom park is a terrain park that has smaller, less intimidating features that are perfect for groms and/or adults looking to get back into park riding after ten years.
But really, these parks are a lot of fun regardless of your ability, and I love that resorts are starting to focus on terrain that pretty much everyone can participate in.
Benny Milam is this Seasons Lord of the Ropes
Now, something very few can participate in… well, 64 to be exact… is the Lord of the Ropes contest at Trollhaugen. This event went down this past Friday, and who else but Benny Milam took home the title of Lord of the Ropes.
If you are unfamiliar - Lord of the ropes is a 64 border bracket, where riders go head to head until someone takes the crown. One of the cool things about this event is peer judged, creating a unique vibe not found in other snowboard jam events.
If you didn't make it in person - no problem, they streamed the entire event on Youtube - click here to check it out.
Master Shredder is Less Than Two Weeks Away
Another Troll event that is just a couple of weeks away is Master Shredder. This is Freestyle ski event is on its 11th consecutive year and brings out some of the best freestyle skiers in the Midwest. So if you enjoy watching Midwest Monday every week, you're going to love this. The shred fest is going down Saturday, March 12th, so don't forget to mark your calendars for that one.
And speaking of March 12th - that will be the day of our second stop of our Midwest Mogul Tour at Little Switzerland. We will drop a link below with more information on that stop.
Timber Ridge Celebrates 60 Years!
Timber Ridge celebrated its 60th-anniversary this past Saturday. They had food and drink specials, and they are encouraged skiers and riders to dress up as if they were straight out of the 60s or 70s for a chance to win a season pass for next year or other prizes.
Timber Ridge started from brothers Gorden, Rodger, and Gene Rantz back in the early 1960s and built the resort from scratch. The resort has remained in the family, now marking three generations running the resort.
Timber Ridge made several improvements this off-season, including adding a new carpet, new snow guns, and cutting a new run. So great to see these mom and pop hills continuing to make improvements, and here is to another 60 (or more) years.
Happy 86th Birthday to Christie Mountain Legend!
And I want to wrap up with a happy birthday to Lenny from Christie Mountain. Lenny has been volunteering with Christie's ski school for 30 years, and this past week he turns a young 86 years old. Aboluslty amazing, and cheers, Lenny, for helping introduce this sport to so many individuals, and I hope I can ski as well as you can when I'm 86!
But there you have it, your fix of Midwest ski news from the past couple of weeks. If you want to check out last week's episode, we will drop a link below. But until next time, I hope all of you have a great week, pray for snow, and I'll see you guys out there!