More Openings and Looking at the Extended Forecast
The ski season is officially here! The Midwest had its first full weekend of skiing and riding, with five resorts open across two states. We even saw three chairlifts across two different states, which is enough to get any skier or rider excited.
Trollhaugen claimed the first chair spinning in the Midwest - opening their iconic blue quad on Friday, November 19th. Andes Tower Hills and Tyrol Basin joined in on the fun, turning their triple chairs on Saturday morning.
Powder Ridge also held a pass holders-only weekend operating their J-bar and rope tow on Saturday and Sunday. And Wild continued to run their dual-rope throughout the weekend. So overall, it was a great weekend of skiing and riding across the upper parts of the Midwest.
Then just as the weekend began to wrap up, we saw snowmaking fire up across the entire Midwest - including lower Michigan, who has been left out of most of the fun so far this season.
But really, we had over 50 different Midwestern resorts, which equates to about 47% of our total resorts making snow simultaneously!
Then as we all filled with excitement and awe over the number of snowmaking photos filling our social media pages, something even better happened... Opening day announcements started cracking faster than a PBR in the Midwestskiers.com studio.
Our Midwest Ski Guide
We had over ten opening day announcements over the past few days, and all of this information is becoming harder and harder to digest. But we have you covered with our Midwest ski guide. In the guide, you will find a color-coded system that will help you quickly process all of this information.
🟢 = Green means open for the day.
🟠= Orange means opening day announced or on standby.
🟡 = Yellow means making snow.
🔴 = Red means closed.
We will update this guide every morning, or as announcements are made to ensure everything is up-to-date, so you know who's open, going to be open, or making snow near you.
Paul Bunyan Ski Area
And speaking of making snow, Paul Bunyan got a shiny new toy last week and was able to fire it up on Monday evening to begin this season's snowmaking campaign. And if you are unfamiliar with Pual Bunyan, we will get you caught up.
Paul Bunyan is a small ski resort located in Lakewood, Wisconsin, that reopened last year after being closed for over twenty-five years. The family-owned and operated ski hill has been hard at work to update and upgrade the hill - cutting new runs and adding new amenities.
Tickets will only run you twenty-five dollars and is a perfect place to grab some quick turns in or introduce someone to the sport we love. We will drop some links below if you would like to learn more.
Pinehurst Park
And speaking of bringing back old ski hills, Pinehurst Park began a fundraiser for "giving Tuesday" to help them reach their goal to raise twelve thousand dollars to secure the funding needed to install the handle-tow ski lift this off-season.
If they can raise the money and install this lift, this would be the first time in over 50 years that this area would have lift access skiing, snowboarding, and tubing. Pinehurst Pine is a non-profit - community-run outdoor recreation area located in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Head over to their website at www.pinehurstpark.org to learn more.
Cascade's New Beer
Cascade Mountain will be celebrating its 60th anniversary this coming January, and what better way to celebrate than by making a beer! So last week, Cascade announced their special edition beer called Off The Trails IPA. This beer was made in collaboration with The Lone Girl Brewing Company and is available at the Peak Bar this season.
It may not be PBR, but it is undoubtedly the right way to celebrate their Sixtieth anniversary!
Black Friday/Cyber Monday Deals
And I want to wrap up with a quick reminder that we have several ski resorts and shops offering some Black Friday deals this week. Although I'm sure more will become available as we edge closer to Friday, some that stuck out to us were:
-20% off gift cards from Wild Mountain,
-A 4-pack of lift tickets for Nordic Mountain for $150.00
-A 12-pack of tickets for $279.99 from Tyrol Basin
- $20 bonus for every $100 in gift cards from Cannonsburg
These deals are a great way to explore some resorts that may have been on your list or work great as holiday gifts! Keep an eye on some of your favorite resorts pages, as there will likely be more deals announced in the coming days.
But there you have it, your fix of Midwest ski news from the past week. If you want to check out last week's episode, we will drop a link below. But until next time, we hope all of you have a great week, pray for snow, and we'll see you out there!
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