Colorado has already gotten their season underway, with Wolf Creek opening for the season on October 16th. While here in the Midwest, not one resort has made snow yet, but we may be closer to skiing and riding than you think.
Cold Front Moving In
Starting at the end of this week, we have a cold front moving into Minnesota/Wisconsin bringing favorable snowmaking temperatures to Taylor Falls, MN, and Dresser, WI. As many of you know, these areas are home to Wild Mountain and Trollhaugen, respectively. These two ski areas are notorious for being the first to open in the Midwest. Last season, Wild Mountain beat everyone in the race to open, opening on October 19th, and Troll was the first in the United States with a chairlift on October 25th.
Overnight Lows
Starting this Sunday, October 30th, Wild Mountain and Trollhaugen will be seeing at least four solid nights of snowmaking. The stretch begins on Sunday night with a projected low of 24 degrees, then continues through Wednesday night. Each night temperatures are projected to be below 28 degrees until the morning, meaning snowmaking should be able to continue throughout the night. The even better news is that pattern may continue later into the week.
How Many Nights of Snow Making Does It Take?
One of the advantages of having smaller ski areas, like those in the Midwest, is that we can cover our hills quicker than bigger resorts. An excellent example of this is Wild Mountain. Wild Mountain's Front Stage and its dedicated rope tow can be covered with enough snow for skiing and riding in as little as one solid night of snowmaking. Historically, Trollhaugen waits to open with a chairlift and more coverage, usually taking at least a few good nights of snowmaking. But don't sleep on Trollhaugen, as they just installed brand new pumps going from 2400GPM to now 3900GPM, an increase of 62.5%.
So When Will They Open?
Of course, when looking at projected weather, there is always a chance it may not be accurate, but given the length and lows of this weather pattern, we feel comfortable stating that the Midwest should be skiing and riding at some point next week.
Wild Mountain (Speculated Opening Day)
We believe that Wild Moutain will fire up the snow guns on Sunday late evening, but it won't be enough to open on Monday. They will need one more solid night of snowmaking from Monday night into Tuesday morning. Then, Wild Mountain will open for the season Tuesday, November 2nd at 1:00 PM.
Trollhaugen (Speculated Opening Day)
We believe that Trollhaugen will fire up the snow guns on Sunday late evening and take their approach of opening with more terrain and a chairlift. They will continue their snowmaking push throughout the nights during the week and will open for the season on Saturday, November 6th at 9:00 AM.
Yes, We Hopefully Will Be Skiing/Riding Next Week
Get the boards out and waxed because we are pretty confident that we will be on snow starting next week. We will keep you up to date on all of the latest news and plan to stop by for live videos once resorts start making snow. That said, be sure you like our social media pages (links below) and check out our stories on both Instagram and Facebook.
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We hope to see everyone out there for opening day!
Good stuff Matt!