Midwest Ski Hills Set to be First to Open For 22-23 in North America
Two small ski areas in the Midwest state of Minnesota will open for the season later today, Tuesday 18th October.
Wild Mountain plans to open at noon, Andes Tower Hills at 1pm – both with very limited terrain available.
“Keep in mind that we’ve only had two nights of snowmaking, so our terrain will be extremely limited. We’ll be opening with the Front Stage trail serviced by the Front Stage rope tow. We’ll have 4-6 terrain park features available as well,” a social media post from Wild Mountain explained.
Andes Tower Hills, which describes itself as, “…a local ski resort with family values, integrity, and heavy ambitions,” released video yesterday of skiers enjoying a small snow slope. It’s plans to open Tuesday were reported by local media.
The move follows sub-zero temperatures in the region and reports of upto a foot (30cm) of snowfall in the Upper Peninsula region in the past 24 hours in an ongoing storm, the biggest snowfalls reported in North America so far this fall.
It appears that it will be the second time in three seasons that Midwest ski areas have been first in the US to open. Wild Mountain was also the first ski area in North America to open for winter 20-21 on 20th October following by Trollhaugen, over the state border in Wisconsin, on Sunday 25th October.
Both of these two areas, and other Midwestern resorts have also been snowmaking and look close to opening. Wild Mountain is pictured top getting started on Sunday night.
Snowmaking has been underway at high altitude ski areas in Colorado for more than a fortnight during weather-windows in the middle of the night when its cold enough to make snow. Loveland (pictured below) issued a statement on Monday saying,
“The snowmaking team was able to make snow Saturday and Sunday night. The forecast is looking good at night through the week. Get ready!”
