First Chairs of the Season?

duluth_bishop Nov 07, 2011 13 Comments

I’m curious if anyone has dates of estimated chair-lift openings at area [and by that I mean “day trip”] alpine hills? Lutsen was rumored to open on the 19th of November and Big Powderhorn is scheduled to open the 10th of December.

Any advice on where to look for early-season runs?

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13 Comments

Metalist

about 12 years ago 

According to AccuWeather Duluth, it's Friday November 18th before the predicted high is below 40* -- I'm certainly no expert, but I don't think they will be making snow for a while yet.

But then, I'm a cross-country kinda guy . . .

Biff Nimrod

about 12 years ago 

Snowmaking systems can be tweaked to make snow (ok, slush) above freezing temps, so I'm pretty sure Lutsen is already sucking the Poplar dry...sorry, another topic, to be sure.

Pamalama

about 12 years ago 

I believe Wild and Trollhaugen down in the metro are partially open.

samh

about 12 years ago 

Snowmaking.  Ugh.

Lojasmo

about 12 years ago 

Yup, wild and trollhaugen are both open (one or two crowded runs)

Yuck.

Rand McNally

about 12 years ago 

Poplar?  You mean the invasive species?

Metalist

about 12 years ago 

Geez, the forecast today sure is different today from yesterday.

And they would have to put down a humongous amount of snow this time of year to cool the ground enough to hold the snow.  Just think of the energy use we support to do that.

Rand McNally

about 12 years ago 

Beartooth Pass.  Leave at 4am, arrive 9pm. Au Natural.

Paul Lundgren

about 12 years ago 

Here's the scene from the St. Louis Bay today. You can see white spots on a few runs at old Spirit Mountain. Snow making has begun!

RightElbow

about 12 years ago 

Ugh, the Lutsen/Poplar River thing is killing me. I can't imagine there is anything that comes close to doing as much for the Lutsen area economy than the ski hill, but it also drives me nuts that a company can apparently completely ignore environmental regulations, get caught, and see no consequences. I both ski and trout fish... my brain might explode.

RightElbow

about 12 years ago 

And more to the point of the post, December skiing around here has always sucked in my expereience. Maybe the UP is the way to go for earlier season?

Cory Fechner

about 12 years ago 

I heard, as of Saturday, the DNR has yet to approve Lutsen to start using the Poplar river water for snow-making. Apparently the river is too low and they need precipitation before they can start making snow.  Could be a short ski season at Lutsen this year!  If any!

Paul Lundgren

about 12 years ago 

The DNR gave its approval on Nov. 10 for Lutsen Mountains to pump water from the Poplar River.

The long-term solution is that water will have to be pumped from Lake Superior instead, but the estimate is that it will cost $2 million to set that up.

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