AFTON, Minn. — One year ago today, the Twin Cities looked like a winter wonderland.
The runways were closed at MSP due to heavy snow. Local ski hills were also packed with skiers and snowboarders.
Fast forward to today and it’s a very different story as snow is hard to come by and ski hills are finally starting to open for the season.
Afton Alps is celebrating opening day this Wednesday and managers say it’s all thanks to their snow machines.
“We’ve had to make pretty much all of our snow this year,” Afton Alps General Manager Trevor Maring says.
Within minutes of opening the ski hill the ski runs were packed with hundreds of skiers and snowboarders.
“It’s snow. It’s something. At this point we just need anything,” snowboarder Logan Matala says.
Managers say about one-fifth of the ski hill is open right now and they are working to open more runs in the coming days.
Sean Malay is the Snow Surfaces manager at Afton Alps.
He says the snowmaking machines were running almost 24 hours a day for five days straight ahead of opening day.
“Really only the last week or so have we had the temperatures to get out here and make snow,” Malay says.
“It’s basically whenever that cold snap comes, we’re making snow.”
Afton Alps is celebrating its 60th season this year.
Over the last 60 years the ski hill has seen a lot of unique winters, including some years when opening day was as early as late October, and other years where opening day didn’t come until the first few weeks of December.
“It’s different every year,” Maring explains. “We typically try to shoot for the middle to end of November, but every year is different, and we just try to work with what we have.”
Afton Alps was one of the first ski hills in the Twin Cities metro to open this year.
According to their websites, Buck Hill and Hyland Hills will open for the season on Friday, December 1st.
Welch Village will be open to the public starting Monday, December 4th.
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