BURNSVILLE, Minn. — On Black Friday, temperatures around the Twin Cities hit the teens overnight and stayed below freezing, allowing staff at Buck Hill Ski Area to finally start making snow.
“Best day of the year, in my opinion,” said Nathan Birr, chief operations officer of Buck Hill. “It’s the calm before the storm. The moment the hill kind of lights up before the start of the year.”
Snow machines sent flurries into the sunny sky for the first time this season at the Burnsville site.
Birr said they will likely open the first weekend in December, which gives them extra time to complete the site’s new chair lift.
“Our last chair lift could not take people up and down (the hill). We could take grandma and grandpa up the hill but couldn’t get them back down. The new one will allow us to maximize the top of the hill,” said Birr.
An hour drive north in Taylors Falls, snow machines were on full blast at Wild Mountain.
“We are going to be open tomorrow (Saturday) from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.,” said Nathan Haksath, snow sports manager of Wild Mountain. “We were a lot farther ahead last year on our snow making capability, and this year we are running a little behind, but we were open for a couple weeks in early October.”
Haksath said despite a brief warm up next week, he anticipates being able to stay open for regular operating hours the rest of the season.
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