Groomers are Our Lucky Leprechauns
Mar 17, 2024
We're keeping the ski and ride party alive and kicking here at Granite Peak, proudly holding the title of the last resort standing in the great state of Wisconsin! While this winter has thrown us some curveballs across the Midwest, we're thrilled with how our snow is holding up. To ensure we're still shredding well into April, we're tweaking our schedule this week to squeeze in some daytime and early evening grooming sessions. It's all about sprucing up our terrain and keeping the fun going strong!
Come weekends, we're gearing up to offer over 90% of our terrain, thanks to our trusty four main lifts—Comet, Cupid, Dasher, and Blitzen—spinning from Friday to Sunday. So, grab your gear, round up your crew, and let's keep the winter stoke & adventure rolling at Granite Peak! 🏂⛷️
Western Areas
In the West we are looking at Sunset, the Dasher Load & Unload as well as the run out on lower Main Event to get some work. The upper portion of Main Event is now closed as the snowpack on the steep is minimal and rocks are beginning to show. Should we get a significant amount of snow that could change. We have snow in the Silver Birch and Timber Pass trail that we'll use to help with this.
Our plans right now is to have our machines out there pushing this around on Monday 3/18/24.
Daytime Grooming Operations - East
On Monday 3/18 & Tuesday 3/19, we'll be actively out with our grooming machines to enhance some of our trails where snowpack is low. While this may temporarily close some terrain to guests, we're committed to keeping the lifts running from 10am to 5pm both days. Our focus areas for improvement include the traversing trails returning from the East, such as Snowflake, Whitetail, and the run out from Mission Ridge, Shadowridge / Wildwood. Currently, snow depths in these areas are lower than ideal, but with some strategic snow redistribution from Mission and Stonebridge, we anticipate maintaining them for the foreseeable future, especially with colder temperatures on the horizon.
We anticipate performing this Monday night and Tuesday day.
This Week's (3/18-24) Schedule
Our schedule for the upcoming week is as follows:
- Monday 3/18 - Open 10am - 5pm - Comet, Blitzen, and Cupid (Evening & Daytime grooming in the West)
- Tuesday 3/19 - Open 10am - 5pm - Comet, Blitzen & Dasher (Evening & Daytime grooming in the East)
- Wednesday 3/20 - Open 10am - 9pm - Comet, Blitzen & Cupid
- Thursday 3/21 - Open 10am - 9pm - Comet, Blitzen & Dasher
- Friday 3/22 & Saturday 3/23 - Open 9am - 9pm - Comet, Blitzen, Cupid & Dasher (Blizzard Carpet TBD)
- Sunday 3/24 - Open 9am - 5pm - Comet, Blitzen, Cupid & Dasher (Blizzard Carpet TBD)
We'll share our plans for the week of the 25th over the weekend.
Our learning area off of the Blizzard Carpet is also experiencing lighter snow depths. As a result, we won't be operating the carpet midweek and potentially beyond, as the snow level isn't adequate. However, our grooming team is dedicated to improving the unload at the top. For beginners and novices, the Blitzen Midstation unload will serve as the access point to terrain such as Mystery, Meadow, and Hot Cocoa.
Please Note: Ski School & Lessons will also be closed Monday through Thursday this week with no lessons scheduled.
Upcoming Events
Our operations and parks teams are talking about our upcoming Pond Skim (March 30) and Cardboard Cup (April 6). These two events do take some signifiant planning and with the lack of snow depth in our typical pond skim location (lower Aspen). This is going to take some major thoughts. The lower Aspen snow that has typically been there was needed to keep the load of Comet going! We know that Aspen Park is very popular for many of our younger guests and wish to maintain a park throughout the season but we may need to scale back to steal some snow from the jumps up top. More details and information on the late season events will come down the pipeline in the next week or two. Stay tuned.
Pattern Shift & Snow Possible
Winter is not yet over, and we're anticipating temperatures to dip this week, with the possibility of two snow events. The first one is expected on Wednesday, potentially bringing snowfall to our region. We follow a meteorologist based in the Iowa region that has been pretty accurate this year. Midwest Weather on Facebook is a great resource for long range outlooks. The next event could be even more significant, occurring on March 24th - 26th, but its intensity will depend on its track, and it's still a week away from the timing of this blog post. While it's not uncommon to experience significant snow events in March, it feels unusual considering how mild this winter has been and the lack of snow. Nonetheless, we will certainly welcome it.
Daily Operations & Sister Resorts
We're fully committed to keeping our daily operations running smoothly for our valued passholders and guests. We understand that many ski resorts across the industry have already closed their doors for the season, but we're here to offer continued enjoyment on the slopes. As a gesture of solidarity, any passholder from another resort is invited to visit Granite Peak and enjoy a 25% discount on lift tickets. We plan to keep our operations going through March, and as we approach April 1st, we'll assess our plans for the following weekend, April 5th, 6th, and 7th. Midweek operations will be determined accordingly.
Regarding additional snowmaking, at this time we don't anticipate pursuing that option with the colder weather. At this stage of the season, it's not financially feasible, especially considering that we were already making snow into February, which was quite late in the season as it is. We're focused on providing the best experience possible with the resources available to us. Thank you for your understanding and continued support as we navigate through the remainder of the season.
Our sister resorts of Lutsen Mountains and Snowriver Mountain Resort are still going skiing and riding daily. Snowriver is actually picking up a bunch of lake effect snow off Lake Superior as is Lutsen Mountains. If you haven't been to these two properties check them out too. Remember Legendary Passes are valid at these two locations and our 24-25 passes are currently on-sale. If you purchase a Legendary Plus pass in full you can tack on spring 2024 for only $99. That's less than a lift ticket!
We appreciate your ongoing support and the feedback we've received regarding our late-season operations. We take pride in continuing our tradition of being the last to close in Wisconsin. It's a banner we proudly wave every season, reflecting our dedication at Midwest Family Ski Resorts.
As always thanks for reading my blog. We strive to be as transparent as they come with our operations and hope you find this information useful as you plan your late season skiing and riding with us!
Greg
GM - Granite Peak Ski Area
CMO - Midwest Family Ski Resorts
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