Pre-Season Update 2024/25
Hello Skiers, and Welcome November… Winter is Coming!!!
The 2024/25 Season Membership form is now available for download at our website (skiduluth.com). Our prices will remain the same as last season and if you submit the form and payment by the end of November, you will reap our substantial “Early Bird Price” savings. Membership forms are also available at the chalet and may be returned by mail, or placed in the payment box at the chalet door. Your membership is active as soon as you submit the form and payment.
The 2023/24 season was bizarre/weird/awful, take your choice. Snow came late; trails opened on 6 January and were un-skiable by 9 February. We waited six weeks for groomable snow, and finally got the 22” storm of 24 March. The 6K was groomed and open on 25 March, and our last grooming was on 5 April. The one bright-spot was that we did complete KidSki 2024 during January-February.
After a very wet Spring, trail repair, maintenance and improvement began in late June and has continued through October. First-frost has allowed us to complete the final edge-mowing on all trails, and we will use the remaining time before groomable-snow lopping trailsides and testing/repairing the 3K lighted loop. We are ready for snow.
The Snowflake Ski Swap will take place on Saturday 9 November. Sellers may drop-off items at the chalet on Friday 8 November, 4-8 pm. Doors will open at 9 am on Saturday and the swap ends at noon.
Sign-up for KidSki 2025 will be available on 1 November. Go to our website and select “2025 Snowflake KidSki Registration” for info and to register. Note that Season Membership and KidSki are separate transactions: Membership still requires mailing the form and a check; KidSki may be done online. We may begin some type of e-payment in December…
Book Across The Bay Group Bus??? A few years ago, I chartered a bus to carry members to/from Ashland for the Book Across The Bay (BATB). Those of us who used the bus enjoyed it, but we did not have enough riders to make it affordable, and break-even on cost. I’d like to try again for the 2025 BATB, which will happen on Saturday 15 February. If you would be interested, send me an email (snowflakeduluth@gmail.com) with the number of people, and I’ll see if the numbers make it doable.
We implemented “Dog Days/No Dog Days” last season. The purpose was to offer freshly groomed, unsullied trails to skiers-only on the day after grooming, and allow Member Dog Owners to ski with their dog the following day. We scheduled around Boulder Lake’s Dog Days, to give dog-owners the most days possible. We’ll continue this policy this season, subject to modification as weather, events, and experience dictate. We are still the only trail in Duluth that permits dogs on the trails.
The Duluth Nordic Ski Club (DNSC) Board has openings for members. If you would like to contribute your time and talent to governing Snowflake, please send an email to snowflakeduluth@gmail.com.
We can use a few more Groomers. Experience on a snowmobile is preferred but not required. We normally groom at night, and the job can be physically demanding, but if you are interested, email me. Once you are trained, Groomers are put on the payroll, covered by our insurance, and paid an hourly wage.
*** Snowflake, and our Northland community lost a good friend last Spring. Randy Baumgartner has been plowing our facility for many years. With 5 parking lots, it’s a huge job. As soon as the snow stopped Randy would be there, often with his bride Shirley riding shotgun, to open the driveway and parking lots for our skiers. We’d exchange quick greetings and a joke as the groomers and snowplow did our work in the Winter dark. Despite my requests, he wouldn’t send a bill for his work. Randy passed away this past Spring. Our condolences to Shirley and the Baumgartner Family. He made our little world better. Thank you Randy, you are missed. ***