WILD ROSE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – In the 55 years of gliding across slippery slopes, Mark Sartorelli of Appleton tells FOX 11 he’s never gone skiing this early in the season.
“This doesn’t happen very often, I mean if you drive in here, it’s brown and its green and you get in here and there’s snow.”
It’s the earliest opening ever for Nordic Mountain in Wild Rose.
Nordic Mountain owner, Rick Schmitz said, “We had some really good snow making temperature this week.”
Schmitz says they started making snow Tuesday night as temperatures dropped near the teens, but temperatures are expected to go up again.
“That’s a question we get a lot, will the snow melt? And the answer is no it definitely will not.”
Schmitz said man-made snow is a lot denser than natural snow, holding up to the warmer weather better.
“So we’ll get a little melting this week but we’ll still have a good base, we’ll have a 1 to 2-foot base on the hill.”
The ski-hill spent more than a million dollars in the last five years to upgrade its snow making system, bringing in quicker and better flurries.
Not all the runs are open, Schmitz hopes at least half the hill will have enough snow for skiers and snowboarders by Thanksgiving.
“It’ll take a couple weeks, depending on what the temperatures are, to get the hill to 100 percent open.”
Although the hill isn’t fully covered in snow, many are just ready to see more Arctic weather.
Brian VanHandel of Appleton says…. “Just being outdoors, enjoying the fresh air, it’s exhilarating and I’ve always had a blast doing it.”
