Midwest Ski Areas Starting To Open For The Season

Wild Mountain is opening for the season.

Minnesota's Wild Mountain is always, if not the first, one of the first Heartland ski areas to open for the season. They opened Monday and already have top to bottom runs open as well as one of their chairlifts.

 Andes Tower Hills, in northern Minnesota, was actually the first Heartland ski area to open this past weekend with limited terrain and just a surface tow. However they are currently closed, and on their website they list November 11 for their opening date. They are also routinely one of the earliest to open in the Midwest. When fully open they offer 15 slopes, three chairlifts, and three surface tows.

 Wild is open top to bottom with Chair 1 and their Expressway Trail. Plus, they have the Front Stage rope tow and one of their terrain parks open with eight features. They point out it's still early season conditions and guests should expect some bare spots, rocks, thin coverage, man made obstructions and other spooky impediments. Tickets are $25 and season passes are valid (Night Passes start at 4 pm. as usual). They say on their Facebook page they plan to remain open daily 1-7pm as they keep expanding terrain or the snow melts.

 They have had the distinction of being the first area in the Midwest to open for several years running, and a couple of times the first ski area in the nation to open in early October. They guarantee season pass holders at least 100 days of skiing and riding during the season. When fully open the ski area offers 26 trails, including the double-black Wall and an easy trail from top of the Mountain, four terrain parks, and eight lifts including four quads. It has a 300-foot vertical.

 Other planned openings in November include Lutsen Mountains, which has a target date of opening the weekend of November 18-19. They will be open Thanksgiving weekend and the first weekend in December with December 8 as their target date for staying open on a daily basis.

 Ski Brule, in Michigan's UP, has also kicked off their snowmaking with a target date of November 10 to open daily for the season.