Got Snow? Ski Areas Do.

GOT SNOW? SKI AREAS DO

Midwest ski areas survive, and even thrive, during mid-winter thaws

November 20, 2007 

"Got Snow? We Do" is the creative ad campaign being waged during the traditional mid-winter thaw by Ohio's Mad River Ski Area, but it's a theme echoed by every Midwest ski area. "We make a lot of machine-made snow during the early season," says Mad River's Ashley Graham. "So that when we get a mid-winter thaw, we have plenty of snow even if our customers don't have snow in their own backyards."

In fact, says Jessica Wiltgen of Buck Hill, Minnesota, "I think a mid-winter thaw is actually the best time of year to ski. The snow is great, there's tons of it and the weather is warm." Like other Midwest ski areas, Buck Hill makes a deep base of man-made snow during the early part of the winter so that "we're prepared for thaws."

At Hidden Valley Ski Area in Missouri, "We've been through the mid-winter thaws before," says Amity Betz. "It's part of the business. We've been here 25 years and our customers know that, no matter what, even if we have a bad week, we'll be OK."

Oftentimes during a mid-winter thaw, the biggest problem ski areas face is not a lack of snow, but a lack of understanding by the general public that they are open and still have excellent conditions. "It's hard to get peoples' attention," says Mad River's Graham. "People are using their Tivo and fast-forwarding through TV commercials or listening to satellite radio and Podcasts. But once we get them here, they discover there's plenty of snow."

When people don't see snow in their back yards; they don't necessarily think skiing and snowboarding -- but Midwest ski areas make so much snow on their ski runs and snowtubing hills when it is cold that that it lasts and lasts. In some parts of the country snow reports have more value to skiers and snowboarders than they do in the Midwest -- here people know that once the ski slopes are snow covered, they generally stay that way all winter long.

Mid-winter thaws can also have a silver lining, according to Amity Betz at Hidden Valley. "We do our snow dance," she says, "and it seems like our mid-winter thaw is usually followed by a nice natural snowfall."