It’s a testament to the resiliency and determination of the Saskatchewan spirit. A Snow covered ski hill in the middle of the prairie – during a period when more than 70% of the country is experiencing dryer than normal conditions.
There is no snow anywhere in the province – but the exception seems to be Saskatchewan’s Mission Ridge Winter Park.
Anders Svenson is the business manager for the park, and he says most people don’t realize that Mission Ridge makes their own snow.
“It’s challenging to convince folks to come ski when it’s brown every where. The Majority of people don’t know we make snow – or don’t know our abilities.”
Svenson says in a normal season the park doesn’t rely on any natural snow. “We make all of our own snow.” The system in use at the park blankets all 30 acres of the park with between 24 and 36 inches of snow. “Anything Mother Nature gives us is a bonus,” says Svenson.
One hinderance to snow production for the park is the warmth – the snow machines in operation do require cold weather to create the snow.
“we need another six to seven solid good cold days. Right now we expect that by next weekend the park will be fully open with snowmaking done for the season and we’re business as usual.”
The warm weather has kept people from thinking about a winter getaways at Mission Ridge – with numbers below average over Christmas – and now increasing steadily through the break.
“if we could rely on forecasts – we should be able to fire up the snow guns Saturday evening – and we won’t turn them off until we’re done”
One highlight of a season spent at Mission Ridge – the tube course. Svenson says people have been flocking to the tube park in droves and encourages any guests trying to book tickets to do so quickly by visiting www.missionridge.ca