1. When do you normally open for skiing in the fall/winter?
We usually are open by mid November, some years we have opened in October for a weekend. We are good at being ready with the groomers prepped and trails ready. We will groom in some cases if it looks like we will just get a weekend out of a snow storm and have it melt away the next week.
2. What do you do in the summer?
We work on maintaining and improving the trails and buildings. We make about 100-150 cords of firewood. We maintain all of the groomers and other equipment. We also hire out with our equipment on building trails for others. After that is done we do get out on the horses to enjoy the trails, walk on the trails, bird hunt on the trails and then it is winter again!
3. What time do the trails close?
The trails close at dark (around 4-4:30 CST) early season until we have perfect ski conditions. In December and January we close around 5 PM in Februaury we close about 6 PM and in March we close at 6 PM. Season pass holders can typically ski a bit later. We clsoe the ski shop at 5 PM and we keep the back room open until the skiers have cleared out.
4. What is the earliest we can ski in the morning?
9:00 AM CST, no exceptions. We often groom in the morning starting very early. We allow set up time for the trails to harden. This is the equivalent of paint drying; let the paint dry, skiing starts at 9 AM.
5. Can we hike or bike here in the summer?
No the trails are closed in the summer except to someone that rents one of the houses. We allow hiking on some of the trails to our summer renters. There are many nice places to hike and bike in the area.
6. What wildlife will we see on the trails?
It depends on the time of the year. Whitetail deer, grouse, Baird Owls, red squirrels, fischer, porcupines, otter on the river, coyote,
7. What happened to the older guy who worked here? “Dave”
Dave is Eric’s father and he retired to Austin Texas. He is currently running a lawn business and lives in Sun City with Helen.
8. Did this used to be Johnson’s?
No this trail system was started in 1995 by the Anderson’s. Mike Johnson ran his business from 1978-1996 in Wakefield about 20 miles east of here.
9. When will you groom next?
When we need to. We like to groom early in the morning so that if it snows overnight (and it does often) we can groom the new snow and have it “set” for 9 AM. Sometime we groom a portion of the trails after closing in the evening and on occasion in a snow storm we may groom during the day throughout the snowstorm if it is safe to the skiers.
10. Do you ski?
Yes, Angela and I both ski. Angela skis 3-5 times a week and I ski 1-2 times a week. Everyone that helps in the ski shop and on the grooming skis.
