The sunshine was pretty intense at Buck Hill Friday— reflected off the slopes covered with fresh snow.

“We got three inches of snow, give or take,” says Nathan Birr, the resort’s Chief Operations Officer. Mother Nature has been fairly finicky this year.

Thursday night’s sudden snowfall means that Buck Hill will be open on Saturday and, depending on the weather– perhaps beyond.  

“It’s a little weird, up and down,” Birr notes. “Going from sixty-five degrees to the next day, ten degrees.”

That weather whiplash continues a pattern of warmer than usual weather in Minnesota.

“It feels very Minnesotan of Mother Nature to show up late the game,” smiles Pam Hoye, a spokesperson for Afton Alps.

The Washington County resort got five inches of snow overnight Thursday, after starting the season with a warm November.

Thus, the need to make artificial snow.  

But that was then, and this is now.

“Not anticipating that we would have a seventy-degree swing in March,” Hoye says. “But we’re in the snow business, so happy to see any, even if it is a little bit late.”

The snow surge will keep Afton Alps open Saturday and Sunday, before closing for the season.

But experts say overall, this year’s warm winter weather has had a big financial impact on winter resort activities.  

“Not having snow for our resorts and the businesses that surround them has been devastating this year,” declares Angie Whitcomb, President and CEO of Hospitality Minnesota. “Bookings are down thirty percent or more, so that impacts lodging. But then you think about the ripple effect on the businesses in these resort communities.”

She says less snowfall, dangerous ice conditions, and other factors have hit some winter recreation businesses hard.

“We talked to the owner of a snowmobile rental company in the Brainerd Lakes area,” Whitcomb explains. “He’s out $100,000 this year. Now that’s a lot of money.”

The Department of Employment and Economic Development says the state’s nearly two dozen ski areas typically provide nearly twenty-eight hundred jobs a quarter.

The Minnesota Ski Areas Association says the total economic impact added up to $380 million during the 2021-22 season.

Since the fall, resorts have adapted to the warmer weather by making more artificial snow– and using groomers to spread already made artificial snow over green patches.

Buck Hill has one hundred twenty snow guns to do the job.

Hoye says Afton Alps crews have been working all week to prep for the weekend.

“What is making this weekend work for us is that our mountain operations team has spent the week snow farming,” she says. “Basically, where they’re taking out the terrain that we currently have and grooming it, patching it, making sure we have a safe experience for our guests.”

Birr says Buck Hill typically sees about 200,000 visitors a season.

He adds attendance has dropped about fifteen percent this year.

Buck’s Hills’ plan is to open on Saturday, close on Sunday for maintenance, then, depending on the weather Monday, close for the season– or might try a few bonus days late next week.

All up to Mother Nature, Birr notes.

“You just really don’t know,” he says. “A rainstorm might take away a lot of snow, quickly, or it turns into snow. Kind of the nature of the beast.”