THUNDER BAY — Mount Baldy is up and running, even with the lack of snow in Thunder Bay.
The ski hill was bustling with excitement on Saturday, as skiers and snowboarders alike donned their gear for the first time this season.
Daniel Kardas, owner of Mount Blady Ski Hill, said the doors opened on Saturday at 11 a.m.
“Believe it or not, we started last Saturday night at midnight snow-making. Usually, we're open a lot earlier than this. But Mother Nature this year was a heck of a lot different. Here we are, we made it happen,” he said.
Kardas said the hope is the weather will stay cold enough.
“Everybody is itching to do something because when it comes to the fall weather, basically, not much to do," he said. "You're kind of in that transition. Our staff are all itching to work and I'm just itching to get everything on the mountain, all covered with snow so we can get everything rolling here.”
“A lot of people are psyched. They're pretty shocked that we made snow that fast, in six days. Our crews are working hard day and night, we're going 24 hours,” he added.
Right now, Mount Baldy has the bunny hill open with the magic carpet, Kardas said.
“Hopefully next weekend we're going to have our tubing going and the gold is going to be open next week. We're going to shoot for it," Kardas said.
Kardas thanks the public for continuing to support Mount Baldy.
“People see it, people enjoy it and our membership base is growing every year.”
John Kelly said the job done at Mount Baldy was amazing.
“I can't believe it, for Dec. 1st, this is incredible," he said. “Mount Baldy is the best. They really put a lot of commitment, especially to the freestyle ski and snowboard community and we support them back and that's why we're here.
“Let's have fun here. The 2024/2025 season is going to be unreal,” he said.
Eight-year-old Charlotte said she loves snowboarding because it’s really just fun.
Luke Moyer said he’s been skiing for a long time, mostly at Mount Baldy.
“It's got its own kind of vibe out here. It's very family oriented and that gets you through a lot of stages in life," he said. "I've been coming out here since I was a kid and I started bringing my kids out here recently. It's been a lot of fun.”
