Snow or no snow, 4 Ski Gull runs open
Machines doing nature's job
NISSWA - Kari Dayton looks out the window and sees what makes Ski Gull great.
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Grandparents John and Marlys Schaefer watch grandson, Tim Holmes, teach son, Jackson, how to ski.
"That's so much what our mission is all about," says Dayton, now in her second year as Ski Gull's executive director. "That's what we work for right there."
So on one hand, it's business as usual at Ski Gull, while on the other hand, it's a year unlike any other, with snowless slopes persisting into mid-winter.
Renae Goll helped Nate Engelmann on the rope tow Monday at Ski Gull. More than 1,000 sixth-grade students from several area schools will learn to ski this year at Ski Gull.
» Purchase reprints of this photo.Brainerd Dispatch/Nels Norquist
Or have we seen this before?
Dayton picks up a copy of Sunday's Dispatch and points to "This was Brainerd" for 1987. It reads: "It would take a major snowfall for Ski Gull to open this year. But there's good news for next year's skiers. Snow-making equipment will be in place by next ski season."
Good news, indeed. Today, snow-making machines have four of Ski Gull's 12 runs open, with a 6-8 inch base. Skiing is great, Dayton says, although the tubing hill remains closed and the snowboard park is half-open. If Ski Gull can survive this winter, it can survive anything.
"As long as we keep our core programs going we'll be OK," Dayton says.
Chief among them is the Sixth Grade Ski Program, which this year is teaching 1,100 kids from 10 area schools how to ski. From there they graduate to Seventh Grade Sundays, when they can practice what they learn on the four Sundays in February.
Snow-making equipment blasted fresh snow Monday on the slopes at Ski Gull.
» Purchase reprints of this photo.Brainerd Dispatch/Nels Norquist
WE SPOTTED:
» Snow or no snow
"It's been a little tougher this year with the lack of snow," says Mary Claire Ryan, program instructor for 20 years. "But the kids are upbeat."
Brainerd High School's downhill ski teams have a race scheduled for Jan. 25, so snow-making machines will operate seven days a week between now and then. The Nordic ski teams practices on the lower portions of the hill.
Season pass-holders number more than 400, up from last year. The increase is attributed to the advent of snowboarding.
"A couple of our staff went up to Spirit Mountain and came back and said our snowboard park rocks," Dayton says. "They told the kids up there to come down here and check ours out."
Ski instructor Mary Claire Ryan talked with student Ashley Hines as she maneuvered around cones Monday at Ski Gull.
» Purchase reprints of this photo.Brainerd Dispatch/Nels Norquist
As weak as winter has been in recent years, Ski Gull's financial fate is increasingly tied to successful off-season activities. The board currently is looking at what works and what doesn't. The former bluegrass festival has moved to Pine River. The Lakeshore Conservation Club, located across Highway 77, is considering making a sporting clays course on Ski Gull's side of the road. A new mountain bike course is being discussed.
For now, Ski Gull looks to three coming fundraisers: the fourth annual Ski and Board-a-Thon (Feb. 10), the Gull Lake Frozen Fore (March 3-4) and the World Snowmobile Association Hillcross (March 10-11).
A fundraising campaign that last year raised $100,000 will aim to raise even more this year. Additional money comes through a $2,500 grant from Crow Wing Power and a $3,000 grant from the United Way. The grants help support learn-to-ski programs for people with special needs. The Nisswa Lions Club and Initiative Foundation also are supportive of the adaptive skiing programs, Dayton said.
"We couldn't exist without our benevolent supporters and all the volunteer help," Dayton said. "We sometimes have a dozen to 14 volunteers just helping. They don't get paid, they don't get free tickets, they just show up and help."
Probably because, like young Jackson Holmes, they learned to ski at Ski Gull.
VINCE MEYER can be reached at vince.meyer@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5862.