Warm Winter Impacting Outdoor Recreation

Those dreaming of a white Christmas may have to come up with a different wish.

Temperatures are predicted to reach 50 on Christmas Eve with possible rain. The unseasonable weather is creating challenges for local outdoor recreation areas, but one popular spot in Golden Valley is doing its best to make it feel like winter.

“We’re having a great time, and we feel so grateful to have this snow,” said Greg Klave, a ski instructor with the Loppet Foundation.

Snow is in short supply across the Twin Cities, but that’s not the case at Theodore Wirth Park in Golden Valley.

Wednesday morning, hundreds of people were taking advantage of the artificial snow on the ski trails.

A skier takes advantage of the machine-made snow at Theodore Wirth Park.

Crews with the Loppet Foundation are able to fire up the snow-making machines when the temperature gets below 28 degrees overnight.

Theodore Wirth Park currently has 2.5 kilometers of snow on the trails and tubing hills for people to enjoy. With more seasonable temperatures, the park would normally have 6.5 kilometers of trails available.

“People are just happy with what they can get right now and we’re really proud of what we’ve been able to offer folks given the conditions,” said Ben Bauch, the trailhead director with the Loppet Foundation.

Loppet officials plan to open additional trails once the weather allows them to do so.

For updated trail conditions, you can check the Loppet Foundation website.

Meanwhile, during the winter break, the tubing hill will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. A two-hour tubing session costs $17.

Related: Snow-Making Starts Up at Elm Creek Park Reserve

Golden Valley