Machine-made snow keeps East Metro skiers busy

While the snow has been sparse this winter, the cross-country ski trails at Battle Creek Regional Park in Saint Paul and Maplewood have been packed with Nordic skiers. This is the first full year that Ramsey County will be able to make snow all winter long, due to funding from a variety of local, regional, and state sources.

Ahvo Taipale grew up on skis in his native Finland and has been pushing for snowmaking at Battle Creek for years. This month he was out with his daughter and granddaughter during a January when seasonal snowfall is 75% below normal, and there is little of the white stuff on the ground.

“Oh, this is fantastic,” Taipale said. “We are coming up to the standard of anywhere in the world. This is absolutely key for today’s world, the way the climate is changing. We are counting on this one now that skiing is here for a long time to come.”

Snowmaking is available at Theodore Wirth Regional Park in Minneapolis, Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove, and at Hyland-Bush Anderson Park Reserve in Bloomington. However, there was not artificial snow at a regional park in the east metro until last year.

“This has just been a game changer,” said Emmett Mullin, Regional Parks Manager with the Metropolitan Council. “The Met Council thinks a lot about equity, and I know Ramsey County does too. And the idea of expanding opportunities to a wider range of people is really a huge thing that we want to do more of.”

In addition to making snow, Ramsey County also accessed Met Council funding to operate an equipment rental program as well as to create outreach and programming for people who haven’t had an opportunity to try cross country skiing.

“With this investment, we’ve been able to really open it up to a lot more audiences,” said Ramsey County Parks and Recreation Director Mark McCabe. “So you see a lot more younger families and individuals who haven’t skied before coming out and trying it for the first time.”

Funds for this year’s snowmaking came from Ramsey County, State of Minnesota general obligation bonds, the Parks and Trails Legacy Fund, and Met Council regional funds.