Freshly-made snow sits on the ground at Snowstar, ready to welcome visitors in their last open weekend of the season. For General Manager Dan McCanna, it's the end of a year they'd rather soon forget.
"This is probably one of our, I hate to use the word, worst seasons. We`ve had more adversity this year than ever," McCanna said.
The mild winter pushed their opening day into January, more than a month later than planned. A 100-day season quickly was cut to around 60 days instead. McCanna says they've spent more time making snow than ever before.
"Well, put it this way, if we didn`t make artificial snow, we would`ve never opened this year. Every bit of snow, excluding maybe 5 or 6 inches of natural snow, everything else is artificial snow," McCanna said.
Mother Nature wasn't their only obstacle. Two days after opening for the year, a fire that started in an ice machine took out their kitchen and lounge. A kitchen downstairs just opened up last week.
"I jokingly have been saying that things could`ve been any worse, but they could have. Number one, nobody was hurt. Buildings can be repaired and replaced," McCanna said.
There has been some discussion about opening up Snowstar for summer activities like concerts or weddings, but with some concerns about the condition of the surrounding roads, those talks came to a halt.
"As of right now, we don`t have any summer use permits. It`s something that they`ll revisit, but this is just something we`ll have to deal with right now," McCanna said.
It's been a very trying and emotional year for everyone at Snowstar, but this weekend offers one more chance to go into the off-season with high hopes for next year.
"If we can make it through that, we can make it through anything," McCanna said.
Snowstar has averaged about 50,000 visitors each year, and McCanna says he's trying to avoid looking at what the number would be for this year. They already have their minds on next year with a working kitchen and, hopefully, more snow.
They will be making more snow tomorrow night to be ready for visitors Friday morning. The season will end on a fun note with the traditional slush pit Sunday afternoon.