PRINTER FRIENDLYSnocross Waits on Old Man Winter
Terry Mattson
November 25, 2009
Thanksgiving is traditionally about everyone giving thanks. And it’s a time for family feasts, football and holiday shopping. But Duluth has another Thanksgiving tradition, AMSOIL Duluth National Snocross, and it’s been pushed back two weeks because of the warm weather this year.For the past 18 years, a large contingent of fans, race teams and organizers have made Duluth National the largest event of its kind anywhere in the world. Created by Visit Duluth in 1992, planning for Duluth National was centered foremost around our hospitality industry. Praised for its groundbreaking innovation, organization and entertainment, Duluth National is our third largest annual event drawing a record 36,500 spectators in 2008 with a $6 million direct economic impact.
We roll the dice every year with the weather for this event. The payoff is greater than the risk. In 2008, conditions were perfect. Last season Spirit Mountain had its earliest full opening in many years. In 1999 and 2001, the event was postponed because of warm conditions. As for 2009, it hasn’t been cold enough for snowmaking since October.
Some folks ask why we deliberately battle against Mother Nature. Manufacturing pre-winter snow is a stressful proposition. Why don’t we just schedule the event in January or February when we are all but guaranteed prime snowmaking conditions? The answer is two-fold. First, Spirit Mountain is primarily a downhill ski and snowboard resort. What’s more, we like filling our hotels on what is otherwise an off-peak weekend.
Even in years of excellent early conditions, it’s challenging generating strong user demand before Christmas. It’s great when the slopes can open early but mostly the number of late-November and early-December users are negligible compared to the resort’s bottom line. Every ski resort sets its sights on being fully open for the holidays.
Visit Duluth, Spirit Mountain and the International Series of Champions racing circuit collaborate in producing the AMSOIL Duluth National. While the first two entities have a public trust, all three are managed like businesses because they are businesses. Visit Duluth is a revenue generator for the community and its residents.
Personally, I’m a skier, recreational snowmobiler and a former snocross racer passionate about each of these life adventures. As a creator of Duluth National, I’m often reassuring people the event is all about a balance between a world-class event with international notoriety and the primary users of the slopes. It’s about maximizing revenues and tax dollars while reducing expenses. And sharing everything that we love about this place with the rest of the world. We have no strategies or interests in rescheduling snocross during the heart of the winter season.
It’s no secret Spirit Mountain and the city have a difficult challenge juggling water supply for snowmaking operations. Adequate resort preparation requires weeks of very cold temperatures (ideally in the teens), about 65 million gallons of water along with creative thinking and talent. By being open limited hours weekdays early in the ski season, snowmaking crews are also able to more effectively get things done by not having to work around guests. They also don’t want to compromise anyone’s safety on the slopes during snowmaking.
The AMSOIL Duluth National Snocross is one of the single most important events in the history of the sport and the snocross event by which all others are measured according to the snowsports media.
The cold temperatures we need just didn’t make it down to Minnesota yet as hoped. We are concerned about the safety of our riders and putting on a good show for our fans. The race has been rescheduled for Dec. 11-13 with all events running as originally planned. Old Man Winter should have his mojo workin’ by then.
