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The guys talk about Gavin Rossdale's new show, Mark Parrish shares his thoughts on the Wild, the Sklar Brothers continue to kill it with their Como Park material

The guys talk about Gavin Rossdale's new show, Mark Parrish shares his thoughts on the Wild, the Sklar Brothers continue to kill it with their Como Park material

Unique names for our private parts plus the smell of rotting flesh at Como Park and rock star encounters that left people speechless. Originally aired Thursday, May 9, 2024.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on Feb. 8. It dropped for free subscribers on Feb. 15. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe to the free tier below:WhoNathan Birr, Chief Operating Officer of Buck Hill, MinnesotaRecorded onJanuary 26, 2024About Buck HillOwned by: David and Corrine (Chip) SolnerLocated in: Burnsville, MinnesotaYear founded: 1954Pass affiliations:* Indy Base Pass – 2 days with 16 holiday blackouts* Indy+ Pass – 2 days with no blackoutsClosest neighboring ski areas: Hyland Hills (:21), Como Park (:33), Afton Alps (:41), Elm Creek (:43), Welch Village (:46)Base elevation: 919 feetSummit elevation: 1,225 feetVertical drop: 306 feetSkiable Acres: 45 Average annual snowfall: 60 inchesTrail count: 14 (2 most difficult, 6 intermediate, 6 beginner), 4 terrain parksLift count: 9 (2 fixed-grip quads, 1 triple, 4 ropetows, 2 conveyors - view Lift Blog's inventory of Buck Hill's lift fleet)View historic Buck Hill trailmaps on skimap.org.Why I interviewed himBuck Hill rises like a ludicrous contraption, impossible there in the Twin Cities flatlands, like the ski resort knotted into Thneedville's inflatable glades and shirt-sleeve clime (1:25):How did it get there? What does it do? Did someone build it? At first, I thought someone must have, like Mount Brighton, Michigan. But no. The glaciers made it, a gift to the far future as these ice walls retreated and crumbled. It is the highest point for 200 miles in any direction.Before skiing, Native Americans used the hill as a vantage to stalk deer drinking from Crystal Lake. Thus the name. It has probably been “Buck Hill” for hundreds of years. Maybe thousands. Now the lake is covered in ice-fishing shanties all winter, and the hill is hemmed in by an interstate on one side and housing developments on all the rest. And the hill, 45 acres of fall line that erupts from seemingly nowhere for seemingly no reason, is covered with skiers.Good skiers. I am enormously fond of the Midwest's blue-collar ski scene, its skiers on rental gear in hunter-orange jackets, rat-packing with their buddies as a hootalong thing to do on a Wednesday night. This does not exist everywhere anymore, but in the Midwest skiing is still cheap and so it still does. And these rough fellows dot the slopes of Buck. But they don't define the place like they do at Spirit or Nub's Nob or Snowriver. Because what defines Buck Hill is the shin-guard-wearing, speed-suit wrapped, neon-accented-even-though-neon-has-been-over-for-30-years squadrons of velocity-monsters whipping through plastic poles drilled into the snow.It can be hard to square smallness with might. But England once ruled half the world from a nation roughly the size of Louisiana. Some intangible thing. And tiny Buck Hill, through intention, persistence, and a lack of really anything else to do, has established itself, over the decades, as one of the greatest ski-race-training centers on the planet, sending more than 50 athletes to the U.S. Ski Team. Credit founders Chuck and Nancy Stone for the vision; credit confused-upon-arrival Austrian Erich Sailer (“Where's the hill?” he supposedly asked), for building the race program; credit whatever stalled that glacier on that one spot long enough to leave us a playground that stuck around for 10,000 years until we invented chairlifts. Buck is a spectacular amalgam of luck and circumstance, an improbable place made essential.What we talked aboutBuck Hill's brand-new quad; party up top; the tallest point in 200 miles; Chuck and Nancy Stone, who started a ski area on a farmer's pasture; a glacier's present to skiers; the hazards of interstate-adjacent snowmaking; why the resort's founders and long-term owners finally sold the bump in 2015; Erich Sailer and Buck's incredible ski racing legacy; Lindsay Vonn; a perfect competition center sitting just outside of 3 million front doors; experiments in year-round skiing; the lift fleet; taming the electric bills; Buck's Great Parking Puzzle; the Indy Pass; why Buck chose Indy Pass over Ski Cooper; and $49 for a weekend lift ticket.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interviewA skier dropping into Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport can find skiing within half an hour in any direction. East to Vail-owned Afton Alps, north to city-owned Como Park, west to Hyland Hills and what are perhaps the fastest ropetows in America. I chose south, to Buck Hill, on a sunny Sunday last February.It was a mistake. I circled the parking lot, then circled the neighborhood beside the parking lot, then circled the parking lot again. Nothing. So I drove to Welch Village, where people on the chairlift kept asking, in a borderline accusatory way, why I would travel to Minnesota from New York, on purpose, to ski.The answer is that I value novelty and quirk more than brand-name and stoke (at least when it comes to ski areas; as an adherent of both Taco Bell and Miller Lite, I have a Basic Bro Deluxe side as well). But also because I have this ski newsletter and podcast, whose vitality is based at least in part on a commitment to examining the entirety of American skiing.I made it back to Buck Hill on Thursday, my last stop before I boarded my flight home to LaGuardia. This time, I parked without issue. I was in no mood for a challenge, and Buck Hill was in no position to offer one. Sightseer skiing. I cruised around and watched the park kids and the racer kids and the little kids trickling in after school. It felt like stumbling into a gymnasium with basketball practice on one court and volleyball practice on the next one and track practice on the elevated lanes above. In other words, not like any version of skiing I had ever seen before. It felt purposeful, focused, deliberate; the opposite of the improvisational exploratory sort of wandering that anchors my own skiing.All of which makes complete sense to anyone indoctrinated to the Buck Hill Way. But I'd gone in blind, poking the nearest ski hill into the GPS and seeing what turned up. It turned up something pretty special, and I wanted to get the full story.Questions I wish I'd askedI'd meant to get into Birr's new blog, “Notes from Nate.” Check it out here.What I got wrongI suggested that Wilmot, Wisconsin was a manufactured hill, like Mount Brighton, Michigan (which is made of landfill from the construction of two nearby freeways, I-96 and US 23). This is incorrect: Wilmot's 194 vertical feet are the result of the same glaciation process that formed Buck Hill.Why you should ski Buck HillI have never seen anything like Buck Hill. I have seen ski areas with race courses and terrain parks and mogul fields, of course, because most ski areas have most of these things. But until I pulled into Buck's parking lot last February, I had never seen these things stacked side-by-side, end-to-end, with such deliberate precision, like crops rowed along a hillside. The halfpipe has its own lift. The terrain park has its own lift. The race course has its own lift. The mogul run has its own lift. These are a combination of chairlifts and high-speed ropetows, utilitarian machines with a workmanlike purpose: pump athletes up the hill hundreds of times in a row.It's less mechanized than I'm making it sound. Like a coffee shop that can sometimes host evening concerts, Buck Hill takes many forms. And despite the racer troops constantly bunching around all parts of the hill, Buck is often just a bunch of people sitting around drinking lattes. I free-skied there for a few hours without getting yelled at, which frankly is less common than you would think, given my general curiosity and willingness to loosely interpret ambiguous signage. But the fall lines are steady and consistent. Looker's right hosts a fabulous beginner area, with an incomprehensibly long carpet that rides into a tunnel and over a bridge. I rode it just for fun.I can't say that the skiing is terribly interesting. Buck lacks the rollicking nooks and crannies of nearby Afton Alps and Welch Village. It's so small that I imagine it being a first-hand-up candidate if we ever start panic-converting our outdoor ski areas into indoor ones. There's just not a lot to do or explore. But one of the most common mistakes we make as skiers is trying to wish a ski area into something it can never be. This is why so many New Yorkers refuse to ski New England after taking that first trip west. But they're missing so much of what Vermont is by obsessing over what it is not.Buck, rote, repetitive, and tiny, is exactly perfect for the market it serves: beginners, racers, freestylers, and their families. All the on-hill hubbub can make it hard to hang out, but find a moment to linger at the summit, to gaze at the frozen lake below, at the placid Midwest rolling off into forever. It's not the greatest ski area you'll ever find, but it is a singular, spectacular place in a very specific way. If you can find a parking spot.Podcast NotesHere's a little feature on Buck Hill from Minnesota BoundAnother from Midwest skiersOn the SolnersI kept referring to “things the Solners said they wanted to do” when they bought Buck Hill back in 2015. I mined that info from various sources, but this article from Hometown Source is a good overview:[The Solners] envision a year-round business with plastic slopes for warm weather, an indoor training center, a mixed-use entertainment and retail development beneath floors of hotel rooms, and a hilltop restaurant and banquet center reached via “chondola.”“It's a combination of chairlift and gondola,” said Don McClure, who's worked at Buck Hill for 40 years. …The first piece may be laying a plastic “dry slope” product called Neveplast on part of the hill. Lessons, clinics, team training and general recreational use could be extended year-round.Solner said dry slopes haven't caught on widely in North America, though he skied on a plastic jump in his hometown of Middleton, Wisconsin.A training gym with indoor ramps and foam pits is also envisioned. Solner said he saw one a couple of years ago in Colorado. He later approached McClure with the idea, and “conversations led to where we are today,” Solner said.The owners also envision a microbrewery, coffee shop and retail stores, with a hotel above the ground-level uses.Outdoor concerts are part of the plan, with an amphitheater of about 1,500 seats — the size of the Minnesota Zoo's.On Erich SailerWhile transforming Buck Hill into an internationally renowned racing center was the vision of founders Chuck and Nancy Stone, it was Erich Sailer who actually executed the transformation. Here's an excellent video on his legacy:On the M.A.X. PassI've written often about the M.A.X. Pass, which Ikon mercilessly crushed beneath its Godzilla feet in 2018. The partner list was just terrific:On founder Nancy Stone's Buck Hill history bookMrs. Stone's book is called Buck Hill: A History, Let's Give It a Whirl. I can't find a print edition for sale anywhere (perhaps they sell it at Buck Hill).On snowmaking and proximity to the freewayBirr sent me this photo of the warning signs MDOT lights up on Interstate 35 when Buck Hill is making snow:On Lindsay VonnThe Olympic gold medalist's fondness for Buck Hill is well-documented. The feeling is mutual – the ski area dedicated a ropetow to its most famous alum in 2019:The world may know her as Lindsey Vonn, but the Minnesota community that watched her grow into one of the greatest ski racers in history still remembers little Lindsey Caroline Kildow climbing up Buck Hill's simple rope tow. Vonn, the daughter of a local ski racer Alan Kildow, got her own racing start at the Burnsville ski area at a young age. Patrons remember seeing her soaring down the hill when she was only 2 years old, and just five years later she began riding up the rope that will now bear her name.On September 23rd, at her home hill of Buck Hill, in Burnsville, Minn., Lindsey's ascent to the top of her sport was recognized formally, with the official naming of "Kildow's Climb" rope tow. "All of us at Buck Hill are very happy and excited to honor Lindsey by renaming our lift on the race training hill in her name," said Dave Solner, owner of Buck Hill.September 23 was also declared “Lindsey Vonn Day” in Burnsville, Minn."Obviously being from Buck is not the most likely of paths to become Olympic downhill champion, but I think I proved that anything is possible" said Vonn at the ceremony. "So, for all of you kids that are still racing here, just keep believing in yourself and anything is possible. And listen to Erich (Sailer), even though he's not always around anymore, but he's probably still yelling from somewhere. I wanted to name the rope tow after my family. My grandfather was the one who taught us how to ski. He built a rope tow in Wisconsin, and started my dad skiing, and the whole family. Then my dad taught me, and Erich taught my father and taught me. Kildow is my family name, and I wanted my family name to stay here at Buck, so 'Kildow's Climb' is here to show you that anything's possible."On that long magic carpetMan this thing is so cool:On the concentration of ski areas around the Twin CitiesI'll reset this chart I put together for the Trollhaugen podcast last year, which shows how densely clustered ski areas are around the Twin Cities:On warm-weather outdoor skiingWe talk a bit about Buck's experiments with warm-weather skiing. There's actually a whole year-round ski area at Liberty University in Virginia that's built on something called Snowflex. I don't count it in my official ski areas inventory because there's no snow involved, but it's pretty neat looking. Kinda like a big skate park:On energy efficiencyWe talk a bit about Buck Hill's energy-efficiency initiatives. This Dakota Energy profile breaks down the different elements of that, including snowmaking and lighting efficiency.On In Pursuit of Soul IIProduced by Teton Gravity Research, In Pursuit of Soul II features Buck Hill and seven other Midwest ski areas: Lutsen, Granite Peak, Nordic Mountain, Tyrol Basin, Little Switzerland, The Rock Snowpark, and Caberfae Peaks. It's awesome:On the Ski Cooper controversyBirr and I briefly discuss Buck Hill getting caught in the crossfire of an Indy Pass/Ski Cooper dispute. I'm not going to reset the whole thing here, but I wrote two long articles detailing the whole fiasco over the summer.The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 9/100 in 2024, and number 509 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

This podcast hit paid subscribers' inboxes on August 1. It dropped for free subscribers on August 4. To receive future pods as soon as they're live, and to support independent ski journalism, please consider an upgrade to a paid subscription. You can also subscribe for free below:WhoJim Rochford Jr., Owner and General Manager of Trollhaugen, WisconsinRecorded onJuly 10, 2023About TrollhaugenClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: The Rochford familyLocated in: Dresser, WisconsinYear founded: 1950Pass affiliations: Indy Pass – 2 daysReciprocal partners: NoneClosest neighboring ski areas: Wild Mountain (18 minutes), Como Park (1 hour), Afton Alps (1 hour, 3 minutes), Elm Creek (1 hour, 3 minutes), Hyland Hills (1 hour, 18 minutes), Buck Hill (1 hour, 22 minutes), Welch Village (1 hour, 33 minutes), Christie Mountain (1 hour, 24 minutes), Powder Ridge (1 hour 54 minutes), Coffee Mill (1 hour, 56 minutes)Base elevation: 920 feetSummit elevation: 1,200 feetVertical drop: 280 feetSkiable Acres: 90 (2023 expansion will increase this total)Average annual snowfall: 50 inchesTrail count: 24 (28% advanced, 43% intermediate, 29% beginner)Lift count: 9 (4 fixed-grip quads, 5 ropetows – lift count includes new Partek fixed-grip Chair 1 that Trollhaugen is installing this summer – view Lift Blog's inventory of Trollhaugen's lift fleet)Why I interviewed himWhat if the greatest ski town in America is not Aspen or Telluride or Park City or Jackson, but Minneapolis? Within an hour of downtown, eight ski areas: Elm Creek, Como Park, Hyland Hills, Buck Hill, Afton Alps, Welch Village, Wild Mountain, and Trollhaugen. Not one of them tops 360 vertical feet or collects more than 60 inches of snow in an average season.Underwhelming stats that underscore the point: only the hardcore would swarm such bumps, endure the windblown cloud-cluttered upper Midwest dead-winter, in pursuit of the turn, the loft, the float, that singular moment of ski-high. There's a reason Vail's first stop on its march east was Minneapolis – this is a ski town (and one you can actually afford to live in).Midwest skiing is a bizarre world for the uninitiated. Chairlifts everywhere, often side-by-side, trolling up clear-cut hillsides seemingly conjured from the flats. Between these chairs, high-speed ropetows, hauling more skiers than you'd thought possible, faster than you can believe. You assume the ski areas are small, but they just keep going, rolling hillock after hillock over vast snowy complexes. At Afton, 17 Hall chairlifts ordered in industrial rows, threading a chutes-and-ladders labyrinth of gullies and tunnels and wide-open faces. At Welch, a mini-Vail Mountain, endless linked trailpods terminating at the Back Bowl, a spiderweb of burners diving through the trees. At Buck, every inch reserved, the place a vast school for racers, for bumpers, for flippity-flap flip-flap Brahs.Trollhaugen is a little bit of all of these things: four quads and five ropetows serving a hunk of Wisconsin countryside that feels bigger than 260 vertical feet on 100-ish acres. The Rochford family – which has owned the bump since the ‘60s – has resisted the urge to clear-cut, instead carving tree-lined tracks through the gullies. Wide-open faces aplenty, still, and zones for ropetow rockers fast and slow. The base area is themed Euro-Alpine, Bavarian perhaps, or Scandinavian.Don't let the Midwestern kitsch, wicket tickets, Rube Goldberg beginner tows, or pair of vintage ‘70s Borvig quads distract you: this is a terrific, and modern, ski area. The grooming is excellent. Snowmaking and night-skiing cover 100 percent of the hills. Trollhaugen erected a brand-new Partek quad two years ago, and it's installing another this summer. It was an inaugural Indy Pass partner, hyper-aware of the rapidly evolving lift-served skiing landscape and its competitive place within it. When you have seven direct competitors, one of which belongs to the Epic Pass, excellence is your only option. Trollhaugen delivers.What we talked aboutThe Covid outdoor surge just keeps on surging; limiting lift tickets; how different Covid-era policies impacted ski areas near the Wisconsin-Minnesota border; Wild Mountain; Trollhaugen's tradition of early-season openings; why Trollhaugen closed April 1 after a 10-inch snowstorm; post-closing railjams; what happened when Vail Resorts bought nearby Afton Alps; whether the Epic Pass' arrival contributed to Trollhaugen's decision to join the Indy Pass; how Indy visitation has evolved over time; three generations of family ownership; remembering an era in which a mailman and a firefighter could start a ski area; the non-skiing dentists who bought a ski area to party; a brief history of Trollhaugen's lifts; growing up with a ski area as your backyard; the surprisingly circuitous route that Rochford took to eventually run the family business; respecting the family legacy while building upon it; going deep on Trollhaugen's expansion; glade skiing at Trollhaugen; why the conceptual expansion map shows a triple chair but we're getting a quad; the quiet brilliance of Partek chairlifts; stepping up to automated snowmaking; how the expansion may change the annual terrain-opening plan; connecting the expansion to the ski area proper; parking expansions; the story behind the parking lot sign equipped with old double chairs; Welch Village; ropetows versus carpets; the fate of the Summit ropetow; high-speed ropetows rule; a fenced ski area; 3 a.m. Fridays; and behind the Trollhaugen name and theme.Why I thought that now was a good time for this interview  Trollhaugen is the only one of the eight metro Minneapolis-St. Paul ski areas that sits in Wisconsin. It's four miles east of the state line, and 18 minutes from Wild. Usually, that doesn't matter. U.S. state borders, practically speaking, are mostly roadside signs. No checkpoints or paperwork. Perhaps a speed-limit adjustment. Perhaps a slight state-of-mind shift.But during Covid, that address mattered. Wisconsin, for the most part, introduced less stringent Covid safety measures than its neighbor, and relaxed them faster. No need to itemize them here: the net impact was a clanging cash register for Trollhaugen. Record numbers of skiers dumped record revenues into the joint. And, as Rochford tells me on the podcast, “if the skiers are going to invest in us, then we're going to invest in them.”So Trollhaugen ripped out a 52-year-old Hall double chair and stood up a brand-new Partek quad in 2021. That was phase one of a three-year capital project and expansion that is set to open this coming winter, with three-and-a-half new trails and yet another new Partek quad.It's hard to overstate how big of a deal this is for a small Midwestern ski area. Skiers acclimated to New England or the Rockies would be stunned at the condition of the average lift fleet in Michigan, Wisconsin, or Minnesota. Lots of Riblets. Lots of Halls. Very few detachables. Very few safety bars. It's vintage skiing, often quite good – snowmaking tends to be excellent – but unadorned by the trappings of big-time resorts in other regions. In this neighborhood, two new lifts in three years is an enormous flex.Trollhaugen is not the only family-owned Midwest ski area investing this year. Buck Hill, Wild Mountain, Nub's Nob, and Perfect North are also erecting new quads this summer. And the big Midwestern operators have fully activated their cash cannons: Boyne is dropping a D-line sixer onto The Highlands and a fixed quad and triple at Boyne Mountain; Midwest Family Ski Resorts is building six-packs at Snowriver and Lutsen; and Wisconsin Resorts is adding a second high-speed quad to Mt. Holly and a triple to Alpine Valley, Michigan. But Trollhaugen's new lift will serve the region's only terrain expansion for the 2023-24 ski season. That's a really big deal, and worth taking a deeper look at.What I got wrong* I said in the intro that Trollhaugen had been the first ski area to open in America for the 2022-23 ski season. It was actually the first to open a chairlift, on Oct. 19. Wild Mountain and Andes Tower Hills, both in Minnesota, opened ropetows on Oct. 18.* I intimated that Loveland was in Summit County, Colorado, along with Keystone and Arapahoe Basin. Loveland actually sits just across the border, in Clear Creek County. Breckenridge and Copper Mountain also sit in Summit County.* I said that Welch Village “must have had a dozen chairlifts.” It has eight.* I said that Trollhaugen had a “Bavarian” theme, but the backstory that Rochford told us suggests that the ornate buildings clustered at the ski area's base are better classified as “Scandinavian.”Why you should ski TrollhaugenThere's something about Midwest skiing that is extremely gratifying. Even for those who have other options. Remember that 2000 movie, The Family Man, where a rich a-hole played by Nick Cage is shoved into an alternate timeline where he's stripped of his Ferrari and closetful of $10,000 suits and self-important Wall Street job? And suddenly he's living in suburban New Jersey as a tire salesman who drives two kids around in a minivan. And at first he's like, “Oh boy this sucks a fat one.” But by the end of the film he's b******g about the price of a bag of rock salt and relishing domestic life in his messy falling-apart house in Maplewood or wherever.Midwest skiing is kind of like that. If you're accustomed to RFID and superfast lifts and 3,000-acre playgrounds stuffed with chutes and glades and 15-foot bases of natural snow, you may be unable to imagine skiing unadorned with those jewels. But what if you forced yourself to? What if you pulled up to a Midwest bump on a jam-packed Saturday and skied just for the sake of doing it? Surrounded by thousands of skiers who didn't seem to give a damn that the chairlifts didn't have heated toilets or Netflix-equipped safety bars? Who act like they're at the best party ever? Who seem as giddy as any skiers you've ever seen anywhere?It's odd that the people who seem most insecure about Midwest ski areas are those who've never been within 50 miles of one. I see this every time I write a post about the Midwest – the hate, the impulse to belittle a thing that so many people love. It's all so stupid and tedious, so boring. Midwest skiing is about relishing what's there, not bemoaning what isn't. Yes, it's a different sort of skiing than you get in the Rockies or New England. But it's fun. An often-overcomplicated thing boiled down to its essence.If you love skiing, you will love skiing at Trollhaugen. Yes, it demands a certain creativity to stay engaged, to draw new lines out of the hillside, to sink into the moment between frequent chairlift rides. But, just as a minivan gets you to the same place as a Ferrari, this stripped-down version of skiing can get you exactly where you need to go. If you let it.Podcast NotesOn the view from Spirit MountainThe view from the summit of Spirit Mountain, overlooking the St. Louis River just before it drains into Lake Superior. At the base of the lifts (Spirit is an upside-down ski area), the mountain is only about a half mile from the Wisconsin border.On Wisconsin's lost ski areasRochford's grandparents purchased Trollhaugen in the 1960s. During the podcast, he commented that “of the ski areas we had in Wisconsin in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, I bet half of those are open today.” It's hard to get exact numbers on what may or may not have existed 50-plus years ago, but I did dig up these old maps from the Wisconsin Lost Ski Areas Project:19671971For context, here's a complete list of active Wisconsin ski areas. In some cases, ski areas have changed their names: Rib Mountain is now Granite Peak, for example. I'd love to do a side-by-side here, but that would be a project I just don't have time for at the moment:On other ski area expansions happening this summerTrollhaugen's expansion is one of seven happening at U.S. ski areas this summer. Here's an overview:On Trollhaugen's parking lot chairliftWe briefly discuss the cool chairlift structure (which I referred to as a “sign”) at Trollhaugen's entrance. Here it is:On Trollhaugen's ropetowsTrollhaugen has two types of ropetows – these whacky Rube Goldberg contraptions in the beginner area that look like they're about 175 years old:And these burners for the Park Brahs:On the border fenceTrollhaugen, like the vast majority of Midwest ski areas, still trades in metal wicket tickets. But rather than station an attendant at the bottom of each lift, the ski area fences off the base area, leaving just one access point to the lifts. One attendant checks the ticket one time – a pretty brilliant (and inexpensive), fraud-prevention system:On the spring skiing surchargeMany ski areas use free spring skiing as an incentive for new passholders. Buy your 2023-24 season pass in February 2023 and ski the rest of the 2022-23 season for free. But many ski areas in Minnesota and Wisconsin charge for the spring skiing option. Trollhaugen is one of them, charging new 2023-24 passholders $75 for spring 2023 access if they wanted spring skiing. Not a bad deal, actually, as that's probably not much more than the cost of a weekend lift ticket. Here are the other ski areas in the region that charge new passholders for spring access:The Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us.The Storm publishes year-round, and guarantees 100 articles per year. This is article 66/100 in 2023, and number 452 since launching on Oct. 13, 2019. Want to send feedback? Reply to this email and I will answer (unless you sound insane, or, more likely, I just get busy). You can also email skiing@substack.com. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe

Some people take up basketball the moment they learn how to walk. Others, like LaVera Jeffrie, discover it by accident. Her towering frame made her an attractive figure for coaches, but outside of the Chicago Bulls dynasty, LaVera had no knowledge of the sport. A persistent attitude from her coaches and teammates at Highland Park imbued LaVera with insight and a budding appreciation of basketball, a passion that led her to a roster spot at Minnesota Community and Technical College. After her playing days, LaVera found another front-row seat, working security at Target Center for Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx games for several years. These days, she mentors the next generation of female athletes as a coach for Como Park. Needless to say, LaVera has lots of stories to tell, including the one about a high school conference rival who later became a source of inspiration. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tsbtelevision/support

We are looking to redeem our two previous seasons where Como Park beat us. The team is also trying to avoid the "Central Let Down," and keep their eye on the much bigger prize. The game starts slow, and the defense struggles early, the offense sputters and we find ourselves having to ask some hard questions. We rally, and finish 42-8 and build our confidence. The question raised by this, however, is at what cost? Listen to find out!

On Episode 33 of the podcast that doesn't feature a guest, Matt, Logan, & Bill discuss some of their favorite spring sports to cover (3:46), some of the top lacrosse and baseball players they've seen covering prep sports in the area (7:05), and some of the way-too-early teams to watch in baseball and lacrosse (10:15). Next, Matt & Logan break down some standout performances from the weekend's MGBCA All-Star Series, featuring top Gopher recruits Amaya Battle, Nia Holloway, and Mara Braun, among others (14:00).  Finally, they talk about how the influx of players entering the NCAA transfer portal is affecting high school recruiting (24:05).

This week our annual deep dive into the best and worst jerseys in the pro peloton. We learn a lot about Como Park in 1999 and Spencer reveals his dark secret. Plus, did we just announce a live show? Seems like we did.  This podcast is supported by the generous and amazing donors to the Wide Angle Podium Network. You still have time to pick yourself up the first EVER official SRP merch at wideanglepodium.com/srp300 Find us, and other fantastic cycling podcasts on the Wide Angle Podium Network, at wideanglepodium.com! Check out the brand new WAP app available in the Apple and Android app stores! You can listen to us in a variety of ways: Find us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or anywhere great podcasts are found. Give us a review and rating! We'd appreciate it! You can email us at theslowridepodcast@gmail.com Find us on Twitter: The show (@theslowridepod) Matt (@Matt46292097) Spencer (@spencerhaugh) Tim (@thesuperrookie)

East San Fernando Valley is really losing out on a tourist concept, the boys fill you in. Working in a tourist location and not realizing it. Jadakiss isn't one of Brandon's favorites, Credere ponders why? The final act of the epic 3 part Buffalo story: Como Park, GPB, 10k costumes, and high school friends. Tell a friend. Proudly sponsored by: 716ITgroup.com Your Simple Reliable IT Solution

Host Dana Healy is joined by District 3 Ramsey County Commissioner, Trista Matascastillo. She serves residents of the following communities: Falcon Heights and Saint Paul neighborhoods of Payne/Phalen, North End/South Como, Como Park, Frogtown and Hamline-Midway.

On today's show, Eric and I are joined by Athletic Director, Matt Osborne from Humboldt High School and Coach Marlon McCoy from Central. We go over the scores and stats, State results, Teams of the Month, Como Park news, and we set up the next Pro Pick. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

Today's is our last show of the year. We will be back in January, but before we go, listen to this packed episode. Eric and I were joined by Coach Scull of Como Park football and Coach Nikki of Highland Park volleyball. We also mention out Teams of the Month and go over our Pro Pick. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

Pastor Chik Chikeles teaches a message from the series "How Then Shall We Live." Thursday Night Live is recorded from Como Park in Saint Paul MN, from June to the 3rd week in August.

Pastor Chik Chikeles teaches a message from the series "How Then Shall We Live." Thursday Night Live is recorded from Como Park in Saint Paul MN, from June to the 3rd week in August.

Pastor Chik teaches a message from the series "How Then Shall We Live." Thursday Night Live is recorded from Como Park in Saint Paul MN, from June to the 3rd week in August.

Pastor Chik teaches a message from the series "How Then Shall We Live." Thursday Night Live is recorded from Como Park in Saint Paul MN, from June to the 3rd week in August.

Pastor Chik teaches a message from the series "How Then Shall We Live." Thursday Night Live is recorded from Como Park in Saint Paul MN, from June to the 3rd week in August.

Paster Chik teaches a message from the series "How Then Should We Live." Thursday Night Live is recorded from Como Park in Saint Paul MN, from June to the 3rd week in August.

Paster Chik teaches a message from the series "How Then Should We Live." Thursday Night Live is recorded from Como Park in Saint Paul MN, from June to the 3rd week in August.

Paster Chik teaches a message from the series "How Then Should We Live." Thursday Night Live is recorded from Como Park in Saint Paul MN, from June to the 3rd week in August.

That time Lori witnessed a tiger attack a zookeeper at Como Park. Wise words from Christopher Robin. A great offer from the St. Paul Library. This is sweet. A 92-year old man is coloring his 88 year-old wife's hair. We chat with Melodie Hanson from the Minnesota Diaper Bank which somehow leads into a crazy diaper changing story.

Fattenin’ Frogs references old country and old blues in its performances. And they perform Sunday January 19 at the Como Park Conservatory at 4:30 PM. Whether the songs are old or original, originality is key for Fattenin’ Frogs. Amanda White and Chris Holm of the band say that song arrangements evolve from the time they start working with them.

On today's show Eric and I go over the latest scores and stats. We are wrapping up some sports and talk about who is going to State in Boys Soccer and Tennis. We discuss our Team of the Month picks, Como Park news, and of course our Pro Pick. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

Como Park boys soccer travels to Harding to take on a St. Paul City Conference rival. This was a hard fought game. Click play and listen for yourself. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

It's the season finale of 651Sports Update. We discuss the Section and State tournament results and who is still alive in Sections and State activities. Eric Erickson joined me all hour and we talked Teams of the Month, Como PArk news, and our Pro Pick. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

Today Eric Erickson and I talk all things St. Paul high school sports. We dive deep. We deliver the scores, our Teams of the Month picks, Como Park news, Como Park Boys Volleyball, and our Pro Pick. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

Como Park travels to Toni Stone Stadium to take on Central in a St. Paul City Conference baseball game. Who came out on top? Click play and find out. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

Today, Eric Erickson and I discuss this past week's scores and stats. We also talk Como Park news, my Final Four experience, and much more. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

Today we wrap up the winter sports season with Eric Erickson. We get into the scores from the last of the State competitions, Como Park news, a recap of Eric's trip to Washington D.C., our Teams of the Month, and of course our Pro Pick segment --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

On today's show we are joined by Eric Erickson. We cover the scores and stats from the past week. We talk all things sports from Como Park. We choose our Team of the Month and do our world famous Pro Pick segment. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

We bring you the scores and stats of the past week. Eric Erickson joined me this week and we talk about the happenings at Como Park. Joining us by phone was Coach Alexis Gray. Enjoy the show. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

We kickoff our fourth season with a live broadcast from Kolap Restaurant in St. Paul. Listen as we interview student athletes from Highland Park, Central, Washington, Como Park, Harding, and Johnson. Click play and enjoy! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/651sports-update/support

On-location with One Voice Mixed Chorus at Como Park.

On-location with One Voice Mixed Chorus at Como Park.

“It’s all about sharing it with somebody.” To be a nerd essentially means to be an expert in something, which is a perfect way to categorize Justin Severson (@stpaulrockcity), a self-described comedy nerd. Justin is the host of No Laugh Track Podcast, the official podcast for Minneapolis-based Acme Comedy Company, where he interviews headlining comics on a weekly basis. Justin’s guests are a collection of world-class comedians that have appeared on David Letterman, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Showtime, HBO, Netflix, etc. The St. Paul native talks about why he thinks comedy is some of the greatest art ever created and also provides us with many of his all-time and current favorite performers. Justin and I dive into some of the commonalities that he sees in comics (his answers might surprise you) and even offers up a few hilarious stories about some big name comedians. He talks about how comedy has helped him push through a few rough patches in his own life and discusses the role that comics play in today’s society. Oh, did I mention this guy really REALLY likes comedy? Enjoy! SOME TOPICS MENTIONED AND DISCUSSED: How Justin prepares for and conducts his interviews Dane Cook overload Bill Cosby (enough said) The experience of seeing stand-up live Dos and don’ts when going to a comedy club The nice chairs at Acme His go-to first date The upcoming comedy documentary ‘I Need You To Kill’ JUSTIN'S FAVORITES RELATED TO THE TWIN CITIES: Favorite Meal Under $15: Large Mostaccioli from Cossettas with two pieces of garlic bread Favorite Public Space: Cherokee Park (west side) as a kid. Como Park as and adult. Favorite Annual Event: State Fair Most Fascinating Person You Know Louis Lee, the owner of Acme State of the Union Message: "Stop being assholes to each other."

Ron and Lucy are joined by A.L. Brown to discuss two white parents that were given the wrong sperm donor and had a black baby. Should the sperm bank be held accountable? The CDC continues to change its story -- you cannot get Ebola from sitting next to an infected person, but infected people should not be allowed on flights. Which is it? Plus, a man is charged when he shoots a purse thief in Como Park. It's the kind of case that both gun proponents and opponents fear. 

Paolee Vang interviewed representative from Lao Family Community in Minnesota on the latest updated on the Hmong 2014 July4th Event at Como Park in St. Paul, Minnesota.