A record-setting winter season at Frost Fire Park comes to a close on March 15
Mar. 8—WALHALLA, N.D. — A record-setting winter season for a northeast North Dakota ski resort and mountain bike park is coming to a close.
The final day for Frost Fire Park's skiing is March 15. The 2024-25 season has been great, said Patty Gorder, general manager.
"We love seeing all the kids and families this season enjoying the slopes, and we hope that they continue to support Frost Fire and continue to visit us," she said.
Frost Fire opened for the season on Nov. 30. The park had only opened during the Thanksgiving weekend two or three times in the past 40 years, Gorder said, and being able to open earlier meant more days for people to enjoy the slopes. The number of skiers, not including those at the lodge, also broke a record for how many attended in a day. On Jan. 11, more than 660 people visited.
Gorder attributed the large number of visitors to a postcard Frost Fire sent out to schools in the area. Kids K-12 could redeem a free lift pass, and the park sent out a digital postcard as well because some of the physical ones didn't go through to all students. The postcard expired Jan. 12, and Gorder believes the number of visitors on Jan. 11 was made up of students who wanted to use the postcard before it expired.
"I think that that's what happened," she said. "They knew ... 'oh, we have one more day!'"
The holiday break, from around Dec. 20 to Jan. 2, also saw a large number of visitors — about 300 to 500 skiers daily, Gorder said.
Overall, the 2024-25 season has been good, Gorder said. More than 7,500 visitors have come to the park, an improvement from last season, when Gorder estimated the park barely got to 7,000. There were about seven days where the park had to close due to the weather being too cold.
The park's new snowmaking infrastructure is also holding up.
In 2022
, malfunctions to the old system left the park closed for the winter, needing extensive repairs. Frost Fire was
able to open
for the 2023-24 season with a new snowmaking infrastructure, and re-opened two runs that had been closed for more than a decade.
After the winter season closes, Frost Fire will be looking toward the summer season, including mountain biking and Frost Fire Summer Theatre. While Gorder said she can't speak to preparations for mountain biking, the theater program is planning to perform in Grand Forks this summer. "FAME! the Musical" will be performed at the Empire Arts Center in July, though the theater program is also planning to possibly perform closer to home, Gorder said.
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