There’ll be snow on the ground for weeks. So why is Great Bear Ski Valley’s season ending?

Record attendance, winter of heavy snow not enough to keep park open

Collin Cassidy / Unsplash.com

There’s still snow on the ground and likely more of it to come. But that’s not enough to keep South Dakota’s only ski resort this side of the Missouri River open much longer.

Great Bear Ski Valley in Sioux Falls will close its winter season Sunday with its annual “SNIRTFest,” an homage to the conditions of snow and dirt that typically canvass the city-owned hill off East Rice Street around this time each year. But that’s not the case this spring.

Near-record snowfall totals in Sioux Falls have Great Bear still stocked with the white stuff. And though it’s feasible both financially and operationally for the park to stay open, Great Besr Ski Valley general manager Dan Grider says snow conditions still demand the season’s end.

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