REGIONAL— While most North Country residents are likely relieved by the warmer weather that settled in this week after ten days of arctic chill, the change isn’t so welcome to area business owners who rely on winter traffic to keep the bills paid.
The mild conditions in December and early January and the relative lack of snow put most winter activities on hold for weeks at a time when many businesses are normally ramping up for the winter season. Instead, many business owners are watching as week after week of bookings disappear from their books, and their bottom line.
“We’ve had over 30 cancellations so far,” said Orlyn Kringstad, who operates the eight-unit Marjo Motel in Tower. That’s left his room sales down by two-thirds over last winter, when snow and consistent cold was ideal for winter recreation.
Kringstad’s experience has been pretty typical of other hotels, motels, and resorts in the area so far this winter. Fortune Bay Resort and Casino is typically kept hopping this time of year with snowmobilers, but sled traffic has been “extremely slow,” according to Brian K. Anderson, director of public relations for Fortune Bay.
“We continue to see groups trim back on inventory or just cancel outright so it is very frustrating as we all know how important those groups are to winter tourism. In fact, just today, we had two of the larger groups scale back and cancel club dinners that we had in the books for many months.”
The slow formation of lake ice this winter also impacted Fortune Bay’s ice fishing business, and they recently had to cancel snowmobile races put on by the Straight Line Speed Association, that had been planned for the weekend of Jan. 13.
The impact to lodging facilities, in particular, has a ripple effect, notes Eva Sebesta, executive director of the Ely Chamber of Commerce, as visitors who cancel at a resort or hotel don’t show up at area restaurants or shops, either. “Businesses are trying to work around it and be creative but it’s tough for businesses that were planning on that income,” said Sebesta.
Few have been hit harder in recent weeks than Lossing’s Power Sports in Babbitt, which was ready for a strong season of Ski-doo sales and rentals. “We had an excellent fall with new unit sales,” said Derek Lossing, but the busy showroom grew all too quiet as December temperatures set new records for warmth and rain over Christmas melted away what little snow had fallen.
“We’ve canceled a lot of rental reservations,” said Lossing, whose first rental was finally going out the door last Friday. “Clothing, parts, oil sales are all down year on year. When it’s not snowing, people aren’t excited to come out and buy snowmobiles or clothing.”
Lossing said he’s managed to keep his four mechanics reasonably busy so he’s avoided any layoffs, at least so far.
Getting creative
When the snow disappeared ahead at Christmas, business shut down at Wintergreen’s dog sledding operation on White Iron Lake. “It was pretty grim,” said Paul Schurke. “Those four days of rain didn’t help.” But with the recent cold snap and several inches of snow in the middle of the month, he said the dogsledding trips are back in high gear, although they’ve modified their routes given the limited snowcover. He said his teams are sticking mostly to the lakes right now, which have sufficient snow for dog sleds. “We’re not like the snowmobiles,” said Schurke. “We can get by on a couple inches of snow.”
Forest trails and lake portages are still pretty rough, however, and are likely to stay that way until considerably more snow falls, so Schurke said he and his guides have been adjusting routes to avoid those rough patches as much as possible. They also have dropped, for now, excursions into places like the Kawishiwi pines. Even with the changes in routes, he said most customers have been pleased with their experiences.
Lossing said he’s been making similar efforts and has been connecting some of his rental customers with guided trips out on various lake chains given the poor condition of the area snowmobile trails.
It all rides on more snow
Based on the calendar, there is still plenty of potential winter weather ahead here in the North Country, and most folks are trying to remain optimistic even as the ten-day forecast holds little chance for significant snow and much-above-normal temperatures.
Some major events are scheduled in February and early March and, for now, most have not yet been canceled. The WolfTrack Classic, currently scheduled to be run Sunday, Feb. 25, is looking questionable given the current conditions of the snowmobile trails typically used by the racers. “We’re watching it closely,” said Sebesta, on whether to hold the chamber-sponsored event or cancel. “We’re ready to go in either direction. We’re looking at early February to make a decision on it.”
Canceling the event would be another major blow to Ely’s winter economy. Sebesta notes that the race draws mushers as well as a large cast of volunteers to Ely for the race weekend. “We’ve got probably a quarter of our volunteers who come from outside the area, places like Missouri and North Dakota. They’re here the whole weekend, staying in hotels and eating in the restaurants.”
That’s why the decision to cancel is going to be a tough one, but the weather may well make it necessary. The lack of snow has already led to the cancellation of the 300-mile John Beargrease sled dog marathon, which had been scheduled to run this Sunday, Jan. 28. “I’m wishing for about two feet of snow right now,” said Sebesta.
Officials at Fortune Bay are keeping their fingers crossed for snow as well, in hopes of salvaging their biggest winter event, the Blackwoods Blizzard Tour, which is currently slated for dinner and overnight accommodations on Thursday, Feb. 8. The annual fundraiser to fight ALS and its effects draws hundreds of snowmobilers but trail conditions could throw a major wrench in the current plans.