The Midwest’s First Ski Resorts Are About To Open, and Winter Is Officially On
The Midwest ski season has arrived, with ski areas including Wild Mountain, Trollhaugen, and Andes Tower Hills kicking winter off.
At 1 p.m. today, November 10, 2025, Wild Mountain, Minnesota, will open with top-to-bottom skiing on Expressway, an intermediate trail. Chair 1 and the Front Stage rope tow are scheduled to stay open until 8 p.m. Alongside Expressway, Wild Mountain will have a terrain park with six to eight features.
Lift tickets for opening day cost $35.
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Going forward, Wild Mountain plans to operate daily from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. until it can open more terrain. If the ski area’s open this weekend, it’ll likely have extended hours.
As is typically the case with early-season operations, Wild Mountain cautioned that “Bare spots, snowmaking equipment, snow mounds, man-made and natural objects may be present.”
Andes Tower Hills, another Minnesota ski area, ran a magic carpet yesterday and will open at 3 p.m. today with a magic carpet, a chairlift, and $20 lift tickets.
Trollhaugen, Wisconsin, also broke the news today that it would open. Its season starts at 3 p.m. with Chair 3 and the terrain park rope tow operating.
Trollhaugen shared its intended schedule for the coming week, with 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. operations continuing through Saturday, November 15, when the ski area will open at 10 a.m. (on Friday, November 14, Trollhaugen also plans to stay open an hour later until 9 p.m.) Tickets to Trollhaugen today cost $30.
Trollhaugen noted that this operating plan may change.
The Midwest ski areas join a growing roster of mountains across North America that have opened for the 2025-26 season.
This year, Arapahoe Basin and Keystone, Colorado, led the charge with dramatic, back-to-back openings in late October. Since then, more than ten mountains have opened, from Banff Sunshine, Alberta, to Sommet Saint-Sauveur, Quebec.
So, it’s official: the ski season, even though it isn’t evenly distributed yet, is here. As the November weeks pass, more ski areas will start welcoming visitors. By December, hopefully, we’ll all be skiing.
In the meantime, if you’re one of the many skiers still waiting for their local hill to open, sit tight—your time is coming, we promise.
Related: The Best Ski Width for All Conditions According to 5,800 POWDER Readers
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