April snow extends downhill and cross-country skiing season in Wisconsin

It's hard to see the bright side of a spring snowstorm that brought two feet of snow to some parts of Wisconsin last weekend. 

But if there's any silver lining, it's that downhill and Nordic skiers have a chance to get in some spring skiing. 

While most downhill ski resorts shut down in March, Wausau's Granite Peak has extended its season through the end of April. The hill usually stays open through mid-April, but this extension will give Granite Peak its latest closing date, according to operations manager Vicki Baumann.

"Being 100% open this late in the season, we just decided that we would stay open until the end of April because we can, we have that much snow," she said.  

The ski hill, which has Wisconsin's largest vertical drop at 700 feet, will be open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays through April 29, even if temperatures rise over the next couple weeks. Special spring deals include $50 for single-day lift tickets and $80 for two-day passes. 

"We have an incredible base of snow here, with all of the natural snow that we've had, combined with our snowmaking that we've done," Baumann said. "The warmer weather will just make for some great spring skiing." 

Big Snow Resort's Indianhead Mountain in Michigan's Upper Peninsula plans to stay open as well. The mountain is in the Lake Superior snowbelt near Wakefield and regularly gets more than 17 feet of snow in the winter.

Indianhead has 30 runs and a terrain park on 230 acres with a vertical drop of 638 feet. Slope-side lodging makes it easy to plan a weekend getaway to the U.P.  

The hill will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday as long as conditions allow. Spring deals include kids 17 and under skiing free. One-day lift tickets for adults are $49.

Cross-country skiers can also take advantage of the late-season blast of snow. While most state properties have stopped grooming trails, Pattison State Park and the After Hour Ski Trails in the Brule River State Forest in northern Wisconsin near Superior groomed their trails on April 17, and they were in excellent condition.

Pattison State Park property supervisor Kevin Feind said the park probably will not groom the trails again this season, but this is the latest he can recall grooming in his 20 years working at the two properties.

A bonus to skiing at Pattison State Park: two waterfalls, including the state's tallest, gushing with spring meltwater. The 165-foot Big Manitou Falls is the fourth highest waterfall east of the Rockies, and 31-foot Little Manitou is a beautiful twin cascade. Feind said they're both still mostly frozen but will be impressive soon.

The trail crew for the granddaddy of ski trails in Wisconsin, the Birkie, continues to roll and track the loops around the trailhead at County Highway OO and heading north. Grooming is usually done on Tuesdays and Fridays and will continue as long as conditions allow. 

As of April 8, Minocqua Winter Park was reporting some of the best ski conditions of the season — and that was before the April 14-15 storm. The cross-country ski park, which normally closes March 30, continued grooming its trails after that storm and plans to be open as long as the snow holds. Check the park's Facebook page for updates. 

RELATED:Minocqua Winter Park is perfect for a Northwoods ski outing

The WinMan Trails outside Winchester in Vilas County were also groomed after the storm, which dumped more than a foot of snow on them.  

While downhill skiing at Mount Ashwabay outside Bayfield is done for the season, the cross-country ski trails remain open and were groomed and tracked after the big storm.  

Snow still blankets much of southern Wisconsin, too, and while trails are not being groomed at systems like the Greenbush Trails in the Kettle Moraine State Forest's northern unit, skiers were still making their own way on the fresh powder.  

The same goes for Mirror Lake State Park outside Wisconsin Dells.  

"Ungroomed, but amazing. It is April 15 and this was best skiing within an hour's drive of Madison all season," wrote Ken Walz on SkinnySki.com, a website for tracking trail conditions in the Midwest.