Industry News
Trollhaugen Troll Recreation Area, Wisconsin, has kicked off its 2024-25 winter season with its annual Fall Open Haugen Weekend.
The three-day event began on Friday, October 4, with the resort’s annual Ski and Snowboard Sale and Swap. The highlight of the weekend was the Rail Jam on Sunday.
SNOW!!! #OpenHaugen is back today 12-4pm ⛷️🧌🏂 Join us for the ultimate winter kickoff at the ‘Haug. Admission is FREE…
Posted by Trollhaugen Troll on Sunday 6 October 2024
The Rail Jam was held on a small patch of snow harvested from last season—a practice known as snow farming. Trollhaugen has been snow farming for its annual Rail Jam for several years and has perfected the technique of covering last season’s snow in hay and tarp and preserving it for the following season. The resort fired up its snowguns last week, the first in North America to do so. Although it was only for testing, it wasn’t creating snow this weekend.
The event consisted of four 45-minute jam sessions, with a maximum 30-person capacity. There were slots every hour, at 12:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m., and an intermediate to advanced terrain park skill level was recommended. The cost was $20 per person.
Although the resort offered chairlift rides, it didn’t offer access to riding on snow, so unfortunately, the resort cannot claim to be the first resort in North America to offer lift-served turns this winter—not yet, anyway.
Trollhaugen is a medium-sized resort about 50 minutes north of Twin Cities Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota in Dresser, Wisconsin. It features 23 runs, four terrain parks, three chair lifts, and rope tows across 280 feet of vertical. The area consists of 80 acres of skiable terrain, and the longest run at Trollhaugen is 2,500 feet.
