Chester Bowl opens its doors for the 2024-25 season

With winter weather in full swing, skiers and snowboarders alike raced to the Chester Bowl in Duluth for the first time of the season on Saturday.

Chester Bowl’s executive director Dave Schaeffer dawned a smile at the sight of athletes of all ages making their first trips down the hills.

“It’s just so fun to see the kids out here with their parents or sometimes dropped off on their own just enjoying nature on their own. Skiing and snowboarding, feeling that independence, having a great time. We love ski season here,” said Schaeffer.

Before they could take their turns down the hill, athletes had the chance to try out the new and improved chairlift loading platform.

“Something we changed this year is our loading platform going from a 90-degree angle to a 45-degree angle which makes it easier especially for those newest to the sport to get on the chairlift,” said Schaeffer.

Thanks to the cold weather, artificial snow has stuck earlier in the season all thanks to volunteer efforts.

“We can open this early because of our snow making and so we’re so grateful to all the volunteers and the staff that helped us out to make the snow to be able to open at this state when mother nature hasn’t given us as much as we’d like,” said Schaeffer.

Two of those volunteers, Oscar Thompson and Knut Clark-Sather, chose to help as Chester Bowl cadets for its supportive community.

“Chester is like in the center of town, so it’s easy to get to. And if you want to ski off them, you can come ski here. And I was interested in helping smaller children learn how to ski, so that’s why I signed up to cadet,” said Thompson.

“Chester is smaller than spirit, and it has the best community of ski resorts, because everyone knows everyone,” said Clark-Sather.

Chester Bowl is currently in their 50 days to fundraise $50,000, in order to renovate their chalet for current and future generations, click here to donate to the cause.