The reason a lot of people write off a weekend ski trip is the arithmetic of Friday night. Leave work at five, drive six or seven hours, and you are pulling in somewhere between eleven and one. If check-in closed at ten, that weekend does not work.
It does not close
Self check-in runs 24 hours. You get your access details in advance, you let yourself in whenever you arrive, and nobody is standing behind a desk waiting for you.
What that does to the weekend
It turns a two-day trip into one where Saturday starts at first chair instead of at noon. For a couple driving up from Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison or the Twin Cities, that is the whole difference between a worthwhile weekend and a long drive for one afternoon.
Practical notes
Fuel up before Ironwood if you are arriving very late. Bring what you want for breakfast — nothing local is open at one in the morning. And drive to the conditions on the last stretch: US-2 and the county roads carry more snow than the forecast for the nearest city suggests.
Going home
Check-out is the same principle in reverse. Ski Sunday morning, leave when you are done, and let the drive be the drive.
Leave a Reply