KENT COUNTY, Mich. — The snow is a pain for many on the roads, but for others, they’ve been looking forward to it. On Friday, Cannonsburg opened up for the season a whole month earlier than last year.
The line to get lift tickets was long, but so was the line waiting to get out on the slopes.
“Just cool to be able to kind of be the first person to get back on the hill,” Ryan Millet said.
Ryan, his brother Jacob and a close friend stood with their snowboards, waiting for four o'clock to hit. An employee held back a crowd of eager skiers and snowboarders. As soon as the hill opened, everyone raced toward the main ski lift.
“Feels pretty good. Happy to be back. Yeah, it feels great,” Ryan said. “It's nice to have a sibling who likes to snowboard too.”
Last season, snow was a no-show. The mild winter pushed opening day to Jan. 18.
“We're so excited to be able to open this early in December, and then seeing all of our work come to fruition has been amazing,” Cannonsburg Marketing Director Danielle Musto said.
Musto explains that Cannonsburg was only open for 43 days last year.
“It was by far our worst year,” Musto added.
A Michigan Snowsports Industries Association report shows snow sports lost out about $27 million last holiday season.
“Last year, we had a challenging winter where we had the El Nino impacting our weather patterns,” Travel Michigan Digital and Industry Relations Director Nick Nerbonne said. “Winter recreation is a strong driver of tourism revenue across the state.”
When winter happens, especially here in Michigan, you can expect to see the Millets out at Cannonsburg.
“Probably gonna hit that tube, do a board side,” Ryan said.
“Cannonsburg is a great place, especially for learners. They have a great crew, great parks, and it's just awesome and great,” Jacob Millet added.
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - X (formerly Twitter) - Instagram - YouTube
