We are now weeks into our rain/melt cycle in the Midwest and ski areas are starting to shutter or announce their closing days. 

If your yearn for the turn still burns, here are some ways to extend your season. 

Spring skiing

Right now, conditions are pretty fun and springy across the Midwest. Some of the bigger ski areas with strong grooming operations have taken care of their snowpack and still provide some soft, slushy turns. 

The turns are still out there in many areas around the Twin Cities, northern Minnesota (Giant’s Ridge just added 8 new inches this week, Lutsen added 4) and Michigan are still fun. Down south, things are going to disappear faster. 

The April storm

Sometime in the first two weeks of April, temps will fall to 28 or 29 degrees and we’ll get a spring storm that drops a foot of snow on the upper Midwest. That snowy refresh could make for some bonus turns in the region. 

The catch: Nearly all of the ski hills won’t be able to hold on and stay open until then. That annual April storm almost always falls on closed hills, sadly. 

For the adventurous among us, that leads to some backcountry lite opportunities. Go for a hike or tour and take some turns in the wake of that storm to extend your season. 

Go West

The most surefire way of extending your season is to head to the mountains.

High elevation resorts in Colorado like A-Basin are known to stay open into the summer on good snowpack years and they’re due for a few feet of snow this weekend, too. 

Spring skiing meccas like Squaw Valley and the other Lake Tahoe resorts also hold snow well into the spring and provide that unmatched California sunshine to boot.