With temperatures tickling 60, I sat in my lawn chair in the parking lot of my local hill and watched it melt for a few hours.

The ever-growing slop of mud between my car and the dwindling slope signaled what seems to happen so fast every spring: an end.

For all intents and purposes, the ski season in the Midwest is over. Before we know it, the hills will shutter. Some will begin quickly turning their product into a mountain bike park and others will just take stock, say goodbye to their employees and look toward fall.

(SIDE NOTE: Go buy your next year’s season pass right now! You’ll save hundreds of dollars buying your pass this month.)

This meltdown and quick ending to the season feels familiar in a season that was anything but.

From reservation systems to closed lodges to masks in line, everything was slightly more strange in the winter that was 2020/2021. At its best, it provided the “woos”, “yows” and “chhyeeaahs” that we all yearn for ever winter. At its worst, we watched it snow in places we couldn’t go.

While the season goes on out west and for the next week or so in the Midwest, tonight concludes our season at Midwest Ski Journal (save for a possible April snowstorm forecast or dispatch).

If you’re dismayed about our season coming to close, just think about winter 2021/2022. Imagine a world where everyone is vaccinated, the chairs are full and the bars are too. It’s a season where you can go without reservations (literal or figurative, you pick) and high-five freely. It seems like a lifetime ago, but we’ll soon be back to the same skiing experience we love.

Thanks to everyone who took a few minutes to read our stuff this winter. I hope it brought you some comfort and maybe even a smile. Please reach out to our email (midwestskijournal@gmail.com) or on social media if you want to chat or have any feedback.

Have a good offseason. We’ll be back chasing the elusive alpine again soon!