Before the freezing rain hit Sunday plenty of people were outside enjoying the freezing temps, yep that's right enjoying them. We visited Swiss Valley where this weekends weather brought several people out for the first time this season.
It was the first time Jason McCrorey put on his ski's, "gotta dust em off, ready to go, hopefully I don't break a leg."
The weather is what brought several out to ski and snowboard this weekend. "Once we got snow I said we're going skiing," said McCrorey. And Roxanne Lewis said, "yes, it finally feels like winter, last year it didn't feel like winter, we had a lot of rain, a lot of warm weather. This is a Michigan winter."
The winter weather brought thousands to Swiss Valley Ski area the past week. General Manger Jim Wiseman said it's because when people see snow in their yard they show up at the hill. "We call it the windowsill factor if there's snow in Kokomo people come."
The real winter weather did more than just bring people to the ski area. It also allowed Swiss Valley to build up their snow base so much so that, "we probably are thinking of stop making snow for a while and grooming it all out," said Wiseman
And thanks to the recent snow and frigid temps Wiseman said Swiss Valley is ready for when it warms up. "This base will probably last until March and they'll be some good skiing even if it rains on Tuesday, no problem."
Swiss Valley is now 100% open too. All the runs are open including Graduation Hill.
