While Wisconsin’s Northwoods struggled to find winter last year, one area made its own. At Mt. Telemark Village in Cable, winter didn’t stop.

“It was difficult in the Northwoods,” said Ben Popp. “But you know, we were fortunate enough last year, because of our snowmaking and some of this infrastructure, we were able to host all of our events.”

That ability to make winter happen is exactly why the American Birkebeiner Foundation invested in Telemark after the 2017 Birkie was canceled for a lack of snow.

“People would have thought you’re crazy. Northern Wisconsin, you’re going to make snow? But at the end of the day, the events are so important to our local economy and our mission that we decided to make the investment in snow making,” said Popp.

Now, the village is home to trails for skiing, snowshoeing, biking, and an ever-growing lineup of winter events that draw thousands to Cable and Hayward. It’s all powered by an $11 million community-backed project.

“It took 2,500 individual donors that came together to really support the idea of creating outdoor recreation here in northern Wisconsin,” Popp added.

But convincing winter to cooperate is still a strategic operation.

“We need a lot of snow in a lot of different places this year to ensure that we have snow that will last all through March this year. So it’s a lot of pre-planning to determine where should we be putting guns? Where should we making these big piles?” said Kristy Maki.

Telemark’s snow guns fired up last week in time for early season skiing, and the annual Turkey Birkie.

Once January arrives, the calendar doesn’t slow down. Fat bikes camps, classic ski races and women’s clinics all depend on reliable snow.

“Even if we can’t hold races because of the natural snow level, we know that we can put something on here,” said Maki.

Reliability that is crucial not just for athletes but for the economy that surrounds the trails.

“It brings people from the Twin Cities, Wausau, Eau Claire, Chicago,” said Popp. “It really is the centerpiece of our economy.”

As cooler temperatures begin to take hold in the Northwoods, they’ll continue making snow at Mt. Telemark Village, while holding out hope for a nice blanket of the real stuff.